Guest Blogging - Food Photography #10

If you agree with me when I say light is the most important and key factor in food photography...then today's post is something which will enlighten you on this topic. Being in a place where sun always play hide and seek, clicking food images become challenging. When you know the time and intensity of the natural light along with shadow direction, then you can take better pictures. It's not just sun light it is whole new a sub-subject in food photography. Understanding the light and clicking accordingly is what we are going to do today. When I askedArfi of Homemades to do a food photography post, she graciously accepted my invitation and sent me this fabulous post. Thank you Arfi for taking out time and doing such a fabulous post. Talking about Arfi, she is an super talented passionate food blogger, who I came across during Joy From Fasting To Feasting - I. Bowled by the charm of her food pictures and writing style. Here is what Arfi has to say to you.......

PAINT WITH LIGHTS:

One element of photography that is so important is lighting. Don't think you will be able to deny it. Your photo will look absolutely amazing when the light is right, capturing details that stars the whole frame, illuminating curves of swirly cupcakes, the melting cheese in grilled cheese sandwiches, for instance. On the other hand, you won't get a plus when your photo is underexpose or overexpose which may eliminate details that supposed to be presented.

Your lighting is your way to let the food speak by itself, letting the audience understand and feel what it tastes like, how good it looks, and how delicious it is to eat. With different lighting techniques, I can highlight the specific areas to be pronounced more than the less interesting ones. Sometimes, I let the shadow drop where it is, to create mood and to give dimension so that the photo won't look flat.

I love using natural light in food photography, although sometimes I have to use softbox or speedlight to fill in the shadow for a change. Still, sunlight is my favourite light source.

Sun is my best friend, not that because I am a tropical girl, but it does have qualities in it. It provides a huge amount of light available for us to use. Whether it shines through your windows or French doors, or peek a little bit from your balcony or even larger amount of lights outdoor, sunlight gives its most quality of lights. Celebrate it by using as much as you can to produce good quality photographs.

Yes, sunlight is changing its quality almost indefinitely. At my place, 8am sunlight is diffused and white. So beautiful to capture breakfast in the morning. Yet, it will change again to golden colour when it is going past 11am. I often use this quality to capture lunch or afternoon tea. At 3pm, the sunlight is a bit tricky, as it turns out to be harsh and diffused interchangebly at a very slight changing of time. This happens when we have a hot sunny whole day. Unpredictable.

Each place has different quality of sunlight. You have to observe the light around you, so you can judge and use it accordingly. I'm lucky to live in a countryside in a 110years old villa which has huge tall windows and wide tall French doors around the house that makes me easier to choose where to work in. I still favour our bedroom windows though, and it is facing north.

There are ways to choose and use lighting techniques, whether it is backlighting, side lighting, the combination of those with fill-in flash, perhaps.

It seems that many of us use backlighting as a fave way to achieve certain results. I love working with backlighting. It can illuminate details of food. If your backlighting is too harsh, you can diffuse it with old cloth to cover your windows/doors or whatever your light source coming from or you can use a diffuser from a 5-in-1 reflector kit.

Technically, backlighting is to light object from behind it using the light source, either natural light or studio light. The shadows will fall on the foreground, causing dark shadows in front of the subject. These shadows can be filled in. The light that comes on the plate illuminate details of rice, fried dried anchovies with the other elements, and also gives the shape of flowery-cut tomato on the background a shout.

To fill in the shadows I often use reflectors. I have 56cm 5-in-1 and 102x168cm 5-in-1 reflectors to use which are clammed on reflector hands. Other times, I just wear my white T-shirt or a styrofoam card that comes from electronic box.

I also sometimes use a softbox and speedlight flash to help filling in the shadows. Just see what the situation calls, really. In a bright sunny day, I would just use white or silver reflectors as the fill in card, on the other hand, when it is dark and I still need to work on some photos, I would find continuous softbox lighting kit a handy gadget and easier to work with.

Side lighting can give excellent effect on curves of food. It gives a dimension that illuminate details, like the details on the skin of roast tomatoes and vine on a baby rocket leaf on the left side of the plate. With a white card to fill in the shadow on the right down corner, the details of forked egg with runny egg yolk still can be gained and shown.

