The Tweezer Times

By Greg Bertolini

(For a better formatted version of this post, visit http://www.theinvisiblestylist.com/. I apologize for the technical glitches I’ve had this past year and until today. We’re launching new blog software with the new version of Foodesigns.com, due out late February.)

With Steve Jobs’ announcement of the new Apple ipad, we could be on the verge of a new way of conducting business…

The ipad will change the business of photography, styling, writing and publishing. Up until now, the electronic tablets have been more of a novelty for the gadget inclined. If Apple is able to push the ipad as they have the ipod, the world of the printed image and book-catalog publishing will be forever changed. The ipod changed how music is sold, distributed, marketed, and even how it is recorded (musicians now record their songs in their own home recording studios and no “hard copy” such as a disc is needed). The same could happen with the printed word and photographs. There may be BIG changes for still photographers. Do we think that people, viewing the ipad with its high-resolution color screen and capacity for playing moving images, will continue to be happy viewing a still or static image? I see that in the near future still/print photography may become a small player. Think about it: want to look up a recipe? You open up an electronic cookbook or subscribe to a food magazine on your ipad. In front of you on the screen is the recipe. Hit a button and a lovely voice reads you the recipe at a speed that allows you to prepare the dish. An image of the dish appears: the camera moves around the dish, giving you a 360 degree view. Need help understanding a food handling technique? Press a button and up comes a video that shows you how that technique is done. Want more information? Press an icon and a mini documentary begins that shares where the ingredients for the recipe come from and how they are harvested. Hear the chef explain the recipe or technique, listen as the dish sizzles on the stove, hear the liquids being poured, and the clinking sounds of the kitchen preparation. Or go shopping for some new clothing through a catalog; stroll through an exotic island paradise while local music plays in the background. A model enters the scene, turns, moves, bends. The viewer not only gets to see the clothing, but also experience how it moves and drapes in different conditions. What will happen to the standard printed catalog verses the electronic catalog? No mailing or printing fees for the company–the largest part of a catalog’s expense. Plus being able to instantly change the e-catalog if the products style or color changes or sells out. Why view a product from a single angle, when you can entice the viewer with movement and sound? Simple tools for 360 degree product viewing already are in use, but in the near future when we set up a fashion, product, or food photo shoot, how important will the background or location be if it can move and interact with the product?

I find this all exciting, but it also makes me nervous. There are lots of questions that we need to ask ourselves, and new industry standards will need to be invented. Who will lead, who will follow, and who will fade away? Can still photography compete or complement the interactive or liquid image? Will printers, who are already being squeezed in a tight market, disappear? Will ‘hot-lights’ replace strobes in the studio? Will food stylists also have to be hand models because techniques can be filmed live? Will the standard photo shoot now include sound technicians, a lighting crew, and a producer and director? How do you dress a set, make-up a model, prop clothing, or style food if the camera will pan around, over and even under the product? (I think we need to study the film industry for this). And will the standard still advertising/catalog photography studios be replaced by video production companies? What will happen to our fees? The web is notorious for its low fees, but the ipad is not just the web. It is also a magazine, a book and a catalog. How do we use our businesses to cross all these platforms? And if more skills and larger crews are needed, will the cost of producing an electronic advertisement, article, brochure or book go up? Will clients expect a ‘one-man-band’: someone who can shoot, style, compose sound, and even appear ‘on camera’. Or will their costs-saving in mailing and printing be off-set by the added expense of production? Is the ’standard’ once-a-month, 12 magazines with 12 covers and 12 feature stories per year gone? With electronic publications, publishers can add new articles every day. Companies could up-date catalogs and add merchandise instantly (putting an end to the standard spring-summer-fall-winter catalog format). Does this mean more work for us in the future? What about us independents and small businesses? Will the work go in-house because ‘instant’ turn-around times will be required?

 I have lots of questions, as I know many of you do. I invite all of you, as professionals, to add, remark and discuss together, where we think our industries are going, what were doing about these changes, and the lessons we learn.

