Granola bars on the set are not for eating.
Cygnus Studios
Registered Users Posts: 2,294 Major grins
Today we are in the studio shooting various breakfast items and I forgot the number 1 rule on the set. Never eat the food.
Sitting off to the side of our main table sat these granola bars. Yes, they look pretty.
In my infinite wisdom, I grabbed one and threw it into my mouth. As soon as I bit down I realized that this particular tray of bars was not for eating. The stylist had not only coated them with scotch guard, she also applied a bit of WD-40 for that extra shine.
Yes, laughs were heard from everyone else, as well as some pretty graphic language from yours truly.
Now if you have not have the privilege of tasting scotch guard and WD-40 on your food, let me tell you that the taste is quite unique and does not go away quickly or easily.
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Comments
Ha! this is great!
I like the pic too!
www.mind-driftphoto.com
Hah! Good one, Steve. I've heard similar stories from my niece who's a food stylist in NYC. Sure makes me think about truth in advertising...
I know others that have done it, but this was my first time violating rule # 1. I won't soon forget.
Truth is a relative term when it comes to any type of photography. From talking with the old food photographers, things are more real today than they used to be.
The worst part, for me, is all the great smells on the set as the chef's prepare the food, knowing that it is never fully cooked and will soon be "styled" so that no one can eat it. It sure smells good though. Just imagine what it is like to walk into the studio for days after shooting something that smelled really good and there is none of it around. Drive ya nuts.
On bigger shoots we get catered food brought in that is never as good as what is being photographed. Days when we are shooting beautiful steaks, we end up eating cold turkey subs and bag of chips. That is the rough part of the job.
We shoot mostly the product end of the food. The stuff that ends up on the box, bag or can, so we do have a couple more constraints than those who just shoot for restaurants or cook books. Although we still do a ton of enhancing to make the product look as good as possible.
We did a cereal shot a month or so ago and went through 20 or so boxes looking for the very best pieces to put in the bowl. It was so time consuming. You'll find out how much you love or hate your job after spending 4 hours culling through cereal piece by piece.
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