For the majority of the summer, we’ve been going to a different farmers market to avoid the crowds of our neighborhood market.
It’s a shame I can’t walk to get my weekly fruits and vegetables, but I just don’t have time (read: patience) to mosey on down the cobblestone, in the blazing hot sun, looking around at all the stands, taste testing samples as I go, like the rest of the folks do. I like to get to the market, purchase my food, and be happily on my way home in about 20 minutes flat.
End of rant 🙂
The prettiest triple berry crumble I’ve ever seen
Instead, we’ve been going to the Shoreline farmers market on Saturdays (10am-3pm if you live in the area!), which is actually super-convenient because it’s located in the parking lot of Central Market, the grocery store where we usually shop for the rest of our food and bulk staples. So, it works out for the better in the end.
That’s where I found this absolutely amazing Triple Berry Crumble, in an adorable presentation to boot. I’d given myself “homework” to find something fun to photograph and this little dessert fit the bill. Homework you can eat at the end? Yes, please!
And of course, I gravitated toward the food in the mason jar LOL
Anyway, I give it an A+ for reusable packaging!
“Hero angles” in food photography
So I’d learned a great tip from Two Loves Studio, a food photography resource for all skill levels, and wanted to try it out. It was a tip that would help me find my food’s “hero angle.” AKA the angle at which it looks best.
When you see a food photo and you’re like, “WOW THAT LOOKS SO DELICIOUS I NEED THIS IN MY MOUTH ASAP!” Yeah, you like that photo so much because the photographer successfully captured its hero angle.
The thing is, before reading this tip from Rachel’s blog, it hadn’t even occurred to me that food would have a “hero angle” or that that’s what I should be striving for in a shoot. The extent of my photo shoot strategy was basically: make this look good.
I highly recommend checking out Rachel’s site if you’re looking to improve your skills. She’s got a ton of free resources. I’m so glad I found it because before I started reading her posts, I’d been going about my photography all wrong. Namely:
- Not doing any research to see what information was out there on food photography tips and techniques.
- Not looking at other food photographers because I thought it would stifle my own unique vision or creativity.
Yes, these are pretty obvious things. Yes, I feel silly to write them down here but they are serious realizations and I must document them!
Anyway, I had a bit of a breakthrough after reading Rachel’s resources and working on this hero angle business. I’ve learned I have so much to learn, and that I can keep on improving if I put my mind (and energy and heart and soul and everything lol) to it. Yeah! 🙂
DIY powdered sugar for the win
On a somewhat unrelated note, I’m happy to report that I’ve now made yet another fabulous ingredient in my Vitamix that I didn’t even know was possible to make at home until I perused the cookbook that came with the machine: powdered sugar.
It is, quite simply, granulated sugar + corn starch. In a blender. Blended until fine and powdery for ~30 seconds or so.
Guys, it was like the coolest science experiment! For a few seconds, the mixture just whirred away in the blender not doing much. Then, before I realized what was happening, suddenly a winter wonderland of powdery goodness appeared inside the blender pitcher.
Freaking amazing. (Hi, food nerd here again. Reporting for duty.)
Powdered sugar was never going to be an ingredient I wanted to buy in bulk because I don’t really use it. But knowing that I can make it from two staple ingredients that I already have in my home already? Deal-breaker. I’ll be dusting everything from here until Sunday.
See ya later!
But seriously, it’s so easy and so delicious and I honestly can’t believe you’re still reading this and not trying to make it yourself. If you’ve got a Vitamix that is. I’m not sure if this will work with other blenders. But why not try?
Want to know what else I’ve made in my Vitamix? Check out this post for more unusual applications.
In summary:
- If you live near Shoreline (north of Seattle) please go find some of that berry crumble and treat yo-self!
- You can make powdered sugar in your Vitamix blender. Seriously, it’s amazing!
- Trying to improve your food photography skills? Check out Two Loves Studio for helpful tips.