“…the times, they are a-changing.”  –Bob Dylan

 By Lisa Golden Schroeder

As we enter a new decade we’re all trying to figure out what we’re up to. The world economy is in recalibration mode–I keep thinking about my ovens, which need temperature adjustment periodically. And that’s how I’m viewing the current state of unrest–who do we market to? How do we keep our revenue flowing? Do we change the way we do business–charge less, do more, stay the course?

I’m firmly in the camp of an optimist. What have we got to lose, trying to stay inspired and hopeful that those possible job estimates will come through, or the phone will start ringing more often? BUT we can’t be complacent. We have to be ready to grab new opportunities, keep open minds, be willing to do things that feel a little uncomfortable. I’m in the process of revamping the entire look and focus of Foodesigns and The Tweezer Times. This publication truly will be a blog (I felt very uncomfortable with that tag for a long time) in the coming months. But my goal is not to just share daily ramblings of what I do, but to continue sharing a wide variety of viewpoints from colleagues who live and work all over the world.

So if you’d like to be featured as a Tweezer Times creative mind, drop me a note through the contact page at Foodesigns.com.

By Violeta Dimitrova Salama

Reprinted courtesy of “Chefs Corner Magazine”, the publication of the Egyptian Chefs Association

We all have experienced that brief moment of confusion when strolling down the over-packed isles of Spinneys or Carrefour; hundreds of products, all wrapped in eye catching packaging, all demanding our attention. How in the world we are supposed to chose among the multitude of brands at our disposal? We are saved by a vision, a vision we may not even be conscious of, a remnant of an advertisement seen once upon a time. A perfect shot of a fine specimen can stir appetites. When that shot is of a food product, it can also evoke strong cravings that make sales roar. But what makes a perfect shot is not the quality of the ingredients themselves, or the skill of the chef, or even the photographer. Look closer behind the scenes and you won’t find a chef. You’ll find a food stylist.  The world of a food stylist is an exciting, diverse and challenging place. It is where food is enhanced and made up just like a glamour model before a shoot. It is a world where passion for food meets attention to detail, where paint brushes assist cooking knives all in the name of that one perfect shot, which will grace large billboards and glossy magazines.In Egypt the profession of food styling is not yet well known. Meet Maha Baraka, Hoda El Sherif and Magy Habib, three stylish women who are the only food stylists in Egypt. They bring their love of food and their passion for art to their work.A typical workday for them consists of making food ready to have its picture taken. This requires that they gather relevant information from many different sources, the  photographer, producer, the client, the agency and so on. Then, they organize the job, deciding on amounts of food needed and equipment required. “You have to be not only an expert in the culinary industry but an art creator as well” is the unanimous statement given by all three food stylists, since food does not always behave in front of the camera, especially under the hot studio lights.Working in TV commercials is different from working for magazine shots. When shooting for a TV commercial the food stylist works closely with the director and art director, transmitting their visions—through her food creations—into film. “Things happen to food on film,” shares Hoda El Sherif about her workday. “The shot is of a bite being taken out of a hamburger, so we may need hundred perfectly identical hamburgers ready, or the hungry crew can devour some of the enticing cookies prepared for the shooting, so we always need an extra supply.” Days can start as early as 6am and last into the night, not to mention the hours spent prior to the shoot at home, practicing techniques and improvising with new products. While the food stylist is usually the only responsible person for the food for most commercial shoots, ads of large banquet tables overflowing with foods require the assistance of a chef to help with preparations.In hotels, however, it is usually the Executive Chef who does the food styling. The hotels like to showcase their abilities to create eye-catching cornucopias of delicacies, which are then used to promote the signature restaurants of the hotels. A talented chef is not only a culinary expert but an artist as well; as a result, he will hardly ever allow an outside interference when fashioning a plate. It is also the practice of most Cairo’s leading hotels to put the imagination of their own Chef to use when shooting a promotional advert, therefore omitting the work of a food stylist.Some magazines offer their readers recipes provided by hotel chefs. In that case, it is always the chef who prepares the food in his kitchen while the food stylist, employed or assigned by the magazine, assists with her knowledge of what makes