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« Abandon Your Fears of Frying: Deep-Fry Tips |Main| Japanese Pickled Ginger (Gari) Recipe »
September 10, 2013Making Crazy Delicious Banh Mi PhotosPictures are an integral part of cookbooks these days andlast week, we shot the photos for The BanhMi Handbook. It was scheduled for only three days but our shot list (anindustry term for a master list of photos) was jammed packed with 8 to 10images per day. The working subtitle of the cookbook is “Recipes forCrazy-Delicious Vietnamese Sandwiches” so our goal was to createcrazy-delicious looking photos.
On the banh mi team were photographer Paige Green and herassistants Tessa and Morgan, stylist Karen Shinto, prop stylist Tess Watson, editorMelissa Moore, and art director Betsy Stromberg. We’d huddled about the shootthe week before but Melissa, Betsy and I had preliminary discussions longbefore that. Last week, it all came together. Here’s a look at what went on duringthe book shoot.
Many people look at the photos in cookbooks and assume that thecompelling images are solely made by the photographer. The truth is that it’s acollaborative effort, the product of a whole lot of people.
For example, there’smy food stylist, Karen, who’s worked with me on all of my books. Thank god we’refriends because I ask a lot of her. She works on many projects but mine are notrun of the mill. The other day she said, “If you wrote about tacos or cupcakes,I’d totally know what to do because it’s routine food for me to style.” Thatis, she wouldn’t need me around to pester her to cut or present things inparticular ways.
Karen loves physical and intellectual challenges but we alwaysdivide up the prep work. I need her to make the food look good on set so Isupport her however I can. For the banh mi book, I made all the pickles,charcuterie, and baked some bread.
Karen prepped a zillion other things, purchased a mountainof bread and drove all the stuff to the studio. We unloaded the day before theshoot started. During the shoot, I prepped and cooked off things, letting Karencompose and craft the finished “star” sandwiches. We shared the clean-up duties.There was no dishwashing machine in the tiny kitchen.
Each shot took about an hour of set-up, fussing andfiddling. Karen often had to go on set to move things around with tweezers,refresh stuff with a mist of water, and readjust the subject for Paige’s angle,etc. It’s precision work that she makes look easy. There’s an art to creatingthe food photos look slightly messy. Really. Drips and crumbs are seriousthings.
We had a small number of props for The Banh Mi Handbook because it’s a sandwich, not fine dining. Tessbrought an array of things that would potentially go with the art directionthat Betsy devised. These items filled up an 8-foot table and some shelf space.
To make a photo, we conferred about the colors and texturesof the composition. Then Paige and her assistant worked with Tess to do aninitial set-up. Karen readied the “star” sandwich and brought it on set. Abunch of photos would then be taken, then we critiqued it on the computerscreen. Adjustments were made multiple times to the various elements in thesandwich, the lighting, angle, props, surface, etc, until we were satisfied.With this photo shoot, it was definitely a group photography effort. We crackeda lot of jokes along the way too so it was more fun than grueling.
If the star sandwiches weren’t spent, Karen cut them up andwe ate them for lunch. It’s always a bit unnerving to see your editor try yourfood – especially when it’s cold and prepped for the camera, not necessarilyfor the pinnacle of flavor. Fortunately Melissa liked what she tasted.
When our energy was low, we snacked. Almonds are my brainfood, so Betsy got her husband to roast some spicy ones for me. Karen bought mea one-pound bag. Like a squirrel, I was kept quite happy with such a nice stashof nuts. There was chocolate and a Nespresso machine too.
What happened to all the leftover food? We put it all out ontables and people took what they wanted. The mountain of bread was left for thefolks who lived in the building where the studio was located.
After a shoot, we typically go out for drinks. Last Friday,we were all so tired by the time we finished cleaning and loading up our cars.It was 7 o’clock and we’d been there since 8 o’clock in the morning. We took a rain check on the celebratory martinis.
When will The Banh MiHandbook be released? Not until July 2014, exactly a year after I sent inthe manuscript. It takes that long so I’m sorry that we can’t get it to youfaster. I hope you enjoyed this peek into cookbook publishing.
If you have questions, let me know below!
Posted in Cookbooks | Permalink | |
| Comments Making Crazy Delicious Banh Mi Photos Pictures are an integral part of cookbooks these days andlast week, we shot the photos for The BanhMi Handbook. It was scheduled for only three days but our shot list (anindustry term for a master list of photos) was jammed packed with 8 to 10images per day. The working subtitle of the cookbook is “Recipes forCrazy-Delicious Vietnamese Sandwiches” so our goal was to createcrazy-delicious looking photos.
On the banh mi team were photographer Paige Green and herassistants Tessa and Morgan, stylist Karen Shinto, prop stylist Tess Watson, editorMelissa Moore, and art director Betsy Stromberg. We’d huddled about the shootthe week before but Melissa, Betsy and I had preliminary discussions longbefore that. Last week, it all came together. Here’s a look at what went on duringthe book shoot.
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Asian Tofu in the News"Informative, engaging, well written and researched, this is also the best book about tofu."— Winnie Yang, The Art of Eating
"A whole cookbook devoted to tofu? Yes, please."
— Kate Williams, Serious Eats 2012 Favorite Cookbooks
"Cooking with Tofu (Are You Serious?!)"
— Michael Rulhman on his tofu conversion
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