The only way to start a year
Jessica’s ancestral ice cream spot in Ogden, UT
Sublime bamboo shoot salad at Spicy Lao Thai, Burbank, IL. SWSIDE
Looks cute, tho I hear those are Sysco patties + too much goop. Au Cheval
Indian potluck throwdown
Florida flea market snaxx
Stone crab claws, Cortez, FL
Mullet off the smoker, Cortez, FL Mullet Festival
“Cortez Hotdog” Cortez, FL Mullet Festival
Baby’s first Mother-in-law
Baby’s first Jim Shoe
Hot mix for beefs at Zach & Julia’s rehearsal dinner party
My dogs on Bon Appetit’s Insta! Thanks Julia!
OG Hot Brown, Brown Hotel, Louisville
l.n.s.
Don’t like donuts, but this shot worked out. Old Fashioned Donuts
Uncle Joe’s, Chatham
Sze Chuan Cuisine, hate to say this, but this is NOT OKAY
One of the things I ate more than most this year, Kimchi wang mandoo @ Joong Boo
Lothson’s, Dekalb
Louisa’s Pizza, Crestwood
Viet feast at New Asia Cuisine, Albany Park
Pig ear from Richwell Market food stall
Lamb brain, thanks @nookleptia!
Drank a lot of these. #micheladas
Eckhart Park
Baby’s first octopi
Sujuk, Upper East Side, NYC
Prep list #ternerderber
Many tape labels
Placemat menu, Grand Haven, MI
My Cohcinita pibil, Ox-Bow #mexicannight
Happy place, Virtue Cider
Best helper in the world
Lol
Dick’s hive
John Rossi’s 20th Anniversary Party
Introducing camp to Italian Beef, they were absolute savages
Kimchi deuce
Big ol’ Coral tooth mushroom, Saugatuck State Park
#mac
Brisket, upping my BBQ game
Samson loves Vienna Beef
Kenosha, WI drive in
Best burger of the year at the Spot, Kenosha, WI
Tacos de pescadilla, Bien Trucha, Geneva, IL
#caprese
Grass carp smoking at Art EXPO, Michael Rakowitz’ “Every Weapon Is A Tool
If You Hold It Right”
Bonkers advertising at Super Sub, Marquette Park
Oh Matt, “Al Trunko” tour for Trunk Show
Favorite queer Hawaiian joint in Milwaukee!
#rocklobster
Cilantro drying room @ Birrieria Zaragoza
Spinzer Halal on Devon. Get the Hunter beef sandwich!
The rigs at Jamaican Jerk, Indianapolis
Conch at Joong Boo
Bulgogi cheesesteak, Café Orient 33, Albany Park
Happy 1st Birthday Birthday Nadia! #haring
Tarama, carp roe
Fish balls, Super H-Mart
#pulpo
La Quercia Acorn-fed Berkshire Prosciutto
Missing Basque country, pinxtos at home
Best meal of the year! #pakistanichristmas Nihari @ Bar BQ Tonite, Mississauga, Ontario
Best meal of the year! #pakistanichristmas Reshmi & Bihari kababs @ Bar BQ Tonite, Mississauga, Ontario
For those that follow me on Instagram, many of these pics will look familiar. I do love IG. However, its really changing the way I shoot food, for better or worse. Primarily, the issue is composition, the square format. Typically, I shoot with my iPhone’s camera and then edit in IG, which results in a sloppier approach to framing the original shot. Then of course there is the shrunken-down experience of viewing images on one’s phone– its not the best format to capture detail. One solution is a cue I’ve taken from the IG feeds of food magazines such as Bon Appetit and Saveur, which is to take overhead shots which rather than focusing on the gooey, sexy details of food, reduce the images into emblems or symbols. I like that, though without a tripod, its a tricky vantage to shoot clean, sharp images. They might look okay on one’s phone, but even on a blog post, the images can get blurry. And lastly, there is this growing stigma that food shots, like baby and pet photos, are basic and passé. This has led me to shoot more of the context, scenery, etc. of what and where I am eating rather than the food itself. I like this challenge, though actual photos of food always get the most likes. Instagram may or may not be killing food porn, but is has definitely changed the game.
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