food look good on a picture. It is imperative for Magy Habib, who specializes in magazines shots, to have control over colors and textures; after all, in a photo shoot, looks are more important than taste. “However, one needs to keep things real and believable. I want that ’soul food with a gloss’ look”, explains Magy. “As this will convince readers that despite looking so beautiful, the recipes provided are achievable and can be easily done at home.”Since a perfectly cooked meal can easily loose its star appeal and turn into a wilted mess under the heat of bright lighting, it is up to the stylist to employ certain tricks to make the food “shine.” For instance, they may substitute heavy cream for milk, or use mashed potatoes instead of ice cream. Meat needs to be undercooked to look perky and juicy in a photo. And as for that sublime looking glaze, a bit of Soya sauce carefully brushed on its surface can make the mouths of viewers water. Drops of glycerin sparkle on a salad, simulating morning dew, and Johnson’s baby oil stands in for cooking oil inside the frying pan.”Take a bite from a delicious pizza and watch that yummy mozzarella cheese which lazily lingers from the slice to your lips. And then imagine just how many chewing gums it took to create that perfect stretch of melted heaven…,” teases Maha Baraka with a charming smile on her lips. From a school classroom the stylist borrows white erasers, which then are carefully snipped into pieces and placed on top of a Greek salad, representing scrumptious morsels of Feta cheese.”It is all about the tricks, and you can never know enough tricks,” declares Maha. “Every job is different, every product as demanding as the next one, and a good stylist is in a never ending pursuit for new ideas. A walk to the drugstore can be as rewarding as a visit to the grocery, since on one of its many shelves lays that perfect bottle of velvety hair conditioner, its consistency reminiscent of melting butter.”"Just like an artist who possesses a well stocked tool box, the food stylist has her own magic box,” quips Hoda El Sherif when asked about the tools of her incredible trade. Inside, one can find multitude of equipments, some belonging to the kitchen, others to the art studio and some even borrowed from the world of dentistry. A unique mixture of Q- tips, spatulas, tweezers and food colors among other surprising bits, are the indispensable tools of every successful food stylist.Maha, Hoda, and Magy are the first generation of food stylists in Egypt. They are pioneers in their field trying to carve a niche for themselves. The road they are following is full of opportunities, however they do encounter few obstacles along the way. Since food styling is a new concept in Egypt, there is still a lack of awareness among the local food industry that experts who specialize in “food make-up” do exist. This lack of knowledge is definitely a hindrance for the stylists who need larger exposure to promote their craft. Also many prominent Egyptian food giants still prefer to do their shoots abroad. Partly, because the quality of food ingredients available in Europe is believed to be better, and partly because the studio facilities there are second to none. Regardless of how little is known about the profession here, food styling has been around for decades, thus granting food stylists a solid foundation for learning their craft.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________Violeta Dimitrova lives and works in Egypt, but is originally from Bulgaria. She’s lived in the Middle East for nearly 20 years. She has a hospitality degree from a school in Switzerland.She has always loved food and spends a great deal of time reading about, studying and trying different foods. She was a flight attendant for three years, giving her a unique opportunity to sample flavors around the world.Violeta recently returned to Cairo, Egypt, where she was raised. She currently works for the Egyptian Chef Association, a member of WACS. She writes articles that focus on food and the culinary industry for their member publication. While researching this article on food styling, she discovered that in Cairo, a city of 20 million people, there are only three food stylists.

By Lisa Golden Schroeder
I’ve been lucky enough to be a stylist now for 25 years. Paying my dues as a staff food editor donning the caps of prop and food stylist as needed. Assisting a cadre of venerable trailblazing stylists as I built my own skills. Keeping track of where the food was in a mile stretch of rental refrigerators on location TV shoots. Shopping for a case of perfectly ripe avocadoes, hoping to please the head stylist. Washing trailer loads of greasy sauté pans, standing out in the cold at 6:00 am waiting for the bakery to open. Then becoming established enough to have my own assistants to run the pre-dawn errands or do a bit of late night prep work. And I believe I’ve been a good boss—trying to be clear, give good direction and appreciate (no, being down right grateful) for the extra set of hands to get a job done. I’m only as good as my assistant on a complicated food shoot.

