Can 'o Cannelini
I did this project last week and finally post-processed the photos.
My storyboard was just a list of ~10 potential shots, with barely any sketches. It was still a good idea to list it all out.
This was the first time I cooked this dish (straight out of a recipe book) so I had to also plan the steps for cooking in addition to the photographry.
Setup: Kitchen table top. I barely have any interesting props, not even table cloths. Diffused sunlight from floor-to-ceiling window, and a circular silver/white reflector on the other side. Time to cook and photograph - 5 hours!!
This is actually photoshopped. There weren't enough cannelinni beans for both the bowl and the can, so I composited two photos. (I'm new to photoshop so this was hard).
I wish this was more in focus. I took a lot of these shots, and I liked the swirl in the steam on this one.
The tomatoes were beautiful! I have a couple of awesome shots of this setup from different angles, and it was hard to choose one from the lot.
The spinach was not sufficiently fresh-looking unfortunately, so this out-of-focus one works the best. I was wearing a red shirt while shooting this (doh) so I had to remove some red reflection in the tap.
The spatula is actually delicately hanging off of a cutlery holder. I liked this shot angle because of the 3D effect in the oil.
This was the fried bread put in the blender. I'm not sure if I got that message through.
The first time I shot this, I forgot to include the fork and spoon (and wine). So this is actually the leftovers the next day. And that's not really wine :)
Thanks Leela for the videos!
The recipe is pretty involved. From the Five-a-day cookbook. Here goes:
8oz cannellini beans, soaked overnight
4 tbsp olive oil
1 slice white bread
1 onion chopped
3-4 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
pinch of paprika
1 lb spinach
1 garlic clove halved
salt and ground black pepper
1) Drain beans, place in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil and boil rapidly for 10 mins. Cover and simmer for 1 hour until tender. Drain.
2) Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a frying pan and fry the bread until golden brown.
3) Fry the onion in 1 tbsp oil over gentle heat until soft but not brown, then add tomatoes and continue cooking over gentle heat.
4) Heat the remaining oil in a large pan, stir in the paprika and then add the spinach. Cover and cook for a few minutes until spinach has wilted.
5) Add the onion and tomato mixture to the spinach, mix well and stir in the beans.
Place the garlic and fried bread in a food processor and process until smooth. Stir into the spinach/bean mixture. Add 2/3 cup cold water and then cover/simmer gently for 20-30 minutes, adding more water if necessary.