Skip to main content

Monatsarchive: April 2014

A Two Day Food Photography, Prop & Food Styling Workshop in Atlanta June 7th & 8th!!

Workshops

I am so excited to announce this workshop! After the success of
our sold out workshop in Atlanta last year, I am teaming up with food
stylist
 Tami Hardeman and prop
stylist
 Mindi Shapiro again for an awesome workshop in Atlanta Georgia, June 7th – June 8th. (Read more about the
instructors here)


Have
you ever wished you had someone take you through selecting the best camera
angle, lens, light for your shots? How to use natural available light to create
your own food narrative?



Have
you ever wondered how on earth you would style that big bowl of stew to make it
as appetizing as the perfect slice of cake standing next to it?

Have
you ever wondered how a prop stylist layers and composes a shot to compliment
the food? Where does it all start? The food? The props? The camera angle?

Well…how
about a workshop with three creative minds ready to help?

Yep…

RhubarbTarts_RhubarbCrisps_HD_© Helene Dujardin 2012

We
all work in this field as our "real everyday" jobs but the need to
come together and teach and create independently from clients fuels us with lots
of energy and passion that we want to pass on to you. 

The
class is targeted to all levels and all three of us will be there to take your
photography, food styling and prop styling to the next level. Gently and
efficiently, we will give you the tools to let you express your creativity with
your styling and photography.

Here
are the details:
 

When: June 7th & 8th 2014

Where: Atlanta Georgia 

How
many students
:
12 

How
much:
the
workshop fee is $1250 and includes: 

– meet & greet on Friday June 6th from 7pm til 9pm,

– 2
days full of instructions with three established professionals,


dinner Saturday night (location TBA)


lunch, snacks and refreshments for both days (travel costs, transportation and
lodging not included) 

Please go HERE to register. See you soon!

Announcing Winner Of Lodge Cast Iron Giveaway!

Corn Lodge

This is probably my favorite picture I shot for Lodge Cast Iron Nation. I kow. It’s corn. Creamed corn. Iconic dish of the US that I did not before I moved to the US and married a Southerner. Such a simple and non pretentious side dish and so easy to mess up. My mother in law makes it from scratch and it is hard to beat but the version in Lodge blew our socks off.

Why is it my favorite picture? Simply because when we shot it, the whole idea of team work and telling a visual story of a recipe came together. The props chosen by the photo stylist Mindi Shapiro were just right and rustic enough to evoke cast iron cooking. The little negative space in the pan and creamy swirl worked by Tami Hardeman, our contributing food stylist is just perfect to show the consistency the creamed corn should have. I blocked and directed the light to be spot on the corn and still have some shadows and rustic feel around. We all did what we were supposed to do and it clicked. I had a huge smile on my face. It just jived.

Hopefully you will feel the same when cooking and reading from the book. I know one reader will… 

Congratulations to Isadora (Izzy) from She Likes Food who has won a copy of the book and a 12-inch square grill pan from Lodge. Please email your snail mail address to helene @ helenedujardin . com.

Pancakes Lodge

Lodge Cast Iron Nation Cookbook Release & A Giveaway!!

Lodge Clafoutis

I don’t often talk about work. Not the work that goes into this blog but the work that sometimes keeps away from it for long period of time. It’s no lack of recipes cooked and photographed though. I photograph cookbooks. That’s my full time job and one I absolutely love. Everyday I photograph recipes that you will hopefully cook and enjoy. Nothing gives me greater joy.

Everyday I get the chance to give a visual voice to words on a manuscript. As Senior Photographer for Oxmoor House publishing, I have the privilege of shooting for brands such as Southern Living, Cooking Light, Sunset, independent authors and big companies such as Lodge Cast Iron. I work closely with a creative team of editors and designers and spend my days on set with super talented food stylists and prop stylists. Our passion for food and photography unites us everyday over the same goal, to give beauty and visuals beyond the words on a page that you will read later and enjoy in your kitchen.

Lodge Beef Ash

That’s the best I can describe my full time job. And I love it. When I moved to Birmingham to come work at Oxmoor House, I had no idea of what was ahead of me, the connections I would make with like minded people in the industry and all the beautiful cookbooks I would get the chance to work on with our amazing food and prop stylists. We are a tight unit taking our responsibilities to authors and recipes incredibly seriously. With their talents and our ideas, I am able to dive in my own photography freely and geek out, take risks and have a load of fun at the same time.

This past Fall, we worked on an amazing book for Lodge Cast Iron, the well known original American cast iron cookware. And what a blast we had. It’s not easy to shoot things in black skillets let me tell you… but we were given complete creative freedom with just the directive of "make it beautiful, make it Lodge". This iconic brand deserved gorgeous imagery blending its natural rustic look and feel with modern styling and photography techniques and compositions.

 

Lodge Cover

I loved how we all came together and worked our butts off to make it happen. I was able to work with my dear fried, Tami Hardeman, professional food stylist and the voice behind  Running With Tweezers, who came to spearhead the book with our food stylists. We were all gelling for sure. Some of my favorite shots if my career so far grace the page of this book. I am super proud of the work accomplished by all involved and I hear the company is absolutely thrilled about the results too. Woohoo!

The book, entitled Lodge Cast Iron Nation, came out a couple of weeks ago and is collection of tried and true recipes, family favorites and sophisticated yet attainable restaurant recipes. Some were ones I cook at home regularly such as clafouti or chowder while others were completely new and surprising (and delicious) such as chicken cooked over hay.

 

Lodge Chowder

I am a bit late coming to share it with you (I will post about my trip and workshops to New Zealand soon!) but I am doing so today with a couple of presents…

To celebrate its release, Lodge Cast Iron is giving away a copy of the book as well as a 12-inch cast iron grill pan (I have it and love it to pieces).

To enter: leave a comment on this post between today, Saturday April 5th and Tuesday April 8th (midnight), one entry per person, no anonymous comment please. Super easy… The winner will be drawn at random and announced promptly after. Good luck!

I am leaving you with two tasty recipes that I enjoyed photographing for the book. And eating, let’s face it, we ate really really well on set!!

 

Lodge Hay Chicken

read more