So I was recently asked by a highly regarded and gifted colleague (and long time friend) to take up the slack on a tough shoot. Basically assisting him because he was unsure of how the day would go. I was more familiar with what needed to be done than an assistant he had previously booked. So I showed up, rolls of Bounty paper towels in hand, to be an extra set of essential hands. But as the day began it became clear that I needed to ask a lot of questions. Or I was expected to read my friend’s mind. His style of working with an assistant consisted of a few words, expressed as passing demands. I couldn’t tell from minute to minute what I needed to do, so I asked or just tried to keep up as each shot unfolded. I felt a bit like a fifth wheel, unnoticed but for when I was suddenly summoned to the set. At the end of the day, as he packed up to leave for the airport, I received a perfunctory hug and good-bye. No thank-you or other acknowledgement of the favor I did. And I was left to clean up (as a good assistant should). My appreciation of what it’s like to assist was renewed. As stylists we often talk about good vs. bad assistants. But it’s really a two way street. A stylist needs to be proactive about what they need. A game plan, direction, and good communication make the relationship effective–and I was left that day feeling unsettled and questioning my basic abilities. We can’t diminish our studio team members, no matter their role.

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

Those of us in this business hopefully “get” the title to this publication. But sometimes I have to define it…and I just spent two days really working this angle of our work. As much as we love to style loosely and naturally, plating gorgeous recipes or artistically staging photos good enough to eat, the reality of commercial work is all about pleasing our clients. Two days of styling test shots for new frozen dinner packaging drained much of my usually ebullient creativity.  Placing peas with a pair of tweezers and trying to make a frozen dinner look appetizing and natural illustrates the amazing realm of the jobs we’re called to do. This is not the glamorous career that many think we have–it can be down and dirty. Thawing freezer burned vegetables and pouches of sauces only a food technologist could love. Sorting out undented peas, chunks of meat with a nice texture, slices of carrot with smoothly round sides. And reassembling meals so they look like something your family will beg for–or at least eat on a busy weeknight. Homestyle, family friendly, comfort food…whatever it’s called. So here’s a snapshot of the ubiquitous spatula of “stuff” with a biscuit on top. Almost ready to be delivered to a dinner table near you!

Lately, as each issue of Bon Appétit arrives in my mailbox, I shake my head and wonder what the editors are thinking. October, in particular, started a conversation among colleagues. What goes into the decisions about the images a magazine creates to illustrate their articles? Clearly, if you take a long view of the evolution of American cooking magazines, efforts have been made periodically to push the envelope. Gourmet took on the challenge a few years ago, shooting with only available light and taking on the portrayal of classic, iconic foods like your Thanksgiving turkey. And they seemed to be committed to the concept, come hell or high water. Even if the images appeared cold, grey, and unappetizing. The photos departed from the conventional warm, studio-lit images of beautiful food. One memorable July cover featured a grilled steak that had as much appeal as a piece of shoe leather–the cold, bluish light on the meat deadened what should have been a shot that fairly sizzled in the waning summer evening sunlight.

So now Bon Appétit appears to have growing pains. I haven’t spoken with anyone there, but we all (me, along with colleagues both far and near) agree that their stab at shaking up their photography is both interesting enough to generate conversation and surprising enough to make us think about what we’d do if asked to shake things up for a client. So I had an e-mail from Sarah Thompson, the senior food stylist at Reader’s Digest Milwaukee (Taste of Home). She wrote “I was looking at the new October issue of Bon Appétit. I’m curious about this cover. It’s an overhead shot of a copper stock-pot  filled with Texas Beef Brisket Chili. It makes me go “hmm?!” While I do think the food itself looks appetizing -the cover, on the whole, doesn’t really “grab” me. But in a way: It does grab me because it’s a rather attention-grabbing image. It’s bold, it’s confident, unconventional. Which makes me wonder: Is this by design do you think? Putting a cover out there that isn’t very appealing - in order to get noticed, to get people talking?  I mean, I know there’s always that intention. You want people to take notice of your products. But you also want them to make the purchase. Not just look at it momentarily and return it to the rack because you’re put off by the cover.”

