Monday, February 18, 2008

Hotel Room Food Shoot

This week, I'm in eastern Tennessee working on a few stories for Tennessee Home and Farm Magazine.

One of the stories is a food story on Ridgewood Barbecue in Bluff City, TN. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get in touch with the owners, so shooting in the restaurant was out of the question. No problem. I placed a take out order and retreated back to my hotel room.

Earlier in the day, I bought a table cloth, some paper plates (have you ever been served barbecue on china?) and a can of Pam. (more on the Pam later) 

When I got back to the hotel and unwrapped the sandwich, I noticed the steam from being wrapped in foil had caused the bun to wrinkle. 





In a panic, I took off for the grocery store but caught myself before pulling out of the parking. Next door to my hotel was a Burger King. I ran inside and asked probably one of the most unusual questions of the day. "Do you guys sell just the bun?"  

A puzzled cashier called up the manager, who briefly disappeared. When she returned, she had two buns wrapped up for me, free of charge.

I was set. Thank you BK.

After replacing the shriveled, prune-like bun, I noticed the meat had started to dry out. Now comes the Pam. The Pam gives the barbecue a little bit of a glisten and makes it more appetizing. (The goal is for people to want to eat this stuff) You can use any type of oil. Of course, you  may not want to eat it after this.

I laid everything out on a coffee table, bounced a light off the back wall and used a fill card in the front to bounce a little light back into the sandwich.





I varied the shot a little: on the paper plate, with fries, with slaw and on the foil wrapper it came in. I went with the foil wrapper and a few sides.





Not my best food shot, but it works.

No comments: