Food Styling for Photographers

BURGERS, SANDWICHES, AND BEYOND

on the relationship of the sandwich to the camera, the

sharp triangular edges of a cut sandwich may allow the

camera to see more than one edge of the sandwich. If

you are building the sandwich in the prep area, once the

meat is on the sandwich, you might choose to fi nish

building the sandwich on set and to the camera. Refer to

the On Set with a Whole Sandwich section in this

chapter for supplies needed on a table near the set.

As you fi nish building the interior elements of the cut

sandwich, use a piece of stand-in bread to determine if

the build is level to camera. Th e hero bread topper will

need to sit fl at and not appear to fl oat above the sandwich

or have gaps seen by the camera between the bread and

interior of the sandwich. It is often helpful to position

two toothpick ends extending about 1/4 inch above the

top element to hold the hero bread topper in place. Again,

refer to the On Set with a Whole Sandwich section in

this chapter for techniques to use before fi nal capture or

fi lm exposure.

OK, I’m busted. Th is is the back of the hero sandwich

halves after the fi nal exposure. You can see that I had to

support the sandwich structure. Th e bread would not

hold the weight of the top sandwich ingredients and it

was necessary to insert a section of poster board under

the bread. Even that wasn’t enough to stabilize the struc-

ture, so I cut a length of skewer and secured one end of

it to the plate with windowpane putty. Th e other end is

resting on a fl at wood pickle fork that I dug out of the

studio props and wedged under the bread. Yes, I was

moving quickly. Th e rigidity of the fork gave enough

support for the tall sandwich arrangement to hold its

shape. Th e only important thing is the camera didn’t see

a thing!