I do think that there’s sometimes that idea of “let’s throw it out there and see if it sticks.” Experimenting with making readers question how they personally cook or think about food. Viewing photos is so subjective, and despite many readers liking some of the earlier spring Bon Appétit covers (I personally thought the whole grain pancakes on the February 2008 cover looked kind of greasy and inedible, but the novel approach to showing a very tall stack seemed to strike a cord in people.)  So who knows what prompted the tall stockpot full of stew–I doubt that basic appetite appeal was the goal. It was probably the idea of evoking memories of long-simmered stews of our grandmothers (even if we didn’t have a grandma who cooked like that). But the light background (I’d like a moodier setting for memory retrieval) is a bit of a disconnect. Like it’s an outline shot waiting for more type to be added. Maybe there’s a desire to “play” a little right now by their editorial staff. I do have to say that I lust after that copper stockpot!

Sarah shared that their approach to magazine and cookbook covers is not overly complicated. For any particular repeat publication, they look at what has worked for them in the past - the percentage sell-through on the publication over recent years. They consider repeating a success or taking a different direction. Do they want to show several whole recipes or individual servings? Sweet or savory? Is chicken selling better than beef because of high food costs? They make sure they don’t have another cover that will overlap in the marketplace with a too-similar look/feel (including recipe type). The time of year is also an important consideration. They sometimes shoot two cover versions and put them through online testing. Recently, they brought in Karen Tack and Alan Richardson (authors of Hello, Cupcake!) to help concept/develop and style the December/January issue of Taste of Home. That issue of their flagship publication will launch a new design that they are very excited about and hope the new look will make sales soar. In the end, publications are out to sell themselves to an audience hungry for content that solves their personal cooking dilemmas but that also entertain and stimulate them to try new things. You can’t argue with that.

Magazine publisher Haymarket Group, Ltd. has recently combined three of its titles, Chocolatier, Frozen Desserts and Pastry Arts & Design, into a new bimonthly “super-magazine” it’s calling Dessert Professional.Aimed at pastry professionals, but also of interest to the serious food amateur, Dessert Professional incorporates features, tips, techniques and recipes for all sorts of sweet goods.

Dessert Professional is also sponsoring a Web presence, www.dessertprofessional.com, which offers those in the pastry and confectionery fields a place to build an online community.

For information on subscriptions to Dessert Professional, call (386) 246-0139.

By Hugh Robert
Reprinted from The Republican (Thursday, August 28, 2008)

An enduring - but true - cliché is that we eat with our eyes. Since the first test of a dish’s ability to satisfy is whether or not it looks good, food presentation has long been the obsession of every restaurant chef worthy of the title.

Contemporary food presentation practices represent the culmination of contradictory ideas.

Up though the 1970s, “presentation” meant “garnishes”; it was the heyday of parsley sprigs and radish roses.

In the 1980s chefs discovered “verticality” as a presentation dimension, stacking elements of the dish into teetering towers.

“Dusting” plates came into vogue in the 1990s, with every square centimeter of the dish covered with minced, powdered and chopped elements.

Today, the fad in presentation is in the dishware itself, which now comes in strange shapes and dramatic colors designed to have visual punch.

All of these traditions co-mingle today, but the real secret of effective food presentation is simple, clean and uncluttered. Food, after all, should look like food, not be stacked, sprinkled and arranged until nearly unrecognizable.

Editor’s note: Today anything goes in the return to real food, with a more casual attitude and individual artistic expression. Future plates are sure to shrink with concerns about nutrition, the environment, and more “responsible” eating. Back to the basics?

By Lisa Golden Schroeder

I’ve been in the business of working as a consultant for corporate food giants, small entrepreneurial food companies, publishers, and any number of other non-food related businesses for 21 years. For much of that time I’ve been available as a freelance food stylist, working in a metropolitan area that knows food photography. Over the years, the studios that shoot any amount of food hired stylists and assistants with a simple phone call. The level of trust was high—it was assumed that the freelancer would show up prepared to do the job, the studio would pay in a timely fashion, and that the client would be happy. Rarely was any formal agreement signed beforehand, unless a corporate giant required a work-for-hire or confidentiality release. But lately, with business less certain and tightened budgets, I’m finding it’s getting more important to spell out what I will provide for any given job. I recently was hired for two different jobs—and both changed midstream with unspoken expectations that I would absorb and respond to the changes with no complaint (or additional charge). But maybe it’s because I’ve been around long enough that I’ve begun to feel less flexible (and a little crabby). I’m beginning to think that it is good policy to have a standard letter of agreement ready to fax or e-mail to a studio or agency that spells out my day or hourly rate, overtime, and cancellation policies for EVERY job. Once a client has confirmed a booking with me, the letter goes out. It may not be necessary to have it signed (unless you’re nervous about getting paid), but at least the studio or hiring agent has been notified of my most current rates and what services they cover—and what I expect if anything above and beyond is necessary.

