"styling" news and stories

After posting about food advertising versus food reality, I got curious about exactly how food stylists make stuff look so tasty for the cameras. Alanna's written about this before too - she notes that adding a tablespoon of soapy water to your coffee will make it appear extra hot and bubbly. Here are a few other tips I learned - hope you've got a spray gun and some motor oil!

- Half-cook barbecued ribs are painted with wood stain for a glossy, extra juicy look.

- Dyed, whipped shortening often subs for milkshakes because it looks so dense and creamy. Mmmm, Crisco.

- Motor oil makes great pancake syrup - super thick and glossy.

- "Roast" turkey and chicken sometimes comes by its caramel-colored skin via a blowtorch and several layers of food coloring.

- Sesame seeds are hand-glued on hamburger buns using tweezers for even spacing.

- Got milk? More like 'Got Elmer's Glue?'

I know, it seems like only days ago that I posted about Michael Ray's food photography blog. Well, today I came across Still Life with..., a food photography blog started by L of cookbook 411. Although she's incredibly modest, her food photos are wonderful and the insights that come along with them are great both for their plain language and focus on the home photographer. Just browsing over the recent entries I came across very useful discussions of HDR food photography, workflow, and a big list of other online resources for food photographers. It looks like Still Life with... is just shy of two months old. With any luck, L will keep going with it. I look forward to seeing what else it brings.