If you’re an American and it’s the Fourth of July, grilling is a long time honored tradition along with consumption of alcohol while watching things explode or setting them off yourself. While the logic in said traditions sometimes baffles me (for reasons I won’t discuss here), I will say that I would be damned not to be grilling on such a day. I make burgers somewhat often and this is a simple, personal favorite of mine.

Half - pound organic beef, Colby jack cheese w/sauteed red peppers, mushrooms and onions with barbecue sauce to top it off.

The fine folks at Remlik’s in Binghamton,NY were gracious enough to allow me to experiment with them a bit and allow me to photograph some of their wonderful food. This was my “first time” shooting food but damn was it a great experience. The full names of the individuals invovled escape me at the moment, however I can say they are all some talented folks in that kitchen. If you’re passing through the area be sure to stop in for a drink or bite to eat, great atmosphere, people and of course, FOOD!

* Thanks to Beth Holdridge, Mike Bunker, Steffie Dikeakos, and Yoshi for killing it on the great food!

http://remliks.com/

Above: Triple Peanut Butter Sandwich w/nutella, granola and mixed berry jelly

So begins my adventures into photographing an enjoyable subject of mine…FOOD! I’m trying to broaden my horizons as a photographer and in my attempts to support myself financially as a photographer I need to expand my horizons with my subjects, thus I have come to food. The photo above was what I came up with when I realized I didn’t have enough jelly around the house to create my “Leaning Tower of Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich” so I had to improvise with what I had left in the house. It’s a fairly unorthodox take on a peanut butter sandwich but it was great none the less.

Now that is only half the story… I was unsure where I was gonna shoot this, I don’t own a studio, studio backdrops or even a camera… but I do have Alien Bee Lights and lots of imagination. Well to be honest, I photographed this in my upstairs bathroom. It’s ironic for many reasons. Who really thinks of doing food photography in their bathroom? I had a white vanity which was used for the backdrop and old matte board I used to line the bottom, aside from trying to shove a 36” octobox on a boom stand and shoving my reflector to the left side of the door frame while trying to squeeze in there for the shot there wasn’t much to it. Hopefully with my future purchase of a new camera body (D7000 NEXT WEEK!) and maybe someday buying a lens I will pump out more food and photos, till then, enjoy!