MEETING MEAT HEAD-ON
BASIC 101 FOR PHOTO MEAT As always in food styling, shopping plays a crucial role.
Meat for photography should be purchased from a quality
meat market. I like talking with the butcher and telling
him I’m shopping for a photography project, explaining
the cut of meat I’ll need. Sometimes I take along a go-by
photograph to show him. In the description of the meat,
I give him rough dimensions of the meat cut that I’m
shopping for. I usually purchase three or four duplications
of the same cut for one hero and perhaps a few more if
the hero meat is to be shown sliced for the presentation.All of the butchers I’ve worked with are very eager to
please their customers. I normally inform the butcher
that I am happy to pay for any excess fat on the cuts I
purchased. At the studio, I would trim some of the fat
away, but leave a thin layer of fat since it browns nicely
when styled with a torch fl ame.SAFETY NOTE Keep in mind this chapter is about meat to be
photographed and not eaten. The food styling rule about not eating
photo food defi nitely applies to all photo meat.To help you understand some of the techniques used
with diff erent varieties of meats, several presentations
accompany this chapter with descriptions of the methods
used in achieving each. Realizing the vast scope of this
topic, my goal was to select a few general categories for
meat styling. It might be necessary for you to combine
steps from a couple of diff erent techniques to achieve
the appropriate appearance for the particular photo
meat you are using.
As you progress through the planning stage of a shoot
including some type of cooked protein, consider the deci-
sions to be made: How will the meat appear to be cooked?
Will the meat be cut? Also, what foods will accompany
the meat? Answers to these questions will determine the
series of steps needed in creating the desired appearance
for the meat in an image. Use a stand-in to determine
the position of the hero meat and other foods on the hero
plate. Th is will make building the hero plate much easier
to accomplish when you go to set. Have a plan!TRICKS OF THE TRADE The shape of a particular cut of meat
may determine that only one side of the meat will work as the hero.
For instance, if the cut of meat you are planning to photograph has
a traditional and specifi c shape, like a T-bone steak, chicken half, or
rack of ribs, the position of the meat in relation to the camera will
be specifi cally driven by the side of the meat that you want to present
to the camera. Therefore, because only one side of the cut will be
considered the hero, you will need to purchase double the amount
of cuts, giving you adequate options for hero selection.