I’ve been feeling a little bleah about my photography lately, especially food. I have this lovely new camera and I should be flying.
But in all honesty, it’s sooo muucch worrrrrk (read that like a mopey 15 year old groaning about having to do their own laundry). I know my mom reads this pretty regularly (hi mom!!) and she usually tells me in situations like this to just take pictures of something else, or go somewhere new or, well, basically, she’d tell me, in a nice way, to get over it. And if she was here right now, I’d be all “but mooooommmm… you don’t understaaaaand.”
Sigh.
I’m still getting used to the camera but most frustrating is, none of my lenses work the same on it. I feel like I’m starting from scratch and it’s driving me crazy. My trusty 50 that I could always turn to before is now a stranger to me. On a small frame sensor camera like my old Rebel, the 50 was more like a true 85mm. On a full frame sensor camera like the 5D, it’s a true 50 and I’m all thrown off. It’s all subtleties but, subtleties are what makes beautiful photographs stand out. I know it’s just practice, practice, practice but in so many ways, I feel like I’ve taken 10 steps backwards.
I hear ya all… “shut up, Melissa.” Right. I’m working on it all and I’m trying a couple of different things to kick start things back into gear. I’ll tell you about those in my next post.
In the meantime, I’m going to share my favourite grilled cheese and a little bit about my trusty dog, Sam. Sam Eye Am. Sam and Eggs, Spammer, Salmon, Moo – he gets called all of those things. Don’t ask me where Moo came from. I have no idea. But he gets called that a lot.
Sam is a Lab. Still considered a puppy although he’ll be 2 this month. Lab puppyhood seems to last till they’re about 3, in terms of behaviour. In other words, you have an extremely active dog for the first three years. Extremely. Sigh.
He’s also whip smart. He hated my photography when he was little. Would bark at the camera and get very frustrated that he couldn’t see my face. He’s grown to accept it, in a begrudging fashion. He’s generally very good about sitting on his lead while I take photos on our hikes until he decides I’ve taken far too long on a particular shot and then I get a warning tug if I’m standing up or a great big slurpy kiss if I’m kneeling down.
But he doesn’t like food photography. He doesn’t understand all the commotion: tripods moving, big reflectors and foam board taking up space, me going back and forth. He likes to be as close to me as possible and when I’m constantly moving and he’s underfoot and getting bumped or jostled he gets anxious that I won’t just sit down. Worst is if he’s told to sit on his bed, away from me. He gets very blue.
But today, rather than nervous or upset, he was very interested. And I suspect that was in direct relation to two of his absolute favourite human foods being prepared: cheese, which is a rare treat, and apples, which he usually gets a few times a week. In fact, he sat right next to the table where I was working, very attentive, not moving, except to try and sneakily sniff the cheese when he thought I wouldn’t notice.
And I mean really, who doesn’t love grilled cheese. It’s a perfect comfort lunch and it has so many possibilities! So many different types of breads can be uses, different combos of cheeses, added extras like fruits or meats… all grilled to perfection. Cruncy and gooey all at the same time.
My preferred variations are fruit and cheese – namely pears and apples. Figs are also excellent but harder to find. I usually use a nice sharp cheddar because it’s generally what I have on hand and I love the combination of the sharpness with the sweetness of the fruit.
The trick is slice the fruit to the perfect thickness. Too thick and it won’t soften up enough while cooking. Too thin and the flavour is too subtle in each mouthful. You also need to let some of the cheese drip out into the pan so it gets a little brown and then scoop it back into the sandwich so you get that added flavour of, well… grilled cheese! haha. (don’t let it burn though!)
One of my favourite ways to cook it is on naan bread – it grills up nicely, isn’t too thick and one piece is enough for a sandwich. If you have some garlic naan, that’s even better. I also like to use a tarter cooking apple but all I had today was Galas. The layering is key too!
