Tell us all about your blog
Eyes Bigger Than My Stomach is about my adventures in learning food photography and helping others improve theirs. I have a whole mix of posts from photography and post processing tutorials to resource posts on props and gear, as well as recipe, restaurant, cookbook review and photo essay posts. The underlying theme of them all is photographing food, whether it’s food you’ve just cooked or food you’re sharing with friends, or exploring where food comes from. I always offer up tips on how I shot my images AND how I post process them afterwards.
What inspired you to begin writing about food?
I’ve been a serious amateur photographer since 2005 and do the occasional professional shoot when timing is right. In 2007 I did a personal photo a day project and so many of the images were of food (one of my favourite things!) that it became a bit of a joke with my friends. Eventually, it wound up with me starting Eyes Bigger Than My Stomach as a way to share my food photos (and my love of food) with my friends and improve my technique along the way. I find food photography to be one of the most technically challenging types of photography and improving my skills has had a huge impact on my other work. When I saw how many food bloggers out there struggle with shooting food I thought maybe I could help by sharing some of the things I’ve learned, the settings I use, where I get my gear and props and how I post process my images. There is this HUGE myth that you need a fancy shmancy DSLR, a raft of expensive gear and props. You absolutely don’t! Some of my best and favourite photos are ones I took with a cheap point-and-shoot. Photography is about understanding light and space, practicing, knowing how to push your camera to its limits and learning basic post processing techniques. It’s not about how much money you spend! I get so passionate about that!! I also am not afraid to show people my images as they were straight out of the camera and how post processing them makes a big difference. That’s not something you often see but I think it’s important that people realize that professional food photographs rarely go straight from the camera to the page so you shouldn’t beat yourself up when yours don’t turn out perfectly. The recipes are kind of secondary!
Describe your favorite food memory
One of my best friends, Laura, and I used to have one day every December where we would meet at her house (she had a big kitchen) and do ALL our Christmas baking together. We had it down to a science but at the same time we had so much fun. Half of our treats would be her recipes and the other half would be mine and then we’d share the goodies. The last year we did it, her oldest daughter was 5 and old enough to help us so that made it even more special. They moved away a few years ago—too far to keep up the tradition but we still talk about it every year and we still make the same treats that we made together on our own.
Cook or bake? Which one? Either, both, and why?
Both. I actually prefer cooking but what shows up on the blog is usually baking. I tend to follow recipes more precisely when I bake and so I can share them with confidence that the reader’s attempt at the recipe will turn out. When I cook it’s completely experimental and haphazard. I rarely measure and I’m liberal with spices and herbs and just throwing stuff together. I’m the queen of the one pot meal made of random stuff I find in the fridge (it also helps with dishes, which I hate!)
What's the best thing you've ever eaten? Where did you eat it?
Wow. I have to think about that one...I know whatever I say I’ll think of something better an hour later! I’m going to go with a hot noodle & pork salad that a hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant in Langley, BC makes. I have no idea what it’s called except that it’s a #25 on the menu and it’s just described as a noodle salad. When I worked out there, we would go every week and even now, I will still make the 45 minute drive to Langley every couple of months to have one. The flavours are amazing—we used to joke that they put something addictive in the sauce to make you crave it but it was really just the fabulous flavour combos in it that did it!
Share a favorite recipe
I love the intense concentrated flavour of roasted tomatoes and am always looking for ways to use them. Goat cheese and farmer’s sausage have equally intense flavours so they pair up really well with the tomatoes without any one ingredient taking over the dish. My tomato, sausage, and goat cheest tart has a really rustic feeling to it and you can even eat it with your hands!
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