(ABOVE: A pair of Polaroid 256-LED light panels -- wrapped in paper towels to soften and diffuse the light -- illuminate the "fearsome foursome" of aioli on my kitchen table: garlic, egg, lemon and olive oil).
Everyone – from amateur to professional photographer -- likes to shoot holiday food. It’s no longer enough to merely prepare our favorite dishes, we must digitally capture and thus memorialize for friends and family today and generations to come the recipes of our Thanksgiving dreams.
Does anyone remember the precise moment we became so geeky?
For me that moment came when I discovered aioli (the French spelling and pronunciation) or allioli (the three-syllable Spanish spelling and pronunciation). As might be expected, the French and Spanish have long battled over which country first invented the garlic-mayonnaise condiment so prevalent in the cuisines of both modern-day cultures. While both nations present legitimate arguments, the Spanish claim the word allioli is Arabic and/or Moorish in origin -- nearly all words beginning with the prefix “al” (as in algebra) have their roots in Arabic languages. Thus if the 740-year Moorish rule of Spain from 711 to 1492 gives us any clue, chances are “allioli” was invented sometime during this period, long before it first surfaced in France as the “sauce of Provence.”
But, please, my French friends and Francophiles, no hate mail, s'il vous plaît.
What I know for certain is this: aioli is made using a fearsome foursome of Mediterranean ingredients – olive oil, egg yolks, lemon juice and garlic. I wanted to photograph the ingredients before setting to work making my annual batch of the garlicky good stuff that I offer guests at Thanksgiving alongside the half of the turkey my wife allows me to cook using herbs de Provence. The combination -- turkey à la herbs de Provence and aioli -- is killer.
(ABOVE: The first table-top shot of the "fearsome foursome.")
Setting up a quick tabletop "studio" on my kitchen table wasn’t a big deal. Over the years I’ve learned to work fast in the field (even when the “field” is my home) and with a minimal of resources at my disposal. For illumination I employed a pair of Polaroid 256-LED light panels to serve as a constant (and easily adjustable) light source. Problem is the light panels when used at close range (in this instance, on the kitchen table within inches from my “subjects”) were pushing out too much harsh light. Too lazy to affix the panels to tripods to put a greater distance between the off-camera lighting and the ingredients (remember, I needed to get to work -- and soon -- actually “making” the aioli for Thanksgiving Day), I opted for the next best thing: paper towels. Don’t laugh. Folding two sheets of Brawny each over the Polaroid panels sufficiently softened and diffused the light so that I was ready to go.
Of course, our kitchen’s bead-board wall wasn’t necessarily the best backdrop in the world, so I grabbed a big square of foam core from the trunk of my car with which to use in alternate shots.
As for camera settings, my Nikon D800 was running at ISO 1600 at 1/125 and f/2.8, using my 70-200mm 2.8 lens.
With a little trial and error, I think I was able to capture the dignity of Messrs. Egg, Lemon, Garlic & Olive Oil.
No, I won’t be submitting these images to Bon Appetit or Gourmet any time soon in the hopes of securing their next cover shot. This was more or less an academic exercise in by-the-seat-of-the-pants holiday food photography that took a total of 15 minutes from conception to shoot.
Equally important, I have a lot to be thankful for. Not the least of which is the fact my entire kitchen smells of garlic -- I think I might have created my best and creamiest aioli, or allioli, ever.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you (everywhere) and thank you for joining me during this ride as I transition from a workaday newspaper camera grunt to an independent commercial photographer – or, at the very least, a guy who knows how to make a fairly butt-kickin’ version of garlic-mayonnaise.
I couldn't ask for better company.
