Food Styling for Photographers

CHAPTER FOUR

potatoes. Use a tapered spatula to make adjustments in
the height of the mashed potato mixture. Th e mashed
potato mixture can also be useful in getting height in
fruit salads on plates or to give support to individual fruit
pieces. Keep in mind that you can only use the potato
mixture when you can hide it with fruit so the camera
won’t see it. Th e mashed potato mixture also absorbs any
excess juices from the fruit. Th e toothpick technique as
described in the green salad section of this chapter can
also be used to support fruit pieces. However, you will
need to be extra cautious to avoid pushing the toothpick
completely through the fruit.

When you build the hero fruit salad, use the diff erences
in colors and textures of the fruit to create interest and
beauty.

Dressing a Fruit Salad

Fruit salads photograph best with no dressing. However,
if your fruit salad is to have a dressing, the best way to
apply it is either with a brush or with a spritz bottle. If
a dressing normally appears thick or heavy visually, it
will not photograph well applied in its usual consis-
tency. To photograph these types of dressings success-
fully, the mixture must be thinned considerably and
brushed onto the fruit pieces before they are included
in the hero build. After the salad is built, a thicker

consistency of the dressing can be added in selected

areas with a dropper or applicator bottle. Using this

method gives the fruit pieces interest and prevents a

goopy mass appearance.

As you build the salad, and during the time on set before

fi nal photography, you will need to brush the fruit with

the Fruit Fresh Produce Protector/water mixture to keep

it moist. Th e fruit must appear luscious and juicy to the

camera. If you are shooting on a plate and excess liquids

begin to build up on the surface of hero plate, use cotton

swabs or small folded squares of paper towels to absorb

the excess liquid as needed.

Supplies used to complete the fruit salad shot:

● Cardinal International hero bowl and work bowls

● Fruit Fresh Produce Protector

● Henckels Twin Four Star II 3-inch paring knife

● OXO Good Grips Y peeler, melon baller, utility

cutting board

● Zak Designs bowl

● STRETCH-TITE plastic food wrap

● Wilton Comfort Grip 9-inch tapered spatula

● Bounty paper towels