biggest loser

Preparing Our Next Shoot

I wanted to document a bit of how we prepare for a new stock shoot.  Unfortunately I’m not shooting hot models a la Chase Jarvis so I’m not going to be live demo’ing anytime soon!

Our thought process on a new photo shoot works something like this:

1. Overall concept/theme/ingredient
2. Specific recipe
3. Lighting/angles/technicals
4. Shop
5. Shoot Day

1. Overall concept/theme/ingredient

We shoot two days a week – Friday and Sunday. If we shoot more that’s fantastic.  If not, oh well.  We plan those two days to have one breakfast or lunch type shoot (Friday) and one dinner/dessert (Sunday).  It’s easier to spend a long time cooking/shooting on Sundays for us and dinner/dessert usually seems to take longer than breakfast/lunch.

I follow some really great foodies on Twitter/Facebook/blogs.  One thing I always look for is a recipe that a) will taste great and b) will LOOK great.  As a bonus I often look to see if I can find a healthy version so nobody gains 10 pounds per recipe I shoot.

2. Specific Recipe

So Friday we need to create a lunch. I bookmarked a delicious looking recipe two weeks ago and decided quickly I’d try that this week.  The recipe will be 3 Cheese Chicken Cacciatore Manicotti.  That was easy.  We also need to figure out dinner for Sunday.  I wanted to find something not as “fancy” as cacciatore manicotti so we looked at several recipe sites, some cookbooks and finally decided on something the Biggest Loser Cookbook called “Mom’s New Beef Stew.”  That fits my requirements: tastes great, looks super yummy and bonus: it’s fairly healthy at 275 cals per serving.

Some weeks I will decide on a recipe by ingredient.  Take Kahlua for instance.  We have leftover Kahlua from the chocolate mousse we made a week ago.  This Chocolate Truffle Pie also uses Kahlua.  If we don’t make that Sunday for dessert I’m certain we’ll make it next week.  Using ingredients you have on hand greatly reduces wastes and product going bad/old.

3. Lighting/angles/technicals

After printing the recipe and making a shopping list we write on the back of the recipe some ideas for the shoot.  Mostly this is just note-form.  Here are some examples from our banana split shoot:

• Yellow/orange
• high key
• OJ – don’t think milk will work
• Balance the color
• Angles: will be propped up?
• Spoonful

Generally meaningless until you get in the shoot.  We did end up using a yellow napkin and orange juice – it balanced the color very well.  We did some shots near the end of the shoot with a spoonful of split in front of the dish.  We tried but didn’t use milk because it did, in fact, look bad.  We ended up propping the bowl with a small bottle cap for a few shots.

4. Shop

Shopping day is Thursday.  That dictates our Friday shoot – if we need something super-fresh we may have to pick that up Friday morning before the shoot.  Sunday’s shopping is done except fresh on Thursday as well.  WE have a local Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings year-round so we do our fresh shopping for Sunday then.

With our recipe and our ideas already in place shopping day is generally pretty straightforward.  Pick the best items you can find.

5. Shoot Day

Well, shoots are shoots.  The only thing we try and do specifically at each shoot is pre-organize our ideas so we don’t cut up the food before we’re done with it.  The further into a shoot we get the more we “mess” the dish and the more we feel free to cut, chop, move, adjust, add to, take from, etc.  We want to get those setup shots first, the meat of the shoot, then start playing with the outer edge of the shoot – closeups, eating, some unusual stuff just to see how it works, etc.  Get the bulk of work done when the food is as fresh and perfect as possible.  Once you get that THEN experiment.

Wrap Up

So that’s the way a typical shoot has been going for us.  We are pro photographers but very amateur food photographers. The combination is sometimes an interesting one.  I can figure out how to light something I’ve never shot before but I may not know how to drizzle syrup “correctly” yet.  We continue to read foodie sites, blogs, watch food stylist tutorials on Youtube and read food photo books.  Many many ways to learn in 2010!