I also love working on moody lighting. To me, it is so special, not only it is challenging, but also involves deeper feeling and senses. High key lighting may be giving the sense of airy, light, cheerful and clean frame, while low key seems to appear moody, dark, and mysterious. Ploughing in that sense into particular setting is a mystery itself, although it seems moody light food photography often is underrated by many people.

Are there particular rules to apply moody light on food photography? I don't know. I just believe it can be applied on some type of food, especially those which have deeper character and texture, dark and luscious, wintery type of food. I am speaking about sticky, gooey brownies, which is more an all-season food really. Or, a thick hearty casserole in a earthenware dish with dark backdrop of wintertime can be an option. A glass of wine with sourdough dinner rolls with cheese and silverware, perhaps. Even a basket of assorted autumn fruits can do too. I can go on.

Observing still life paintings on the internet, museum, books or gallery, I have found out that low light has been the chosen type of lighting to create mood most of the time. Have a look at the works of Cezanne, for instance, and you will know what I mean. Middle Ages and Renaissance still life paintings as well as modern ones are excellent source of ideas and observation on how lights can do on food to create mood.

Where there are ideas, there are ways to create. My motto. Have fun with your lights!

You can find Arfi @

Website : HomeMadeS

In case if you have missed the entries under this series, here are the links to the posts...

Guest Post- Food Photography #9 by Pavithra of Dishes From My Kitchen.

Guest Post - Food Photography #8 by Sandhya of Sandhya's Kitchen.

Guest Post- Food Photography #7 by Deeba of Passionate About Baking.

Guest Post - Food Photography #6 by Nags of Edible Garden.

Guest Blogging - Food Photography #5 by Sunshinemom aka Harini Prakash of Tongue Ticklers.

Guest Blogging - Food Photography #4 by Nithi Rajasekaran of The 4th Sense Cooking.

Guest Blogging - Food Photography #3 by Nisha of Look Who's Cooking Too.

Guest Blogging - Food Photography #2 by Kulsum of Journey Kitchen.

Guest Blogging - Food Photography #1 by Namitha of Collaborative Curry.

My First Ever "Love Letter".....

This post has been selected by BlogAdda for Tangy Tuesday Picks.

These days when open letters are so much in fashion, I thought of writing one for my blog. But before I do that I even want to dedicate a song to my blog…which when I hear I always think of my blog. Tere Mere Prem Kahani Hain Mushkil.... (It’s me singing for my blog about the love we share and about the difficulties we are facing) If this leaves a smile on your face…then smile wide as smile takes you a mile…..But the fact is fact. Now coming to the letter,

Dear Yummy Food,

I thought of writing this letter since sometime back, but something or other came creeping in and my letter to you got delayed. Those were the days when I had long empty hours to spend on nothing, no one to chat with with….just empty mind and empty hands. Those were the days when I used my computer to check only mails and wait to answer if any are there….the days when I used to call my mom and sis 10 times a day….saying missing you people….why don’t u come and take me back…the days when I learnt to cook on my own…the days when experimenting and experiencing the meal was the only thing I can do…..then one fine day when I was searching on some songs to download I saw a food link in the sidebar of Google search and from there a new world is born for me…a world full of yummy recipes…from then to today, I have always made it a point to search a simple to new to complicated to authentic to traditional to international recipe before I cook or bake in. Only because I wanted to know what the people around me in the world cook like….Life been so crazy after I discovered food blogs.

Later you (Yummy Food aka Kitchen Flavours) were born. At that time…it was just to pass the time…or to kill the time…or to share my kitchen experiences with my friends and cousins who are scattered all around the globe or to preserve my kitchen records or just to keep my mind and hands engaged. I started to discover new things only because of you. To bring you to life and keep you running was my only motto. It was a fabulous year….With in some days of blogging, I started receiving virtual awards…these pushed me to work more…..I cooked, clicked and cooked, clicked…..life was beautiful. And the good part of all this was I made friends and got a chance to peek into there virtual kitchens….

