The UpperCrust Show will kickstart tomorrow at the HICC, Novotel Complex.  I have been closely associated with the UC team since we have been participating in their Mumbai show,  for the past 4 years.  I am sad, I will miss the Hyderabad debut event as I am planning my trip to Germany, visiting Anuga Food Expo.

I will be missing the fun, the food  and the opportunity to meet a lot of clients old and new there. All of which is in abundance at the UpperCrust Show.  Its the only true food show held in India.

I wish Farzana, Rozina and the entire UC team a very hectic weekend and a warning  to the people of Hyderabad… watch your waistline this week end.

For more information about events, the programme, and what to eat, visit the “UpperCrust website”

If you visit show, we’d  love to know your experience.

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I do not fast and hence I do not celebrate Eid the way it has to be celebrated. The only thing I do is cook 25 litres of Sheer Korma every year.

In this post, below, I have not posted images for your comments.  Its in not my brilliant food shot  nor the image of the week…. Instead, they are posted to lure you to come  home today.  If not today, then every year from the next year and feast with us.

Once again we wish all our friends and colleagues A VERY HAPPY EID!

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I am famous for my Idlis!

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I had mentioned in my introductory post that through this blog I will share ideas, trends and tips on food styling and photography. I have now categorized my blog for 4 groups. This post is for the Trend-Setters group which I have defined as; Creative Directrs, Art Directors, Designers….

In order to create a common perspective for the blog, it is important to establish a common aim i.e. what do we, as a team, work together for? Creating this common aim will give us a constant reference point to use, so that all discussions and writings on this blog remain constructive and weave around this reference point.

I would like to call this reference point a ‘brilliant food shot’. Because as a stylist, this is my sense of what we all work towards as a team. Of course, this perspective is open for debate ?

However, if one believes that a ‘brilliant food shot’ is what it is all about, then, it is important to specify what a ‘brilliant food shot’ is.

I would like to define a ‘brilliant food shot’ as not only an aesthetically beautiful shot, which is undoubtedly important, but it must also be a shot that sticks to the brief and manifests the intent of the product it is being shot for.

Allow me to illustrate with an example –
Have a look at the image below. It is raw mango powder or what is popularly known as ‘amchur’ powder. The client brief specified that besides projecting a premium look, we need to differentiate the image from a garam masala powder image as the colour of both the powders is same or similar.
Hence, as you see in the shot, I have shown, should I say… the processing cycle of amchur powder.

So instead of just showing a bowl of raw mango powder, I felt the need to be a little more creative by showing some raw mangoes and some slices of raw mangoes. Further on the story continues into dried raw mango slices and finally the powder form of the same. I did not deviate from the main product but just showed various forms of it, thus highlighting it from other powders.

In the mean time you can share your brilliant food shot here; maybe an image of it or even your version of the definition.

The above image was shot for Suhana, a brand owned by Praveen Masale – Pune

I am sure my proposal of “a brilliant food shot” will help us to focus and discuss food styling & photography clearly. In my next post I intend to introduce the job of a food stylist from my perspective.

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Just last week I shot a range of food photographs for Diwali. I had a great experience shooting these. I have created a festive mood in these shots. Though the lighting is not my style, the range demanded it. I am proud of these pictures. They are available to purchase on www.foodpics.in.

PS: I won’t be able to shoot images for Eid, but I a preparing a fantastic range of shots for Christmas.

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Have you seen the KFC Crushers Ad?

It’s creating mixed reactions amongst the people I have met. Whether they have liked it or not, everybody around is surely talking about it!!

Personally, I think it is an extremely bold ad. It actually goes beyond the ordinary food shots; (“drool shots” as some call it). It’s in a zone where the food is seen or rather not seen, but it’s about what happens after it’s consumed. It basically crushes in your mouth, as the name implies. The two main objectives of an advertisement film, to convey a message and to hit it hard, have been quite literally and convincingly put across in this commercial.

When I was first given a briefing for this job, an instant surge of excitement welled inside me. The script was bold and very different as compared to any other food ads that I have been working on. But I would’ve not expected anything lesser from my favourite production house; Nirvana Films! I have known these wonderful people since before the inception of their company and that is a pretty long time.

I was briefed by the director, Mr. Prakash Verma, to create 3 to 4 very different, opulent shots. His expectations were so high that I just knew that this one was a toughie. As I worked on, I found it almost impossible to accept that I was struggling to conjure these shots, as I am so used to creating 6-8 great food shots almost on a daily basis.

After days of referencing, sketching and rehearsing, I did manage to get a few rounds of applause for my work during the actual day of the shoot.

Ironically, when I see the film now, I hardly find any of my shots in there. I wonder where they all went!

CRUSHED UP in the process I guess!!

See the commercial and give me your opinions

Cheers!

Saba Gaziyani.

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Why the blog… Well, why not?! It would be a perfectly apt answer, which is also rather self-explanatory, but in order to maintain my reputation as a food photographer and stylist and to justify my talent, let me elaborate.

As the years passed by (and I am talking of more than a decade here – don’t go by my size, because it has shrunk in inverse proportion compared to my experience) – I have compiled a collection of unique experiences as a food stylist and a human being. Some of these experiences, I have found as they were a part of my role/life as a human, but a lot of them came to me because of my professional life in the world of food. I have trudged the path dedicated to food styling for over a decade and now I finally think I have gathered enough ammunition and thick skin through the vagaries of my profession to feel comfortable about sharing some of these experiences. Gourmet Funk is my way of expressing just that to a group of people with diverse objectives in their lives but a common agenda – the art of making food look good.

So, what can you expect on Gourmet Funk?

For those who aspire to make food styling a career, I have tips and knowledge to share with you.

If you are a creative professional looking for food styling trends and insights into how styling food works best under different circumstances (whether for a live shoot, or for still shots), you have reached your destination. As a competent food photographer cum stylist, I will try my best to give you all insights into this profession that will allow both, stylists and creative professionals to work well together and get better at what they offer to their client thereby raising the volume of the bang for the buck.

For my lovely clients, without whom I would have never managed to stay afloat even for my fairly short reign as a food photographer cum stylist, this is where I would like to communicate with you directly. Whether they are new trends in food photography, or new offerings from me, or anything else: you will always find a reason to come here.

(What I offer in my job is a unique combination of not just styling food but also shooting it. I hope that my perspective as a food photographer cum stylist offers you the value addition that you might be looking out for.)

And lastly, I have a ‘mindful’ of experiences and opinions regarding my profession and I am dying to let it all out somewhere before my family goes insane listening to me. I am also considering this blog as my little personal haven, where I can express views, opinions, share my excitement over new trends, get nostalgic with past experiences and all in all cook up a storm full of words (and not be afraid of being interrupted by my erstwhile husband and son)

This blog is welcome to all and views and experiences can be shared; thereby enriching the entire blogging experience for all who drop by.

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