I begin this blog post with some little known facts about tea:

• Tea is the second most popular beverage in the world (curious what #1 is? No, it’s not beer…nor wine…#1 is water).

• All teas come from the same plant called camellia sinensis (this is super interesting to me, since the delicious, healthy and flavorful teas I love to drink come from the same plant that makes my Grandmother’s tastes-and-looks-like-dirty-dishwater tea… I love you Grandma, really, but that tea is so horrid)

• According to Chinese legend, the ancient Chinese emperor and inventor of Chinese medicine, Shennong, was the first to discover the pleasant flavor and medicinal properties of green tea. One day, as he was boiling water over a fire, a breeze swept a few leaves of a nearby tea bush into his kettle.

*Tea facts above courtesy of DōMatcha

Right before the holidays I got a call from Calli, marketing extraordinaire at DōMatcha, a tea company providing the matcha style of green tea rich in tradition for their customers.  By partnering with Shohokuen, one of the oldest and most established matcha suppliers in Japan they are able to bring DōMatcha directly from Kyoto, the magical place where matcha originated.  Calli needed some product photos of  DōMatcha’s packaging, and amidst our city’s unusual large amount of snow we were still able to get together one afternoon, make some matcha, and photograph the product. It was relaxing, just as a tea shoot should be.

The goal: the product must be center focus, the logo be prominent (I love the logo! Designed by their graphic designer in Japan), and only simple props that have a traditional, natural feel would be included.

The lighting here was a large softbox pointing down on the product from above left, a large window to the right and a reflector bouncing light back onto the front of the product. The above shot needed room on both the right and the left sides for possible text and logo, and the flexibility for cropping by the client depending on the media and layout. What you don’t see is my fabulous assistant Naz holding up the back of the tatami mat as it wouldn’t stay clipped to the backdrop crossbar.

This is a fairly standard product line-up shot, besides a bit of fiddling with the baby blue whisk stand and the two bowls, we were able to get this full line up shot that the client was elated with.

Fabulous to work with you Calli, I look forward to the next opprtunity, and thank you for all the tea!

MEET YOUR MAKER

Where food producers and food buyers find each other.

If you’re a food buyer, food producer or food distributor you need to attend this event! Not just because we’re supporting the event through a door prize donation and think these folks are great for putting on this event again, but because the event’s main purpose is to increase local food production and consumption. Ingenious! But how, you ask?

Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 the Meet Your Maker event, organized by Get Local and Local Food First, will be held at the PNE in Vancouver from 9.30am to 4.30pm. The 2nd Annual event will allow local food buyers, producers and distributors the opportunity to network with each other in the hopes of building strong connections to increase local food production and consumption.

FEATURES:

~ 3 Informative Workshops: Marketing/EcoPackaging, RSAs (Restaurant/Retail Shared Agriculture), Selling beyond the farmers’ market

~ 2 structured, speed-dating sessions

~ 1 informal networking session

~ A fabulous, local sit-down lunch

Meet Your Maker is modeled after Portland’s successful Farmer-Chef Connection started in 2001. Since then, their network has grown to over 250 producers and 150 buyers who are collectively doing $19 million in annual business.

On the Get Local website you can download the invitation & agenda, watch a short clip of last year’s event and register on-line.

Voila! Putting the necessary people in the same room to give us more local food…I love it! And if you attend, I hope you are the lucky door prize winner!

~ j

This week’s What’s Your Favorite? points to ethnic foods: Chinese, Irish, Japanese, Turkish, Jamaican, Indian, Thai, Welsh…what’s your favorite ethnic food?

Mine definitely used to be Chinese, but lately I’ve been wanting to experiment with foods from my Irish heritage so I’ve been researching lots of soup, stew, meat and potatoes recipes. I’ve also come across some interesting Irish food blogs.

So…what’s your favorite ethnic food? Leave a comment and let us know!

This is the most you’ll ever read of me writing about the recession, the economy, or these challenging times we are currently facing; my feelings are that it’s better to focus on the positive and continue to move ahead.  But, on the other hand, as an entrepreneur I can’t ignore it; if it’s something my clients are concerned about then that means it’s something I need to know about it.

I think that focusing on one’s customers and, as creative professionals, communicating the value in our work and the benefits to those who hire us is possibly our biggest responsibility.  Companies are watching where they spend their dollars now, and of course they want to know they are getting the best value in exchange for our creative work. However, easier said than done, communicating value is probably one of the most difficult things for a creative professional to do, and I know lots of artist who struggle with this.

Some good tips on on this topic I’ve been reading include John Jantsch’s blog post; Mark Hayward’s 5 Simple Words… which sums up everything here quite nicely whether you’re a business owner, creative professional or blogger; and Burns Auto Parts Consultants’ Think Service post can’t be ignored.

I pose this question to you:

• As a creative professional how do you impress the value of your art to your current and potential clients?

• As a company who looks to hire creative professionals what makes you take note of those who market themselves to you?

This is the first post in a a regular occurring blog series that is based on common questions I get from my clients. The idea is that if one person is asking this question, there are probably others out there that want to know the answer too. The current question is one that comes from many clients often in the pre-production meetings when we are throwing around ideas as to the style, colours, overall feel…”but what about the props?” they ask.