Those were the days when people (from food world) use to hide there identity. If calling on a Husband or Children they just used initials…..no social networking sites (facebook, twitter, ….)…the only way to interact with them is through there blogs. You can just imagine the face behind the talented blogs. There were virtual cooking events, which has even made my cooking skills sharpen and made me rush to the grocery store for the ingredients required. In the grocery store when someone picks up the unique ingredient like me I always use to think may be she is also a food blogger…shall I ask her or not…? Things like this always there in my mind….So that was the fun part being a blogger (food). No flick or photobucket to upload your pictures and then call it to blog….no picknik or photoshop to trim and trick…..just straight out of camera (SOOC) to computer and then to blog…..life was easy….

Then sitting at my home comfort I peeked into the kitchens of others and by seeing the pictures of the recipes and reading the post I could feel the warmth, aroma, spice and flavour. I was transported into there kitchen to taste it virtually. You can never guess how many times I thought of breaking down the monitor and entering into to hold that piece of cake or something delectable presented by you. Those were the days of regular blogging, the days when people (food blogger buddies) use to make frequent visits to your place to know updates, whether you post a recipe or not. When you are not posting for 2-3 days in a row….they even use to drop a friendly comment or mail in your enquiry. Such a sweet gesture….This gave my heart a feeling of warmth all the time….It’s always good and wonderful to know you are being taken care and you are in the company of loved ones….

Things change and so is the blogging (food)…when there used to be power cuts…I would go nuts over it…I have to think and re think what to do at those times….when my computer was under repair was totally mad thinking how to spend those huge hours….such was my addiction to blog. Now with change pace of my life, being a mom to one year old, double the responsibilities….I still squeeze my time to sit before the computer….to click what ever I made….may it be plain rice with dal or anything simple like that….only because…I don’t want to loose the contact with you.….who were there sharing my time, my life, my kitchen flavours….since 2008…..and I want this to go on because I wanted my little one to know, what her mumma did when she was so small and taking up all her time. I want my little one to know, what I cooked, clicked and did when she was asleep or busy with her toys or biting my hand when I sit before the computer to make a post or even watching TV.

Time changed…life changed…but one thing that did not change till today was the passion I hold for my blog. I groomed it and refined it...learnt more because of it…..made good and beast friends because of it….met new people…..learnt new cultures….One day when my little one grows up to read all this…..may be she will be proud of me….and moreover this is an online virtual dairy with lots and lots of love and warmth to her. I don’t know why but my heart is heavy…. as I close this letter ……..but still there is smile on my lips….as I close this letter….

Forever,

Lubna Karim.

This post is going to join the celebration held at Tika's Cemplang Cemplung in the honour of her blog's second anniversary. Wish your blog many more yum years to come Tika...You rock....

NOTE: I dedicate this letter to all the lovely people who come to my blog and leave there valuable comments, compliments and suggestions. I owe you a lot. Heartfelt thank you….A visual treat to you all......Recipe in next post......

Yakhni Pulao Shahjahani - A Royal Feast From The Kitchen's Of Mughal's

According to me cooking Biryani/Pulao is an art….with fair part of science and maths. You just can’t master it in a day or two. Over the years you get experience in making a delectable pulao. I call Biryani a gastronomically adventure…..a beautiful combination of colours and spices….colours that attract you towards the food….where as spices play drum roll on your palate. I don’t know why but thee is something magical about the Biryani which is made in weddings. Only two things drag me towards wedding functions……Bride and Biryani. However the girl may be but with wedding outfit and shy blush she looks gorgeous and however the wedding be…Biryani always rocks at weddings.

I purely don’t know what the good reason is behind a yum biryani in weddings…but I feel may because you are in the company of loved ones…friends, family and relatives…playing, pranking, chit-chatting,…..or may be because rice is cooked to perfection on slow coal fire or may be because experts do it….whatever may be the thing….Biryani in weddings is something everyone looks for and talks about….

There are more than 26 varieties of biryanis made in India. Do you read that? Yeah, to name a few…There is Hyderabadi Biryani, Awadhi Biryani, Bombay Biryani, Sindhi Biryani, Calcutta Biryani. There are two methods in making Biryani namely Katchi Biryani and Pakki Biryani. Katchi Biryani, where the meat is marinated in curd and then steamed with rice….whereas in Pakki Biryani, meat is cooked with all the accompanying spices and then the rice is simmered with the resultant gravy. The one I made here is one of the simple form of lamb meat biryani. It’s spiceful, aromatic, flavoursome, simple and gratifying. One of my favourite weekend one pot meal.

