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 Marie Torio is a NY based photographer specializing in food, restaurant, interior and editorial. Her website where she can be reached www.photosbymarietorio.com and her Instagram photosbymarietorio |
| It’s that time of year when we enjoy the outdoors. Especially cooking! That being said, beautiful weather also means preparing elaborate meals isn’t always the route we want to take. Especially, when we have plans after dinner; like watching a sunset at the beach, grabbing some ice cream with the family or going for a nice evening stroll. Today, I’m sharing refreshing and easy options to add to your summer at-home menus and bonus… how to photograph and style them outside! We all love the taste of refreshing lemon/limeade in the summer. My version offers a nice twist to it. I combined strawberry, cucumber, and lime with ice and blended it. The sweetness of the strawberry, the freshness of the cucumber and the tartness of the lime, all contribute to a delicious and refreshing summer drink. I served it in a mason jar and added a lime wedge to the rim because when a drink has a prop, it’s prettier and gives me all the vacation feels. I placed the drink on a wooden board and placed a few strawberries on the side to give it a cute rustic vibe to the photo. For this frame, I chose straight on because I wanted to highlight the strawberry color of the drink with the specs of cucumber and create depth with the natural background of my backyard. My next photo is of a summer salad I love to make. It’s an arugula, watermelon and feta salad. It’s simple, delicious and can we say it together? Under 15 minutes to make! I cubed the watermelon and feta around the same size to give it substance and to hold up in the bed of arugula, but also to stand out in the photo. Plating it in the clear bowl was key for me, because I didn’t want the ingredient colors to get lost in a colored bowl. I chose a light colored wood grain background to place it on a linen napkin with a pop of yellow to add to the fresh colors in the shot. Notice that I have lines in this image that go in both the horizontal and vertical direction; this is done on purpose to draw the eye into the center where the salad is placed. Lastly, a new recipe I tried out is a sliced peach, cherry tomato and basil salad with pepitas and feta, combined with a honey citrus vinaigrette. I was very impressed with this salad. The flavor profile exudes summer time in your mouth. I kept the styling simple. I placed the gorgeous salad in a summer tone blue bowl, placed it on a burlap cloth linen and added a gold serving spoon on the side. The color combinations for the background are neutral but clean and works well with the deep toned green, peach and red color in the salad. Well friends, I hope you enjoyed the drink and salads, and are inspired to make something new. Take advantage of seasonal ingredients and play around with color and backgrounds. When setting up your frames and photographing, enjoy the beautiful outdoor weather. Happy shooting!! |
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