Tiffinbox

Inspiring Photographers

Simi Jois, On Designing Great Food Photography

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The Food Photographer

Simi Jois, started as a marketing and branding professional but transitioned to becoming a food photographer. Now based in Chicago, Illinois, her food photography has been featured on MSN, Fox News Magazine, Better Homes, and theKitchn. She is a frequent contributor on the Daily Meal.

Raised in an art-emphasized home subconsciously trained her mind to engage creatively with color, texture, light, shadow and composition. Simi uses photographic images as her canvas and the lens as her brush. She did not have to look far for a subject – her passion for creating flavors provided her with infinite permutations of expression. Painting with ingredients, pairing exotic spices for mutual enhancement and richness of flavor, Simi narrates her stories through the play of light and bold strokes of color.

The Interview

A few weeks back, we sat down to chat about her journey as a food photographer:

Interview Highlights

You will learn that:

1) Simi's parents, both artists, inspired her
2) Her becoming a mom was the catalyst for taking up photography
3) She loves to cook
4) Finding comfort in the ingredients, aroma, and texture motivate her to try different set-ups
5) Her other inspiration are painters from the Renaissance period
6) Simi is creatively challenged to produce photographs that don't look overly styled
7) How the power of observation in day-to-day events and places can help your photography
8) She loves to play with light and uses speed lights, reflectors, and Nikon cameras
9) She is intrigued by shadows just as much as the light
10) How a simple garnish of mint on blueberries can create a punchy image

Simi Jois' Food Photography

Additional Resources

Check out Simi's tutorial on painting prop boards.

Do you want to learn more about food photography? Check out the CreativeLive courses offered here.

Lastly, Don Giannatti is offering a spectacular 8-week food photography course that you simply can't pass up. For $75, it is a no-brainer and in my opinion, there is no better photography instructor to guide you through this wonderful genre of photography.

Don Giannatti's Food Photography Course

My Mother-In-Law’s Recipe For Masala Chai

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It's a cold day in Connecticut and there is nothing better to do than to sit here, watch the snow fall and sip a hot cup of chai. No, not the kind you get at Starbucks. Ugh! It's way too sweet and it's full of stuff that makes me want to go and brush my teeth right away.

Now as a documentary wedding photographer, I have photographed many North Indian weddings where “masala chai” was a given. So, all props go to the Gujarati, Punjabi and Sindhi communities for rockin' it with their chai. They've got it down pat and I am hooked.

This morning, my friend Syl Arena (read his awesome book – LIDLIPS – on the pursuit of photography ) and I were discussing on Twitter what some of the best recipes for real chai would be. I pointed him to a couple of websites that came up on Google; here is one and here is another. Pretty decent. But I knew we could do better.

My mother-in-law, Saraswathi, is visiting us over the weekend. So I asked her to write down her recipe to make two cups of masala chai.

Ingredients:

2 cups of Water
1 cup of either 1% or 2% milk
2 table spoons of loose or Powdered tea leaves (Darjeeling/Assam/Sri Lankan work)
1/4 table spoon of ginger or ginger powder
1/4 table spoon of black pepper
2 small sticks of cardamom
Sugar (to taste)

Boil 2 cups of water with one cup of milk
Add 2 table spoons of the tea leaves
Add the ginger, the black pepper and cardamom
Boil & Stir for 10 minutes (the tea should turn to a shade of rusty brown)
Pour the tea into a vessel using a strainer

Put the remaining tea leaves in a vessel, add a little water and boil again. Go ahead and strain this as well and add it to the original mix (this makes it nice and strong).

Sweeten your cup up to taste and enjoy!

Try this recipe out and let me know if it works out for you. It's very easy to do. I would love to hear from you in the comments section how your masala chai turned out.

Food For Thought

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New Year's is about two months away and my annual resolution has always been to diet and exercise with some moderation, so with Thanksgiving around the bend, I have food on my mind. And, lots of it.

Helping me out in this endeavor are two websites that have really whet my appetite. You should know about Sailaja Gedela's blog called Sailu's Food. She covers Indians recipes, home remedies and Ayurvedic cooking. She is just getting started so do be patient.

The other site is by a restaurant based in Dundee, Oregon called Sub Rosa. There is no physical address (just coordinates), unless of course you are specially invited to partake in the food. Its secret location is deliberate and makes it all the more alluring. Recently, writes Linda Lausmann (assuming she either runs the place or was a recent invitee), on the menu there was an entire Thanksgiving spread with an Indian twist. Check out the simple but mouth watering delicacies. They even have a short list of music they listened to when preparing and then later consuming the feast. Ok, Linda, next year when you do this, please send me an invite!