Hi there. I have been totally MIA as of late. I’m wrapping up a big project that I was working on for several weeks. I can’t share that with you just yet, but I’m really excited to be able to share the images with you when I’m able.

In the meantime, I have a recipe to share with you today. Loaded Ranch Twice Baked Potatoes. What I love about these is that there is flavor all the way through. In. Every. Bite. Bonus, you could make them ahead of time, saving the second bake for just before you’re ready to serve them, making them perfect for a dinner party or a busier day. 

Recipe:

6 baking potatoes

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and Pepper

6 pieces of bacon

1  stick butter, cut into 1 tablespoon pieces

1 cup ranch dressing

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

2 green onions, sliced thin

1/2 cup milk

salt and pepper

Process:

• Preheat oven to 400˙
  
• Place potatoes on a baking sheet, rub with oil and salt and pepper. Bake until sufficiently baked through, about an hour.
• While potatoes bake, cook bacon until crisp. Crumble into pieces.
• When potatoes are done baking, remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes. 
• Lower oven temperature to 350˙
• With a sharp knife, slice the top 1/2 inch off each potato. Carefully scoop out flesh with a spoon and place in a mixing bowl. Add butter, 1/2 of bacon, ranch dressing, 3/4 cups of cheddar, green onions, milk, and salt and pepper to taste and combine, being carefully not to over mix. 
• Spoon mixture back into potato shells
• Top with remaining cheddar and bacon pieces
• Pop back in the oven until warm through and cheese is melted and bubbly about 15-20 minutes

Do you have a great product that needs tasty and reliable recipes to go along with it? I develop recipes for clients that showcases their product along with stunning images that will make your customer’s mouth water. I’d love to talk with you about your needs and how I can help. Click here. let’s chat. 

A little while back I started photographing for Wild Coyote Foods. They make delicious salad dressings and salsas. I create a few images for them a month showcasing their dressings in various recipes. 

Here’s a few images I created for them back in February.

I love content creation for brands. I really get to know and understand a brand by these continuing relationships. I can do these remotely as I do for Wild Coyote Foods. Remote shooting allows me to focus on the content and the client to run their business without a worry. I discuss the shot list in detail before the shoot and get any questions answered in advance. It’s a hassle free way to work, especially during quarantine. 

If your brand is in need of content creation I’d love to speak with you. Drop me a line and let’s start the process today.

Talk soon!

It snowed in Utah today. Not a lot. But it snowed none the less. Happens every year. Just when you think things are starting to warm up, bam! You get snow again. Being quarentined that is really not the kind of weather you hope for. So bring on the comfort food.

This recipe is one I grew up with. It has been a long time favorite of mine. It’s made with ingredients that you typically have on hand as well. 

6 cups chicken broth

1 chicken bouillon cube

1/3 cup rice, uncooked

2-3 carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 cup chicken, cooked and cubed

2 TBS butter

2 TBS flour

3 eggs

3 1/2 TBS lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

in a large pot combine chicken broth, bouillon cube, rice, carrots, celery and onion. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until rice and vegetables are tender.

Stir in chicken. Remove from heat and remove lid. 

In a small saucepan melt butter and stir in flour until smooth. Continue to cook for another minute or two stirring constantly. Gradually add 2 cups of broth from pot, stirring the whole time. Cook until slightly thickened. 

In a small bowl beat eggs until frothy. Beat in the lemon juice and temper the eggs by gradually beating in the 2 cups thickened broth mixture. 

Very slowly add the egg mixture to the soup, stirring constantly. Do not do this if the soup is boiling or very hot or the eggs will spilt. 

Heat on medium low until soup thickens enough to coat a spoon, but do not allow to boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

I had a hankering to photograph some chocolate and really wanted to photograph a nice  chocolate cake. Serendipitously, the day before I planned to shoot I got my Kitchn newsletter that announced they had found the best chocolate cake. After reading their reviews I had no choice but the follow through with their clear winner–but I took liberties on the frosting and made my favorite, Julia Child’s creme anglaise buttercream. I was not disappointed. 

Chocolate Cake from Ina Garten –I just subbed the coffee for criobru. 

Chocolate Frosting recipe:

2/3 cup granulated sugar

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup boiling water

1/2 lb. (2 American sticks) unsalted butter, softened

6 oz. semisweet chocolate, melted

Beat the sugar and egg yolks together a a bowl with a hand mixer until the mixture is thick and pale yellow and forms a ribbon.

