What You See is What You Get

I’m supposed to register last two weeks ago for the Food Styling Seminar by Dolores Custer on July 25th. I was actually sure that I wanted to attend even if I already knew how things are going to turn out. Her name has been familiar to me since my college days through Restaurants and Institutions Magazine. I just thought I could gain some knowledge and meet a few people by attending this seminar. Who knows, I could even meet some potential employers who could hire me for my unique abilities - whatever that is. So, what do I have to lose? Well, I will lose P3, 500.00 and I could use that money to buy some bowls, plates, cutleries and other accessories.

I told Jeremy, a friend of mine who offered me a job to be one of his culinary instructors teaching health and nutrition at the International Culinary Arts Academy of Cebu. So, here I am certain to attend this course when I received an email from him advising me not to register because of various reasons. When he mentioned that, I did realize that he’s right and I should always listen to my inner voice.



I believe most of us are familiar what food stylists do. Paint this with wood stain, paste that with Elmer’s glue, spray this with glycerin or pour that with motor oil and many other tricks of the trade to make food really appealing to the public eye but what you see on the photo is not what you always get. By the end of the day, they have to throw the food away because they are not fit for human consumption. But then again, there's new trends for food styling where they use more edible ingredients to style their foods. I do respect what they do but it’s not what I want and it’s definitely who I am.

What I want is a “what you see is what you get” kind of food photos which are untouched by inedible materials but using the freshest ingredients which are enhanced by a lot of natural soft lighting, right angle and clear shots. What I actually need is a food photography class. But they are also expensive and it’s something that I couldn’t afford right now. Practice is the only thing I that could do at the moment. There are times that I enjoyed taking photos more than cooking the food itself. For me, it was a therapeutic experience.



I know that I haven’t really done a lot of complicated dishes on this blog but I could honestly say that most cookbook authors and food bloggers doesn’t need a food stylist who uses that kind of technique to bring out the best in their food. It's also challenging to do everything by yourself. I could honestly say that I enjoyed that too because I have this sense of freedom and openness. I do have limited resources, space and set-up and even limited in really good ingredients. Maybe I was looking for berries of all kinds, fennel, heirloom tomatoes, artichokes, some cherries, peaches, figs and many others which are not available here. Maybe some carrots, red radish and beets with their green tops on would be great, not cut-off and wrapped in plastic. But even with inadequate resources, I was still able to take decent shots of food, both raw and cooked. Not bad for someone who doesn’t have any training in photography but of course I’m grateful for Jehan who encouraged me to create this blog, to my sister Susana for taking some of the photos and for lending me her camera (which is almost mine now) and to my brother-in-law Carl for the professional tricks and tips to help me get started last year.

Although this blog is not all about recipes with step-by-step photos of each procedure, I guess it would be a challenge for me to post more complex dishes for those people who are supporting this blog. And guess what, there are more soup recipes to come.

So, when there's a chance that I can cook for you, I'll make sure that what you see on the photo is what you will actually receive from my kitchen.

Thank you.