Food Photography Tips

I'm not a professional food photographer, but I have ambitions to better myself with food photography. Simply because I love the challenge to capture good-looking food or better yet, capture simple food pictures to warm a person's soul. As I also share home cooked recipes in my blog from time to time or when I am served with nicely plated food when I am eating out, I would like to share what I see on my plate to the world (meaning my FB contacts and instagram followers) through photos so that they can savor the moment with me, even though they are not there physically to enjoy it.

I have been quite lazy to bring my Olympus Pen around so I would usually use my iphone4 to capture foodie moments, unless it is an official food review that I go to. To me, the key is not so much the camera, but more so the lighting and composition in a photograph that matters. If you get your "wow!", "You are making me hungry!" and "I want to eat this NOW!" comments on your pictures, you know your point is made!

So I attended a food photography workshop recently by a local renowned foodie doctor, Leslie Tay, who blogs at I Eat.I Shoot.I Post. There were a handful of points that was shared during the workshop but only 3 simple points really struck me, which I would like to share in this post and perhaps my readers can take even better food pictures from now on!

POINT OF INTEREST

Consider the main point of interest in the dish and zoom in on the part that will stand out in your photo, to convey the scrumptiousness of that dish. Food may not be an easy subject to take photo of so we must consider capturing the best angle, to make an impact with your viewers, as though they can eat it right off from your screen.

LIGHTING

Natural lighting is best when taking food pictures and no flash please! Taking food pictures under fluorescent light or darkly lit restaurants, often leaves your picture in yellow tone thus, may not be palatable to the eyes. If you are facing that challenge, have your family or friend to use the mobile phone's torchlight source to shine on the sides of the plate for enhanced lighting. Never shine the light from top down as it will be too harsh and creates terrible shadows.

COMPOSITION

Perhaps one of the most important points, making the dish look absolutely delish - with or without supporting objects around it. That's what restaurant menus with pictures do, to woo you by the sight of their food styling. If you happen to be taking photo of our local hawker food, consider doing a little bit of styling to bring out the best of that dish in your photos.

Of course, with all that's said, some editing to the photos must also be done, to bring out the best of your pictures.Basic adjustments would be the brightness level and enhancement of colors. These are part of the extra work you have to do to make your photo look even better. Now, this is something I'm never lazy about. 

I hope you've picked up useful tips in my post today.

Note : The above photos were taken using my Olympus Pen EP1 at A for Arbite.

Till the next post, have a blessed week!

[Food Review] Arossa Singapore

Arossa is located at Scotts Square, #02-01

Arossa is a grill and wine bar concept restaurant, helmed by a very passionate female Japanese Chef Chiaki Watanabe. Touted as "the new hotspot in culinary experience in the heart of Orchard Road", Chef Watanabe offers diners simplicity in her food without compromising on delectable tastes. As the restaurant name suggests, Arossa serves up classic grilled cuisine with fresh seasonal ingredients sourced from Australia and New Zealand.

Arossa's open concept kitchen.

Arossa offers diners a classy yet cosy and relaxing ambience. A wonderful place for a quiet intimate dinner date with your partner or chill with a small gathering of close friends. The view along Scotts Road is especially wonderful in the evening, to people watch as the day winds down.

We started off our evening with a thirst quenching cocktail, Moscow Mule. If you like a tangy and refreshing punch with your vodka - this one is a must-try. 1-for-1 at $15 or $18 ala carte.

Complimentary freshly made artisan bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip.

  ANTIPASTI (Appetizer)

An appetizer is not an appetizer without calamari! Deep fried squid lightly coated in flour and spicy aioli dip. Good for sharing, but always never enough. Very addictive! $21.

