photos from this past weekend

I taught 2 workshops this past weekend-- Natural Light Food Photography, and Food Styling and Photography, which I co-teach with my good friend, Becky.

The students were lovely and basically required almost no guidance from me, which left me lots of time to take photos of the same food they were shooting-- desserts, (by the way, that's a mini cake there....not a regular sized cake with a giant spoon beside it) mango salad, and a roasted mushroom salad with salsa verde that rocked my world. Becky's food is always incredible.

memories from the seattle 3-day food photography workshop

Well, the 3-day photography workshop that I co-taught with Helene and Becky on August 10, 11, and 12 was fabulous. The students were lovely and generous, and working with my 2 co-instructors was awesome, as usual. I love and adore those ladies. Our good friend, Marc, also assisted in the kitchen and was an enormous help....and a constant source of entertainment. :)

The bulk of the workshop took place in my studio in the Bemis Building of Seattle.




We also did some location shoots.
The first was a picnic shoot at Volunteer Park.




The second was at Poppy Restaurant. Such beautiful and delicious food there!






Beautiful Becky


On the last night, after a long critique, the group was treated to a Thai and Vietnamese dinner made by Becky. It was AMAZING.

We set up tables in my studio and decorated with mismatched plates, glassware and linens, as well as lots of white flowers and tea lights.






It was a great workshop, and I can't wait until the next one!

(reminder about) new food photography class

A number of workshop attendees have asked if I could offer a class with more emphasis on food styling. You asked, and I am delivering!

On October 9th, Becky Selengut and I will team up again to teach a class that focuses on food and prop styling, as well as natural light food photography. Students will have lots of time to play with dishes and linens, (have you seen the wall of props in my studio??) and will learn how to make their food look its very best for the camera.

Have you already taken my Natural Light Food Photography workshop? This is a perfect continuation of that class. It's also a great intro to food photography and styling for the student who already feels comfortable with their camera.

Come join us!

We'll eat some tasty food, take some photos, and talk about each other's work. It's a great way to spend a Sunday. :)

To find out all the details, go to my website and click the "workshops" tab.

To register, email me at clare @ clarebarboza dot com.

Below are some shots that Becky and I did together (her food styling, me prop styling & shooting) for The Informed Chef. The dishes featured here are from the upcoming I-pad book, Raghavan's Indian Flavors, by Raghavan Iyer. I can attest that they were all delicious. :)

my handy assistant

Someone decided to accompany me on my shoot today.

it's a good fish workshop!

Remember me mentioning Good Fish? The awesome cookbook by Becky Selengut that I had the privilege of shooting? Well, it's been released and if you don't already have a copy then you should go get one. Now. Do it. You won't regret it.

As I have said time and time again, Becky's food is freakin' fantastic. Plus, you can feel really good about yourself when you eat it since the book is about how to make responsible choices when purchasing West Coast seafood.

In honor of the book release, Becky and I have decided to team up on a workshop where she will demo a few of the recipes from her book and I will teach natural light food photography. The two of us will also cover styling-- Becky will demo food styling and I will discuss prop styling. On top of all that, the class will include a signed copy of Good Fish!

Becky and I both have wacky schedules for the next couple months, so the earliest date we could agree on is July 24th. Spots will fill quickly so early registration is recommended.

When: July 24, 2011, 10am (workshop will last 5-6 hours, depending on class size)

Where: Spare Room

Cost: $275 (includes a signed copy of Good Fish)

To Register: Email me at clare at clarebarboza dot com

all about cookbooks

It's time to talk about cookbooks.

As I mentioned in my last post, I have been contracted to do the photography for 3 upcoming cookbooks, all of which are being published by Sasquatch Books.

To say I am excited about these projects is an understatement. I am THRILLED.

In the past few weeks, I have been meeting the writers, discussing the vision for each project, and filling in shoot-dates on my calendar for the next year.

Photography for the first of the three projects is beginning now. The book is a re-release of The Northwest Essentials Cookbook, written in 1999 by Greg Atkinson, the former chef of Canlis. 

The original book did not include photos, but rather illustrations which were lovely and incredibly charming. In the re-release, however, my photography will replace the illustrations.

Each chapter features recipes that focus on an ingredient that is native to the Northwest. I have just begun reading the book and I already love it. I am truly honored to be creating the imagery for Greg's book.

The second book I will be working on is all about sustainable seafood. The writer is Becky Selengut, (you may know her as ChefReinvented on Twitter.)  

Becky is amazing. She is hilarious, unbelievably kind, generous, witty, as well as a kick-ass writer and fabulous chef to boot. Becky worked at The Herbfarm for 3 years, and now teaches cooking classes at PCC, is a private chef, and also a freelance writer. 

She and I recently had drinks at the fabulous Poppy, and talked about ideas for the photography, which is going to be SO FUN. I'll be sharing the process as I go, so stay tuned.

I am going to begin shooting for the third book next year. I have a really special place in my heart for this project because it's all about farms. If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know my feelings about farms. 

The farm book is the brainchild of Leora Bloom, who, like me, is huge fan of farms and the people who run them. Leora is a pastry chef and a food writer, as well as a busy mom. She is also gracious and engaging and lovely. I have no doubt we will work well together.

Over the next several months, Leora is going to profile 12 (or so) farms in Washington State, writing about the ingredients each farm produces, the farmers who grow them, and the chefs who use those ingredients in their cooking. There will be a range of recipes in the book, contributed by chefs from all over the city.

There will be a lot of photos, because I get to do a mini-documentary of EVERY farm featured in the book! Plus, I'll be shooting finished recipes and ingredients. 

It's very similar to the work I have been doing for Kurtwood Farms, only on a much larger scale.

As I have already said, I am so happy and honored to be part of ALL of these projects. I couldn't have asked to work with a better group of people. Honestly.

Sasquatch has given me the go-ahead to share photos on my blog as I go, so I hope you will check back from time to time. :)

Now, after all that rambling, let's get to the photos! This is a photography blog, after all....

I have just started shooting for the Northwest Essentials Cookbook and, since it's summer, I am playing around with berries and stone fruit.  

Is this really my job? :)

**By the way, those are currants below, not grapes. Just in case anyone thought that I was photographing grapes and thinking they were in the berry family. :)