I’m hearing from many stylists that job “holds” are increasing, with lots of last minute cancellations. I think that because jobs have become more uncertain and clients are waiting for budget approvals or multiple bids to come in, many studios want to be ready when jobs are inked (confirmed). So to ensure they have a stylist they’ll put more than one on hold for sometimes as long as a week or more. And they figure as long as the job is penciled (not confirmed), they won’t be held responsible for cancellation fees if the job falls through. But I think it’s important for both studios and stylists to be firm about the length of time they will remain on hold—and state that up front when the first call comes in.

I guess what I’m thinking is that clients need to know and understand that those of us that execute their projects are just as professional as they are. And deserve the same respect they expect. We won’t turn on a dime for them if we aren’t given good, timely information to get a job done well—or work under unrealistic time frames. Because every time we do, we set the bar higher for the next time, doing a disservice to ourselves and to the rest of our colleagues.

Image © 2008, Mette Nielsen/Lisa Golden Schroeder

Reprinted from Score Expert Questions (www.score.org)

© 2008, Phil Bode/Lisa Golden Schroeder

A nationally recognized expert on entrepreneurship, Barry Moltz has founded and run small businesses for the past 15 years, experiencing both great success and great failure along the way. His latest book, BOUNCE!: Failure, Resiliency, and Confidence to Achieve Your Next Great Success, offers entrepreneurs a new perspective on the concept of failure, and how recognizing and even embracing it can set the stage for bigger successes.

Q: How can entrepreneurs change their mindset about failure and develop their own “bounce”?
A: Forget about having “no fear,” or asserting that, “failure is not an option.” Actually, it is a very real option, and often happens. It’s okay to be afraid, and it’s okay to fail. Not everything works. Learn from failure and bounce to the next action and success. It’s about resilience.

Q: And if that action turns into failure, then what?
A: Grieve over failures if you have to, but don’t get demoralized. Being able to recover quickly and move to a new place where success is again possible is what matters. I use the analogy of a baseball team. Your opponent can beat you only once per game, whether it’s by 1 run or 15. But the next day, everything’s even and you have a new chance to succeed.

Q: Your book also advises against following one model or type of success? Why?
A: People want to find the easy, magical steps to success. In reality, success isn’t always a straight line, but a series of ups and downs. There are some great success stories out there, but they rarely apply to anyone else because those individuals have unique experiences and access to certain resources that may not apply to you. If you attempt to follow those same steps, you’re likely to be disappointed.

Q: What are some ways to create your own measurement systems for success and failure?
A: You should look for other things that are important to you—what I call “money-plus goals.” What is it that makes you want to do something to make money and have fun? Are you building customer loyalty? Are you learning things that will be helpful down the road? The key is to establish these systems from the outset so that you know what to work for, and how to recognize success when it arrives.

Q: You use the steps of preparing the business plan to illustrate your point that good process trumps good outcome. Does that mean business plans have no value?
A: Not at all. Business plans are valuable planning tools. But the process of creating them is even more valuable because it forces you to ask questions and search for information. You shouldn’t stop once you have the document, however, because business conditions are continually changing, and what you projected may be not be accurate in a matter of months or even weeks. Instead, you need to continue asking questions.

Q: How can a mentor such as SCORE help with resiliency and rebounding from failure?
A: Other people have traveled this path. Mentors like SCORE can help you assess a situation and figure out the best direction to take. Whenever you find people who can help you in this way, you will have better chance of success.

Q: What can you say about the value of mentoring?
A: Having a mentor–someone who has been there and done it successfully–is absolutely invaluable. No one can, or should, do it alone. Even elite athletes have mentors and coaches. And, in my opinion, every entrepreneur should become best friends with SCORE.

Get advice from a SCORE business mentor today.