- 1 piece of naan bread, cut in half
- ½ an apple - use a tarter cooking apple if you have on hand
- 6 slices of sharp cheddar cheese - or any other cheese you prefer
- butter
- heat a frying pan or skillet to medium high
- slice the apple thinly, about 2mm thick
- on one piece of naan, layer three slices of cheese
- on top of the first layer, place about ¾ of the apple slices - enough to make a layer
- top with the rest of the cheese
- add a few more bits of apple but leave enough space between them that the cheese below them can drip through a bit, to seal the sandwich as it cooks
- cover with the other piece of naan
- butter one side of the sandwich
- place the buttered side down in the skillet and cook for 4-5 min or until the cheese is starting to soften and the bread is browning
- while it cooks, butter the side of the bread that is not in the pan
- flip the sandwich over and continue to cook for a few more minutes until cheese is oozing out and both sides are nice and brown.
- slice in half and serve!
Also, check out the super cute glasses my friend Tricia at {every}nothing wonderful made me! She etched little cameras into them! I just got them yesterday – she is so lovely 🙂 If you’d like to make your own, she has a great tutorial (with better photos) right here. I had to use one for a big glass of lemonade with my sandwich, although, they’re big enough to make a great beer glass!
Food Photography Tips
All of the food shots were taken in manual with my 100mm macro lens except the overhead ingredient shot – that was done with my 50mm. I used a diffusor to the left because the sun was quite hard and a reflector to the right.
The pie plate looks positively blue in the second photo and I’m not too sure why, as everything else looks good. It’s a steel grey pie plate. Weird.
My favourite photograph here is the one of Sam – he’s hard to catch well because he doesn’t stay still. But this is him… just waiting for me to say he can have the piece of cheese!
Quick Tip – if you’re shooting with apples and the flesh of the fruit is exposed, you have a limited amount of time to shoot before they start to turn brown. A quick spritz of lemon juice (I keep some in a spray bottle in the fridge) will stop the browning and give you more time!
Awww, Sam is just so cute. Wish we had him… though I don’t know how well he’d get along with Holden my cat, who can be pretty possessive.
What do you do with Sam when you travel?
Love grilled cheese anything, so you’ve hooked me here. You should try making your own naan too, its dead easy! I am not sure of the apples, but as I tell Aditi, gotta try before I say no!
Sam wigs out around cats. He’s never been close enough to one to sniff it. But if he sees one within 100m he starts yelping these weird high pitched noises. It actually sounds like he’s being tortured or something horrible. He has very strong retriever instincts and loves chasing birds, rabbits, squirrels but he only makes that noise when he sees a cat. It’s weird.
My dad lives with me so if he’s able, he looks after Sam. If not, I put him in a “pet resort” next to the airport that lets you pick up and drop off 24hrs a day. It’s nice because I usually fly very early morning or very late night flights and it saves me a bunch of extra trips!
I like the idea of using nann in a grilled cheese sandwich. I haven’t had one in quite a while, thanks for reminding me how much I like them!
it works really well! I got the idea last year when I made a naan pizza and it worked so well as a crust.
Sam is really cute!
And this sandwich does sound good… although the cheese looks a bit orange for my eyes. 😉
you Europeans and your white cheddar 😉
I think I’ve never ever eaten any cheddar consciously… no matter what colour!
you should give it a try – it’s a very tasty cheese. If you get an aged one, it has a nice sharp taste that goes really well with fruit – especially apples, pears, grapes. It’s often served with apple pie over here. Of course, I love any cheese almost as much as I love chocolate!
Oh Melissa, this is an amazing idea!! I would have never thought to make this awesome sandwich… I want one now! 🙂
Sam is godgeous!
Thanks Kate! I do love him lots 🙂 (even if he does try to sneak my cheese sandwiches!)
There’s Saaaaaaam! Awwww- sending him big puppy hugs! I know what you mean about shooting animals though – Cleo takes 1/1000 decent shots (and yes, there are SO many shots of her!)
This looks delicious and as usual, I love your tips and musings about the photographs. I wish more people would do this!
haha.. i’m glad you like them. sometimes I think I sound like a crazy person talking out loud to themselves. But if people find them helpful I’m happy to oblige!
How fun! I love it!
I love this post! Your photos are consistently beautiful, so I don’t think there’s any reason to feel down (though we all go through those spurts!). Your dog is super cute too! And what a lovely idea to do grilled cheese with naan…naan and cheddar are two of my favorite things!