Slowly beat in the boiling milk a few drops at a time. Pour the mixture into a 1 quart heavy bottomed saucepan, stirring with a wooden spoon over medium-low heat until mixture thickens enough to coat spoon. Once it reaches this point, remove saucepan from heat and beat until custard has cooled to barely lukewarm. 

Beat the softened butter in a stand mixer with whisk attachment or with hand mixer until light and fluffy. Slowly add the lukewarm custard by spoonfuls into the butter. Beat until fully incorporated. Add the melted chocolate and beat until incorporated.

Spread on cooled cake. Enjoy.

Running a business isn’t cheap. There are constantly expenses that need to be met, many of them urgent. Your product needs to be seen and valued by others in order to be sold. You know it’s worth. You’ve put time, energy and love into it. You know that it will be a benefit to your target audience. In order for that audience to buy into your product it needs to be seen. You could try to DIY photos, or hire a friend (we all know someone who has a “nice” camera, right?). Hiring a professional commercial photographer is expensive. So why hire a professional? Here are just a few reasons why hiring a professional, experienced photographer will be a great value to your business. 

Education

As a professional food photographer I have years of education under my belt. I went to UVU and received my Bachelors of Fine Arts. And while that education has served me well, I continue my learning all the time. Trends change. There are different lighting techniques explore. The editing software I use updates and comes out with new tools—all of which require further education. As a photographer I am constantly learning—which I love. I read articles, watch tutorials, experiment with new techniques, and attend specialized focus classes. But as a business owner, you don’t have the time to stay up on educating yourself outside your field. 

 A big part of being a professional photographer is problem solving. I have not been on a shoot yet, where a problem hasn’t come up. Without additional and constant education, I would not be able to meet these problems and solve them with ease for the client. I like to have happy clients, so I am always learning. 

Experience

I’ve been shooting food for over six years. With each shoot I do, I grow and learn. Commercial photography is about more than just a picture of your product. If you’re seeking to sell product and grow your business, you need more than just to show what your product looks like. It needs to be put in it’s best possible light. The photos need to show the value of your product, not just its likeness. Not only that, but good commercial photography strengthen and supports your brand. Your brand is the first and last thing that customers take note of and remember, so you bet it’s important. If you’re using sub par images to showcase your product the customer is going to subconsciously infer that your product is sub par. My years of experience in this field has taught me how to do show the strengths, beauty and the appeal of products and food. It has taught me how to look at a product and know how best to light it, from what angle is should be photographed, and what styling should be done to highlight its best, most important features. 

Equipment

Let’s not beat around the bush, photography equipment is expensive. Different projects require different pieces of equipment, different lens focal lengths, different types of lights and light modifiers, backgrounds, software, etc. etc. Each of those things add up and some carry quite a hefty price tag on their own.

A professional photographer will have already invested in these items. As a business owner it would be a huge investment to obtain each of those items for your company—and on top of that, many of those pieces of equipment have learning curve to mastering them.

Creativity

As a commercial photographer my job is to tell your brands story. I create more than just a pretty picture. I create a story, a vision, a mood, that works with your whole brand and communicates that to your desired demographic. One of the first things I do when I hop on a call to talk with a perspective client is ask about the company. I want to know what they’re all about. I want to know where they came from and where they’re hoping to go. I want to know who they help; who they create for. Creativity is what makes it possible for me to take their answers and turn them into an image that is both beautiful and useful to a company. That usefulness is what translates that image into profit for your brand. Brands that soar in the online and offline marketplace have great imagery to support their brand. 

Creativity takes mental time and energy. I spend hours and sometimes days prepping for a shoot. I create mood boards, sketch out scenes, shop for appropriate props, sometimes build sets, and go through possible problems that may arise and prep and problem solve before the shoot day. I plan out everything—angle, lighting, backgrounds, etc. I envision the final image before a single light stand gets set up or I pull out the camera.

Focus on Your Company

Running a business has many different facets. Your attention is pulled in a million different directions. Trying to accomplish creative, beautiful imagery on top of everything else that’s on your plate just isn’t feasible. Allow me to take that for you. With content creation off your plate, your time and mind are free to focus on those parts of your company that are your strong suit, the parts that you’re passionate about. 

When you hire someone who is an expert it will show. Hiring a professional photographer could take your business to the next level. Commercial photography is about more than just a pretty picture, it’s about translating a concept into a stand out image that will sell your product. It’s an investment for your brand. I’ve had clients tell me that sells have gone up after utilizing the beautiful imagery I’ve created for them. What business owner doesn’t want that? Are you ready to level up?  Click here and let’s talk about your marketing needs.