YAKHNI PULAO SHAHJAHANI:

Adapated from Nuskha-e-Shahjahani

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 kg Lamb meat pieces
• 1 kg Basmati Rice, washed and soaked in water for ½ hr.
• 200gm. Ghee
• 2 tbsp. Almond paste
• 200gm. Yoghurt/Curd
• 3 sticks Cinnamon
• 2 tbsp. Coriander powder
• 2 tbsp. Garam Masala
• 5 Cloves
• 1 tbsp. Peppercorns
• 5 Green Cardamoms
• 3 Onions, finely sliced
• 3 tbsp. Lemon juice
• ¼ kg Ginger-Garlic paste
• 1 generous pinch of Saffron/Kesar
• 2 tbsp. lukewarm milk
• 2 tbsp. fresh Coriander leaves, minced
• 1 tbsp. fresh Mint leaves, minced
• Salt

PREPARATION:

• Mix lukewarm milk and Saffron and set aside.
• Marinate meat pieces with almond paste, yoghurt, half of ginger-garlic paste, half of coriander powder, half of garam masala and salt. Cover with a plastic foil and leave it in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
• Take out meat from the fridge and then add 5-6 glasses of water and cook till meat becomes tender. You can even Pressure cook till meat becomes tender. Then using a strainer or muslin cloth separate the stock.
• In a heavy bottom cooking vessel, add 1 tbsp. ghee and to this add 2 cloves, peppercorns and 3 tbsp. of finely sliced onions and fry till onions turn nice golden. Add this temper to the stock and set aside. This tempered stock is called ‘Yakhni’.
• Now par boil in the above stock by adding remaining ginger-garlic paste, salt, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and set aside.
• Take a heavy bottom cooking vessel, and add little ghee to the bottom of the vessel, now add reserved meat pieces with garam masala and spread rice. Pour remaining ghee on top along with lemon juice and saffron soaked milk. Add fresh minced coriander and mint leaves. Cook on dum for 20-25 minutes.
• Serve hot with dahi ki chutney, dalcha, ambadae ki bhaji, or any side dish or u r choice.
• Last but not least add your 'love' to make the dish 'YUMMY'.

HOW TO COOK ON DUM?

Dum literally means ‘breath’. This process involves maturing of prepared dish after the completion of the cooking process. The vessel is sealed as tightly as possible either by foil, or cloth or tight dough (made with wheat flour, salt and water) or with a heavy stone or weight. After doing so the vessel is placed on the very slow fire. In weddings or functions, if cooking for a large number of people, few coals are also placed on the lid so that the recipe cooks uniformly. This process allows the individual flavour of the dish to blend to give there own unique flavour. The vessel should be opened only before serving.

NOTES:

GARAM MASALA:

I used 6 cloves, 6 green cardamom, 1 bay leaf, 1 star anise, 1 black cardamom, 1 nutmeg, 1 mace, 2 2 inch pieces of cinnamon. I dry roasted these ingredients in a non-stick heavy bottom pan until they are lightly warm. Cooled and grounded to make a fine powder. Store this in air-tight container or zip-lock bag until use.

ABOUT SAFFRON & MILK:

When adding Saffron strands to milk, just rub your palms to heat up and then gently rub saffron strands in your hands and drop them in lukewarm milk. This gives nice aroma to the recipe.

ALMOND PASTE:

Soak 6 almonds in warm (not hot) water for 30 minutes. Peel the skin and dry roast a bit on a non-stick pan and grind to smooth paste by adding little milk or cream.

TIPS:

You can add more layers if using a small vessel, just remember a layer of ghee, then meat, then rice, then ghee, meat, rice…..follow and then add coriander, mint, lemon and saffron.

Before serving, using a fork, just scrape the rice gently. Top with almond flakes, fresh coriander and mint. Or you can even add fried onions.

Here is a picture of Gohst aur Kaddu Ka Dalcha - Tender Lamb Bones Cooked with Bottle gourd in tangy tomato-tamarind based gravy.

Linking this royal biryani to Royal Feast- Biryani at Kaarasaaram.

NEXT ON YUMMY FOOD:

My very first love letter.......do visit again to know more...till then take care....enjoy cooking....