Food Styling for Photographers

MEETING MEAT HEAD-ON

Roasting Poultry for the Camera

Shopping for Hero Poultry

When you shop for a photo bird, depending on the

type of poultry you are using, it’s sometimes necessary

to give your butcher a week’s notice so he can provide

fresh poultry. Pick up the fresh birds at the market

the day before the shoot. Purchase fresh poultry rather

than frozen, because fresh poultry will increase your

chances of success for a beautiful roasting. Again, you

will need to purchase a minimum of three birds for each

hero in your shot, giving you several choices for hero. If

you are planning to slice into the meat of the bird for

the shot, you would be smart to purchase at least fi ve

birds.

As you shop for the photo birds, consider these impor-

tant things: First, have in mind a size range for the

bird. You will want to choose birds that have wide

breast areas because they present well to camera. Make

certain there is enough skin around the area where

the neck was removed to tuck under to the bird’s

back. Also, look at the skin at the tip of the breast

near the stuffi ng cavity. Sometimes skin in that area is

cut or slit during the cleaning process. You want to

look for birds that have plenty of skin in both the

neck and stuffi ng cavity area. Choose birds that have no

visible blemishes or holes in the skin, especially on the

breast area. Th ey should also have complete wings and

legs.

As you preplan for a shot including a whole roasted bird,

work with a stand-in to determine the preferred position

for the bird in relation to the camera.

Turkeys for Photography

Depending on the time of year, it can be diffi cult, if

not impossible, to fi nd a fresh turkey. Be sure to ask

the butcher at a good market if he can order a fresh

turkey for you. If one can’t be found, you can make a

frozen turkey work, but you will need to shop carefully.

Look for frozen turkeys with packaging that allows

you to see the turkey. If that’s not an option, you will

want to purchase four to six turkeys in the size range

you need. You’ll be working on blind faith that at

least one of the birds will be hero photo quality when

you unwrap it. Let the birds partially thaw for 2 to 3

days in a refrigerator before you start to prep them.

You may need to rent an additional oven because it is

often not possible to bake more than one turkey at a

time, depending on their size and the size of your

oven.

Th e following techniques pertain to prepping all types of

poultry for photography.