The cheese shot here is a perfect example to use to answer this question regarding props; specifically how do you choose props, how do you know what props to add and how many, and placement.

In my experience choosing props can’t be done unless you know what style/theme/visual feel you are trying to create with your photo. In this shot you can see the props used were simple but kept in line with the rustic, country-like style of the main star of the shot: the cheese. First, we have grapes. I used some grapes in both the mid and background; I picked through two piles of grapes at the market and carried them to the check-out like they were my most prized possession (this is key; and ask the cashier to be careful! If you don’t, before you know it your carefully selected prop, food or otherwise, will be squashed in the bottom of a shopping bag). *Styling tip: freeze your grapes ahead of time so they appear dark, crisp and round. Saggy, wrinkly grapes don’t look good.

The next prop is the cutting board – it’s nothing special, but it’s simple and light colored. I didn’t want to use a dark board,  I wanted the overall feel of the shot to be visually light and didn’t want the surface to take your eye away from that front piece of cheese.

Finally, the cheese knife. I will admit this cheese knife inspired this shot; I love the checkered pattern down the side of the blade and the wooden handles are perfectly worn in. What can be tricky about falling in love with a prop though, is sometimes you have to just get over it and remove it from a shot if it’s simply not working; don’t sacrifice the shot just because of a prop you love – make that shot work without it and find another shot to use that prop in later. This knife was also tricky in terms of placement – I had it every which way before deciding this looked best. The best thing to do in this case is just play around with it and review each shot (ideally on a computer screen, not just on your camera’s LCD) before deciding on the final placement.

Overall, you must remember that props are just that: supporting pieces that visually add to the main focus without being distracting. Visual trends today definitely lean towards the less is more mantra, but I encourage you to explore, try different options and set-ups and find what is visually appealing to you.

I still think it’s pretty awesome that through various social media and technology we can meet people that are literally on the other other side of the world that have similar likes and opinions. I know, this is nothing new and people have been doing it for a long time, but c’mon, you must admit it’s pretty nifty. Well I do, especially when you make the effort to get to know someone through their blog for example, and the effort is actually returned.

My most recent introduction of this kind came through blogs (both hers and mine) and through Twitter. I think it’s pretty textbook ’social media 101′ on how to let others know your blog exists: find another blog you like, comment on it (so that blog owner now knows your blog exists, and hopefully comments back) or write a post that includes a link to their blog (and some form of flattery doesn’t hurt). Voila, now you’ve connected with another blogger. And now, I have the pleasure of extending her introduction to my readers…

To start, a little bit about Christie:
I own an online media agency with my husband called Morning Copy. We specialize in copy writing, design, email marketing and SEO. I’m a bossy boots Project Manager
I write my food blog Fig & Cherry for fun although I’d love to work with food full time one day (writing, recipe development, styling). I also have this crazy dream of opening up a children’s cooking school! I’m a bit of an over-achiever and multitasking gives me an adrenaline rush.

How did the food you grew up eating at home inform your cooking/food choices today?
Being an Australian with Lebanese and Hungarian heritages I had access to a lot of different types of food as a child. One of my earliest memories is eating peas straight from the pod and picking cherry tomatoes still warm from the sun. Fresh and seasonal produce now plays a large part in my inspiration for cooking.

What is the ideal Christie meal?
I’m very concerned with nutrition so I try to balance every meal with fresh vegetables, whole grains and lean protein. Although that all goes out the window if I can get my hands on a large selection of cheese. I love cheese.

Is there one thing you can’t live without in your kitchen?
Sharp knives, loved ones and a glass of wine! I love putting on a show in the kitchen so I’m in my element with an audience. (Guilty secret: sometimes I pretend I’m being filmed for a cooking show and talk to the ‘camera’).

Is there one food that gives you the heebie jeebies?
The more foreign, the better, actually. On my honeymoon in Thailand I was determined to find a bagful of deep-fried insects to munch on in Bangkok. I checked every street stall and was very disappointed when I couldn’t find any. I’d love to try puffer fish for the thrill and eat the worm from a tequila bottle. Maybe one day.

What’s the most memorable meal you’ve ever had?
Steak in Toulouse, south of France, 2006. It had the most incredible complex flavour and tender texture. It was served perfectly rare and could easily be cut with a butter knife. I have never had a better steak. The other memorable thing was that all of our French friends smoked cigarettes between each course. I can’t understand how they tasted the next dish! It was very amusing.

As a food blogger, do you find social media and food a stimulating combination?
Absolutely! I love the instantaneous feedback and being able to interact with people who are as passionate about cooking and eating as I am.

A steady stream of house guests this past year, some for just a few hours and others for up to a week, has got me thinking about being a host and when I most like cooking for others. So what we want to know this week is:

What’s your favourite occasion to cook for?

Is it a certain family member’s birthday? Is it your one night a week with the girls? Or with the boys? Or do you love cooking for yourself best?

Leave a comment after this post and tell us!

* What’s Your Favourite? Fridays is posted every Friday in an effort to get our readers talking and inspired about their favourite foods, drinks and recipes as the weekend approaches. If you’ve got an idea for an installment of What’s Your Favourite? Fridays just leave us a comment!