food photography Archives - A Calculated Whisk

Appalachia Food Photography & Styling Workshop

June 30, 2017 By Becky 18 Comments

Beautiful galettes made by Linda Lomelino and Hannah Messinger and styled by Julián Ángel.

Over Memorial Day weekend I had the opportunity to help out at a First We Eat food photography and styling workshop held by Eva of Adventures in Cooking and Carey of Reclaiming Provincial. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may recall that I attended a similar workshop with Eva and Carey a couple of years ago on Cape Cod. That first workshop was a huge turning point in my styling and photography and a wonderful way to spend the weekend of my thirtieth birthday, so I was thrilled to get to join them again almost exactly two years later, here in my new home state of Tennessee.

We stayed in two cabins adjoined by a giant figure-eight wrap-around porch and tucked into the woods of Beersheba Springs, a small town at the edge of the Appalachian Mountains. Linda Lomelino, Maggie Pate, Hannah Messinger, and Lauren Michelle were in attendance to teach food styling, natural dyeing, food writing, and working with plaster, respectively.

Cape Cod Food Photography & Cheesemaking Workshop

June 6, 2015 By Becky 10 Comments

Are you ready for a bunch of photographs of gorgeous cheese?

Over Memorial Day weekend, I went to an amazing food photography, food styling, and cheesemaking workshop hosted by Carey Nershi and Eva Kosmas Flores in a beautiful house on Long Pond in Plymouth, MA. It was also my 30th birthday on Sunday, and I had the best time celebrating and learning with Eva, Carey, Brandy, Jennifer, Renee, Jenn, Olga, Camaron, C.J., and Leslie. When I first thought of signing up for the workshop as a birthday present for myself, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel ringing in a new decade amongst virtual strangers, but everyone was so wonderful that by the time Sunday rolled around I felt like I was surrounded by a group of close friends.

Cape Cod Food Photography & Cheesemaking Workshop | acalculatedwhisk.com

Eva taught us how to make ricotta, fresh mozzarella, and goat cheese, and Carey taught us how to dip hard cheeses like cheddar in wax to keep them well-preserved as they age. Above you can see Eva stretching the mozzarella and then forming it into a ball, which has to be done quickly before the cheese begins to harden. We sliced up that ball of fresh mozzarella and ate it while it was still warm with a tiny sprinkling of sea salt, and it was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.

Behind the Scenes: My Food Photography Setup

January 19, 2014 By Becky 4 Comments

Here’s a peek into my very makeshift, continually evolving food photography setup. I took some time this weekend to organize some of the props I use most often, and they’re now stashed right underneath the trusty wooden board that serves as a backdrop for almost all my photographs.

Just so you know where I’m coming from, here is a “before” picture I shared this fall on Instagram. I used to take all my pictures outside on the balcony, but when it got cold, I moved my piece of wood inside and propped it up next to my kitchen window on top of the large cardboard box our trash can came in. Needless to say, it was not extremely sturdy. I had to put all the heavy things right in the middle to avoid having the whole thing fall over.