Showing posts with label Toronto Photographer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toronto Photographer. Show all posts

Wednesday 28 January 2015

Food Photography| Gluten Free Baking

Food Photography | Gluten Free Baking

By Toronto Food Photographer Robert Greatrix | Fulcrum Imaging


Much of my food portfolio up to this point is self assigned and when I make a dish generally we eat it for lunch or dinner. This does raise some difficulties as my wife, Marie is Gluten Free and we have both friends and close family that have been diagnosed with Celiacs Disease. I myself, am not sensitive to Gluten and I consider myself a foodie, so I find that dishes made Gluten Free do not have the same taste or texture for the most part. In the past I found one of the most difficult was finding good GF pastries or recipes to make them that were simple and had ingredients that were easy to source (which continues to get easier). So thanks to a little research, some experiments and some slight tweaks I finally have a recipe that I love. The original recipe I found here: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/11/gluten-free-pastry-crust.html and after a couple of tries I found I liked the pastry with 1/2 cup of oat flour substituted for part of the rice flour. You have to read the above linked recipe very carefully to get the ingredients correct as it is formatted to show two different recipes and it is confusing. I will list out what I use to avoid the confusion:

1/4 to 1/2 cup Oat Flour (preference)
3/4 to 1 cup Brown Rice Flour (preference but keep the total of the two top flours 1 1/4 cups)
1/2 Cup Sweet Rice Flour 
1/2 cup Tapioca Starch
2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar
I teaspoon Xanthan Gum
I cup (8ounces) butter (2 Sticks) 
7 Tablespoons Ice Water (may need to be adjusted up or down)

Method:

I freeze the butter first. Combine all the dry ingredients in a food processor. Then shred the frozen butter through a box grater or equivalent into the dry mixture, pulsing a few times after the first half (1 stick) is shredded and again after the second half. This gives a cornmeal like textured mix. I then add the ice water, one tablespoon at a time giving it a pulse after each one then a few more after to ensure it is evenly combined. I then transfer the dough to a freezer bag, squish it slightly into a ball and put in the fridge for an hour or so. I then work it with a rolling pin on a piece of parchment paper coated liberally with Rice Flour (or all purpose GF Flour mix). I also sprinkle the same on top to stop my rolling pin from sticking. The pastry is a little difficult to work with and you can also use a second pice of parchment on top to roll it and help place it in your baking vessel but when you get it right the results are fantastic. So far we have made Berry Tarts and Butter Tarts (my favourite), Apple Pie, Tourtiere and Quiche. See the photos below. I hope you enjoy. 

Food Photography is my business and if you like to see more of my portfolio please click HERE  to go to the Fulcrum Imaging Website. 








We are Toronto Food and Corporate Photographers and are booking shoots for food and corporate clients for February and March. Call or email us to save your time slot now or just to talk :-)

Phone: 647-408-6354

All images are copyrighted and the property of Robert Greatrix, and Fulcrum Imaging and cannot be used without permission. 

Monday 8 September 2014

Hot Pepper Season

Hot Pepper Season: 

Toronto Food, Commercial and Corporate Photographer Robert Greatrix 


It's that time of year when all the spicy goodness is ripening up in a an explosion of red, orange and green. I was worried earlier in the year that an extremely persistent raccoon was going to successfully destroy my rooftop garden but as it turns out I think I have more peppers this year than ever. So I thought I would highlight some of my food photography portfolio and showcase my hot pepper crop. 


A selection of my peppers on a rustic white board surface, Jalapeño, Habernero, Cayenne or Chilli, one I don't remember and the dreaded Ghost Pepper. 


Some sliced Habernero with a diffused backlight. I love the aroma and vibrant colours of these fresh peppers. A couple thin slices is all I need to add some kick and intense flavours to a breakfast egg scramble. (Maybe a breakfast themed blog in the future)


The challenge comes some trying to use so many hot peppers as they seem to all ripen at once. Here I made a Spicy Salsa, a Habernero Mayo and a Fiery Red Sauce. I adapted the Fiery red Sauce recipe from an article in a recent Chatelaine magazine which always a great source for inspiring recipes. 




A couple more shots with the bottom one including some Guacamole, Tomato Salsa with Corn and Salsa Verde. I honestly never remember seeing Tomatillos before but saw some at the local Riverdale Farmer's Market and had try some of this somewhat unusual fruit. I roasted the Tomatillos over a light smoke on my Big Green Egg Grill and the sauce reflects it with a hint of smoky aromas. 

For more food photography visit www.fulcrumimaging.com and please visit your local farm markets and enjoy your harvest season. More food photography and more blog posts coming up.

Fulcrum Imaging is Toronto Photographer Robert Greatrix who is available for food, commercial and corporate photography as well as time lapse video creation. Please let us provide you a quote for all your photography needs by emailing a request to info@fulcrumimaging.com. We would love to hear from you.

Copyright 2014.



A little behind the scenes shot of my photo set-up, its a lot more work than one imagines and the worse part is the clean-up :-). Cheers. 

















Monday 4 November 2013

Evergreen Brickworks at Night

As many of you may or may not know I have done occasional volunteer work with the Toronto group Evergreen for a number of years now. To learn more about them just go to www.evergreen.ca they are a fantastic organization. And if you go to either of my websites you know night photography is a major part of my work.

So this past Sunday night the opportunity came up to photograph the lighting of the chimney court at the Evergreen Brickworks. The Brickworks is a former industrial site that has been rehabilitated into an important cultural and natural educational center. Again please visit the Brickworks part of the Evergreen site, you will find it very interesting and you may see some of my photography used there.