I am not a cheese lover but this appetizer left me quite speechless. Burrata cheese is fresh Italian cheese, made from mozeralla and cream - hardly any hint that it's cheese at all! It has a rich tasting and an unusual soft and slightly chewy texture, topped with basil pesto. If you love mozzarella, ricotta, or anything creamy, this cheese is for you. $34.
SECONDO (Main Course)

Tonno is an exceptional meaty blue fin tuna fish with a subtle flavor that has proven to be best eaten grilled. As with a person who wonders how this would taste, I will honestly say it tastes like chicken. It does! Except, the flesh is 3 times more tender and hardly a hint that you are having tuna. It is accompanied with caponata, a Sicilian style cooked vegetable salad. A very healthy option. $36.

The highlight of our dinner must be this succulent ribeye steak. Grilled to perfection, it is tender and juicy on the inside with an all natural flavor that we like. Go for medium rare for the best tasting steak! I couldn't get enough of it. 250g - $70.

Arossa prides itself for offering an amazingly extensive and exclusive wine menu, mostly from Australia and New Zealand. We were recommended to pair our ribeye steak with this soft, medium bodied red wine - '09 Cascina Bruni, Barolo Marialunga, Piedmont, Italy at $16/glass. If you are unsure about what kind of wine to consume, the restaurant managers would be more than happy to recommend suitable wines to pair them with your meals. (Last I heard, it's their expertise!)     DESSERT

Rejoice! All you tiramisu lovers out there! This is probably one of the best tasting all time favorite desserts in town. This is Arossa's signature coffee flavored Italian dessert and truly deserves all the rave. $14.

Another must-try side dish in this restaurant which I didn't manage to take photo of :

Truffle mash potato - $12

Very smooth and creamy to perfection. I loved it to the moon and back.

Thank you, Arossa Singapore for having us over to dinner.

~~ If you prefer to have a casual lunch instead, Arossa also offers affordable pasta set lunch options. Please see menu here. ~~

Location :

Arossa Wine and Grill

No.6 Scotts Road, Scotts Square (next to Grand Hyatt Hotel)

#02-01

Singapore 228209

Reservations : 6636  2951

Opening Hours
Lunch 11:30 – 15:00 (last order 14:00)
Dinner 18:00 – 22:30 (last order 21:30)

Website : www.arossa.com.sg

Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/Arossa.singapore

Arossa also offers private room dining options for larger groups, at no extra cost. Please make sure to call and make your reservations.

Till the next post, have a blessed week!

Disclaimer : The Accidental Mom Blogger was invited for a food tasting session with Arossa Singapore. The opinions written in this blog post are purely my own. No monetary compensation was given.

[RECIPE] Soya Sauce Chicken Wings

There isn't many flavorful soya sauce chicken rice stalls in Singapore. The famous stall that we usually patronize is at Upper Cross Street and boy, do the children love it so much!

So, I wanted to re-create this dish at home because I really do think I would be able to get the flavors right. After my 2nd experiment, it has gotten better in it's flavor. Perhaps there's still an incy wincy secret ingredient in the original chicken dish that I have not been able to "sift" out. But I am still very pleased with the turnout of my soya sauce chicken version nonetheless! 

Here's the recipe to try. I've used mid wings because we prefer this part of the chicken and also because, I think it's trickier to cook the whole chicken this way. :p

Ingredients :

 

- 14 pcs mid wings (or substitute any other parts of the chicken in equivalent)
- a small piece of ginger, pounded
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, pounded
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce

- 2 dashes of sesame oil
- 1 tbsp light soya sauce
- 3 tbsp of black soya sauce
- 1 tbsp hua tiao jiu (chinese cooking wine)
- 1 tbsp sugar (to taste)
- 1 to 1.5 rice bowl of water 

- 1 tbsp cornflour (for thickening the sauce)

Method :

- Marinade the chicken in a ziplock bag with all the above, except sugar, water and cornflour, for minimum 2 hours.

- When ready to cook, heat up in wok a tbsp of oil and stir-fry the garlic and ginger from the chicken marinade till fragrant.

- Add chicken and stir-fry for a few minutes before adding in the water.

- Let it simmer till cooked, approximately 30 minutes.

- Add sugar to taste and cornflour to thicken the sauce.

- Serve hot with plain white rice.

- Enjoy!

    Till the next post, have a blessed week!