Hope you enjoyed the post!  It’s great to be back and thank you for all the comments and well-wishes recently.

biggest loser

Low fat Kahlua chocolate mousse

This Low fat Kahlua Chocolate Mousse recipe may save my LIFE.  I am a chocoholic, yep.  And for years I’ve tried to lose weight and eat healthy all to succumb to chocolate again at some point. I must say before I even begin comparisons or anything of the such – this tastes AMAZING.  It was so good we felt happy not to have leftovers because they would be gone too. It tastes absolutely delicious.

The typical chocolate mousse has 250 calories, 15g of fat, 440mg of sodium, 28 carbs, 3g protein.

Low Fat Chocolate Mousse has 145 calories, 3g of fat, 43mg of sodium, 22 carbs, and 3g of protein!

So yes, if you eat TWO of this recipe you’ve ingested 40 more calories, still less than half the fat, still 20% of the sodium and twice as much protein as if you ate a single serving of your typical mousse.  This stuff is practically life-saving!  This recipe comes from the Biggest Loser Cookbook which I highly recommend all homes carry.

Low fat Chocolate Kahlua Mousse

1/2 cup fat-free milk 1/4 cup kahlua 1.5 oz sugar-free, low-fat chocolate mousse mix 1 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder 2   chocolate graham crackers, crushed 1 cup thawed fat-free frozen whipped topping

1 In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk, Kahlua, mousse mix, and cocoa. 2 With an electric mixer fitted with beaters, whip on low speed until blended. 3 Slowly increase the mixer speed to high, whipping for 5 minutes, or until fluffy. 4 In each of 4 large wine glasses or glass dessert bowls, layer 1/4 cup of the mousse, 2 teaspoons of crumbs, and 2 tablespoons of topping. 5 Repeat layering once more, using the remaining ingredients except for about 1/8 teaspoon of graham cracker crumbs. 6 Sprinkle the top of each serving with a few of the remaining graham cracker crumbs. 7 Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Nutrition Facts Serving size: 1/4 of a recipe (3.1 ounces). Servings: 4 Nutrition information provided by the recipe author. Amount Per Serving Calories 145 Calories From Fat (16%) 22.92 % Daily Value Total Fat 3g 5% Saturated Fat 3.66g 18% Cholesterol 6.44mg 2% Sodium 43mg 2% Potassium 107.95mg 3% Total Carbohydrates 22.23g 7% Fiber 1.52g 6% Sugar 8.48g   Protein 3g 6%

biggest loser

Healthy Sesame Chicken

This recipe allows you to eat all that yummy Chinese food at home.  Let’s compare how this one stacks up to a personal favorite, PF Changs.

The PF Chang Sesame Chicken contains 535 calories, 15g of fat, 76 carbs and 39g of protein per serving.

This Healthy Sesame Chicken contains 457 calories, 6.5g of fat, 38 carbs and 59g of protein per serving.

80 fewer calories, less than half the fat, half the carbs and almost twice the protein makes this recipe a DEFINITE keeper!

 

Healthy Sesame Chicken

1/4 cup unbleached flour or all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp salt 1/8 tsp ground black pepper 4   boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 2 inch 4 inch strips 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 tsp dark sesame oil 2 Tbs sesame seeds, toasted 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives (optional) 1.5 cups basmati rice

1 In a gallon-size plastic bag, combine flour, salt and pepper. 2 Add slightly wet chicken, seal bag, and shake well to coat. 3 Coat a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and warm over medium-high heat. 4 Add chicken to skillet and cook, stirring, for 8-10 minutes, or until no longer pink. 5 Transfer to a plate. 6 Reduce heat to medium. 7 Combine soy sauce and sugar in the skillet. 8 Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. 9 Add oil and sesame seeds. 10 Add chicken and chives. 11 Toss and serve immediatedly.

Nutrition Facts Serving size: 1/4 of a recipe (12.5 ounces). Servings: 4 Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients. Amount Per Serving Calories 457.85 Calories From Fat (12%) 56.6 % Daily Value Total Fat 6.5g 10% Saturated Fat 1.32g 7% Cholesterol 136.88mg 46% Sodium 834.37mg 35% Potassium 701.34mg 20% Total Carbohydrates 37.83g 13% Fiber 2.28g 9% Sugar 13.11g   Protein 58.91g 118%