For the first round of images, Big Leo artists Andrew Purcell, Sarah Cave, and Carrie Purcell teamed up to bring a new twist on the tried and true food shoot.

#1. Drainers

Sarah:  Seeing these objects for the first time, they were clearly very old, cream-ware and transfer-ware with the patina and proportions of real antiques. The word ‘trivet’ was thrown around, but we weren’t convinced.

Then we spotted a long cream-ware fish platter nearby, and lo- the long pointed oval piece from the top left of the image fit perfectly inside, the tolerance a miracle of by-gone craftsmanship. Drainers… some quick research confirmed it- each of these once belonged to a platter or tureen, usually unnoticed but practical. Somewhere in the stacks we probably could have found the matching servers. Instead, we decided to shoot them on their own, highlighting their graphic nature while they did their job with matter-of-fact elegance.

Carrie:  What could compliment the look of the strainers? Any old noodle just wouldn’t do. We needed something that was both beautiful and shocking – fish heads strained right from the stock and a bloody rare roast!  I also loved the fresh ricotta in cheesecloth: whole milk is attacked by a little salt and lemon juice, causing it to separate into curds and whey. Strain the tasteless pale liquid away and you’re left with a rich creamy ricotta cheese.

Andrew: Visually the drains needed to be the hero. No offense to the food but the uniqueness of the strainers needed to be shown in their best light. The overhead framing really allowed the shapes of the drains to stand out and be graphic. With that in mind I thought a higher contrast would work best. Lighting props first and food second provided a unique visual representation for our project. It really opened my eyes to the importance of lighting for multiple layers within a single composition.

In the labyrinthine prop houses, where strange and wonderful objects are stacked to the ceiling, you can always find dark corners of dusty and forgotten things.  Scraps of metal from obsolete and unidentifiable machines.  Porcelain trinkets whose only timeless quality is to remain perpetually out of style.  Awkward dishes and broken lamps, stained fabrics and ornate oddities from some foreign country.  The kinds of things that would never be used on a photo shoot.

In most of our normal assignments, the props are there to make the food look its very best. While they might set the tone, highlight a recipe’s origins or tip the scale modern or classic, colorful or muted, they are usually expected to take a background role and not compete for attention. The creative team standing around the monitor can always agree on one thing: your eye should go to the food, and that way of seeing will dictate all other choices.

This project began with the inverse approach:  We searched specifically for orphan props,  then dreamed up the food that would make them look their best.

Our compassion for neglected objects grew as we went, as did our tolerance for the slightly ugly, the ill-advised designs – who says? The magic of still life photography is that in the right light anything can be beautiful.  We designed these shots right on the tables of prop rental warehouses, with spontaneity and real love.  It was a lot of fun and this is only the beginning; there are so many more under-loved props out there!

Big Leo is proud to officially announce the newest member of the family, Paul Lowe.

A supremely talented craft and food stylist from Norway, he is also the creator of Sweet Paul Magazine and author of the popular Sweet Paul blog.  Hard-working with a keen eye, Paul is above all a great guy who lives and breathes editorial style.  He shoots on his days off!  It would be tough to find someone who loves this business as much as he does – so I guess that means he’ll be right at home here at Big Leo.

Check out his portfolio here:  Styling – Crafts – Food – Drinks

Yeah, totally stands on its own, and by ’stands on its own’ I mean ‘$75 million ad campaign.’  I can appreciate the whole play on ‘truth’ that Crispin Porter + Bogusky has been hired to create, even though that is more than a little oxymoronic.  If you watch the YouTube video below, clearly the entire thing was an expensive shoot in and of itself, just to come across as making fun of expensive shoots.

A lot of people grumble over the whole idea of having customers submit their own photos.  ”We might even use it in an ad campaign!”  This isn’t about putting photographers and food stylists out of work, it is about the drawing attention to artifice of commercial food shoots in order to give off an air of ‘honesty in advertising.’  Hah.  Except that all ad shoots require professionals in order to make a product look its best.  Otherwise you get submissions like this:

Which is admittedly awesome, but not the kind of thing that you look at before lunch, a picture so mouth-watering that your stomach gets tied in knots (the worst part of working in this industry and a daily penance here at Big Leo).  If you want to make people hungry, give us a call and one of our stylists would be happy to collaborate.

Otherwise, there is always the fallback option – nothing like a cute baby shot to show just how delicious all that coagulated grease can be:

Mmmmm.

Crispin has done a great job on this one, and you have to hand it to Domino’s, it takes guts to admit that your pizza tastes like cardboard and that you will never again fake it for a photo shoot.  But these days, the cheese pull, while being a complex shot, is less and less common.  Gone are the days of lacquer and wax.  The vast majority of food being shot these days is the real thing.  It looks beautiful because it IS beautiful!  Picked fresh from the market that very morning by someone who has an encyclopedic knowledge of the ingredient as well as an eye for how it will look on camera.  And that is the honest truth.

But getting out there, sitting at a table in a field where the food was grown – it is great way to gain perspective.  And more importantly, just a great way to eat.  Outside, under the sun, it really feels free.  A sky-high ceiling, a bit of breeze – the food is just more present.  Like the difference between shrink-wrap and something from the farmer’s market.

Andrea Wyner has been documenting these dinners for several years now, and will be photographing more this season as well.  It is a special challenge because it combines the diversity of a travel shoot with the time-sensitive pressures of a wedding.  The best moments are fleeting and they combine people, environments, and food.  Funny how all the best aspects of the actual dinner are added complexities for the photographer.

According to Andrea, “Even though the dinners are in the most beautiful green settings it can feel like a fast paced busy kitchen!”  Luckily she is outstanding with a camera, with the patience for great shots and the dexterity to capture them in the blink of a shutter.  We’ll be posting more shots from the series as the 2010 season unfolds.  Until then, make an effort to get outside and eat under the sun!  Your local farmer will thank you.