Dig Magazine

Issue date: 11/3/09 Section: Cover Story

Matt Armendariz food photographer

Adam Pearson food stylist

The golden brown turkey, plump, juicy and just waiting to be carved, looks appetizing and overly inviting, especially with the sweet accompaniment of a hot apple pie. The mashed potatoes look expertly fluffed, with butter melting away to a delicious death, and the moist stuffing is just begging you to dig in.

You can't take it any¬more, hunger has taken over, you pick up your fork and knife like a barbarian, ready your weapons and then the camera clicks, the shot is taken and it is realized that this dinner is not for you to feast on. In fact, it won't be eaten at all; these delectable dishes are simply beautiful models in a photo shoot.

Sitting down to a freshly baked turkey may look appetizing in person, but put that same turkey in front of a high-resolution camera and it looks dehydrated and shriveled. This is where the professionals step in to break out all the tools and tricks that make every picture of food look delicious and mouth watering. As the holiday season approaches food photographer Matt Armendariz and food stylist Adam Pearson get busy assembling the set and capturing perfect images of holiday goodies.

"A food stylist's job is to create texture and movement in food, and to make it beautiful," says Pearson. "Because essentially a photo is still and stagnant, and it's my job to create movement in the picture to make it more captivating."

To do this, Pearson has a variety of tricks to make food look impossibly delicious. For example, it is not ideal to traditionally bake a pie with pie filling - unless pie filling is being sold as well. That is when Pearson turns to mashed potato pies. Instead of the crust crumbling when cut into, a mashed potato pie allows the food stylist to cleanly slice the pie into captivating pieces. They then ascetically place the appropriate fruit and wipe away any visible potato. The final product is a sweet looking pie, radiating with plump apples and a perfect crust.

"Adam is part chef, part stylist and part magician, he has to know food, tricks and tools," says partner and food photographer Armendariz.

Having thorough knowledge of food, tricks and tools is an absolute necessary for any successful food stylist. Because the naked eye sees things differently than a camera, these culinary magicians must trans¬form a stagnant image into one with texture and movement, which seems to take somewhat of a magical touch.

"I can't be without sharp knives, tweezers, and a blow torch," says Pear¬son. "My new favorite thing is denture cream adhesive. I recently applied a line of denture cream and placed tacos right on it and it stood straight up, you couldn't see it."

These tools and many others are used to create the golden brown hue of turkey skin, adjustments of intimate details, as well as tightening lose, unattractive pieces of skin and fat. Kitchen Bouquet browning mix is another food stylist favorite used to create the illusion of coffee and tea, the seasoning on meat, as well as the perfect poultry skin when mixed with dish soap.

Despite his many tricks, Pearson has one rule above all else: everything is real.

"I never fake it," says Pearson. "Yesterday we did a shoot for deli meats. The client wanted a foot-high sandwich and thus sent $300 of sandwich fixings to the studio. Besides the million toothpicks to hold it up, the entire thing was real. You could have eaten it after the shoot."

Collaboration is vital when it comes to these projects. Starting with pre-production, the client and food photographer get together to discuss the overall look, tone, style and dimensions expected for the final pack¬age. Sometimes the client is as specific as "Only 3" stem wine glasses can be used" and sometimes they are very vague and let the photographer do what they feel is appropriate for that product or recipe. The food photographer then assembles a team, including a food stylist and sometimes a prop stylist, to discuss and execute a well-collaborated photo shoot.

Once the food arrangement and photo set is complete, the food photographer takes the lead. Matt Armendariz's job, as food photographer, is to take pictures of food, but the details and meticulous adjustments sometimes make for a long day. Because their clients are typically selling something, whether dishtowels, cheese or a specific recipe collection, it becomes the photographers responsibility to make sure everything looks perfect at the exact moment that photo is taken.

In addition to food photography, Matt Armendariz is a frequent blogger at www.mattbites.com. For more on Matt Armendariz's visit his website at www.mattarmendariz.com. For more on Adam Pearson visit www.adamcpearson.com.

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