I met Terry Queeley who is the technical director of Q ideas. www.qideas.ca. Terry is a lighting guy who provided all the amazing colors to illuminate the Brickworks for the photographs. Although it was frosty night we managed to pull off a few great shots and it was a pleasure to work with him. If you need any corporate or event AV look Terry up.

As a first attempt I am quite pleased with the photos and have gotten some great ideas from this shoot. Please enjoy a few shots from the evening and if you have any questions drop me an email at at robertgreatrixphotography@bell.net or visit my websites www.robertgreatrixphotography.ca or www.torontophotographs.com. Cheers.

Chimney Court in Purple


















Chimney Court Rainbow



















Chimney Court Red and Green


























Teepee and Chimney Lighting


















View of Chimney and Buildings



















Aerial View of the Brickworks Illumination


















Again thanks for the views and for event or corporate photography email me for rates and availability.

Couldn't resist taking a city view while I had the opportunity!
All photos copyright Robert Greatrix Photography 2013.

Thursday 8 August 2013

SS Keewatin Port McNicol Ontario Part 1

I recently had the unique experience of touring the SS Keewatin a veritable floating museum currently docked in the small town of Port McNicol Ontario. The town was once home to a major Canadian Pacific Railway Great Lakes Port and many ships including the Keewatin sailed to and from here. The journey of the Keewatin and its history is fascinating and is best experienced and absorbed in person. To read more about the Keewatin please visit SSKeewatin.com (after looking at my photos of course).

I was greeted on the day by the man instrumental in returning this marvellous vessel to its former home, Eric Conroy. His knowledge of the ship is extensive to say the least , having served as a waiter on the ship as a young man. So here in photos is what I will call Part 1 of my visit to the SS Keewatin as I will be returning again this year to continue my photography of this amazing piece of Canada's sailing history.

Barber Shop


One of my favourite rooms was the retired barbershop. here it is a journey back in history as you can almost experience a shave and haircut in the onboard shop.

Many of the staterooms are decorated with period costumes and items. The photographers suite obviously caught my eye. The Keewatin is a museum in more ways than one as all the items are authentic and are donated by the community and others.


Kitchen
                                                         

       
The galley is as interesting as any place on the ship. The walk back in time is completed with utensils cookware and appliances from the time period the ship was in service.

The grand appearance of the dining room is stunning as one can imagine what it would be like to dine here. My host having worked as a waiter here had some very interesting insights to his experiences and has book based on them, titled "Steak in a Drawer". 



Chopping Block

A well used chopping block resides in the walk-in freezer located just off the Kitchen. One can imagine the activity that used to happen here.


Elegenace


I guess one would call this the main deck. I will try to clarify. One can see the room on the sides of this elegant hall and the beautiful open ceiling letting in light from the upper level. 













An incredible number of the staterooms are decorated in various themes and time periods. This room was occupied by the RCMP when on board and the authentic uniform was donated by them. I was astonished at the level of detail and the staging in each of them


















This sign on the door reminds us that the classes were very much segregated in the times of these sailing ships and the paying customers would have little or no contact with those who toiled on the ship. 

































As I said in the beginning I plan to return to the Keewatin in the near future and get much more information on this giant of a vessel. It is much larger than I ever imagined so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw her. My next visit I plan to visit more areas of the ship including the engine and mechanical rooms. In the meantime you can also visit my website www.robertgreatrixphotogrpahy.ca and browse under travel where you will find a few more photos of the Keewatin and be sure to visit and check out SSKeewatin.com as well. 

If you are interested in purchasing prints of my images from this blog or would like to license them for commercial purposes please contact me at robertgreatrixphotography@bell.net









Tuesday 30 July 2013

Night Shots

Part of my portfolio and one of my favourite projects is Urban Night Photography. I find creating long exposure images is creatively rewarding in a unique way. As I look for images I find myself envisioning a scene that will feature rich colors and many times a sense of drama. With the long exposures at one's fingertips at night moving lights can become lasers or streams of color. If you can add in some unusual weather all the better. Rain and wet surfaces reflect colors brilliantly allowing the creation of images that remind me of early painters.

Equipment-wise shooting at night is similar to landscape photography. A tripod becomes a necessity if you want to shoot long shutter speeds and lower ISO's. I use a mid range Manfrottto tripod and ballhead. For triggering the shutter a remote release makes life easier although the same function can be achieved by using the self timer function found on most cameras. I prefer a remote shutter release to both time light trails and in some cases shoot between gaps in traffic to avoid them. Lens choice varies, for me it may be a 12-24mm ultra wide angle, a 20mm prime, a 50mm prime or my 70-200mm. Sometimes I may go out with just one lens, the camera and the tripod.

Nailing the exposure at night can be difficult and requires some practice and learning your camera. I don't get perfect exposures every shutter click but I read my histogram and take my observations from previous shots to judge what compensation is necessary. It never hurts to take several different exposures or bracket shots. I also do this quite frequently.

So when the sun goes down, grab your gear and fire up your creativity the results will surprise you.

Waiting for Your Call
I walked by this phone booth almost daily and it always seemed to grab my attention. Photographed at night/early morning it came alive and you can read a story into it. For me it brings a sense of loneliness and impending danger.














After the Rain Came


                                                       

This shot came about as the tail end of Hurricane Sandy dumped rain on the city. The low angle and the wet surfaces give a lot of depth, color and drama to this image. The lines with the wide angle lens also gives an impression of movement and dynamics.


Rain and Street Meat



Another of my more popular images this was also shot during the same rainy night as above.  This time I used a 700-200 to crop in tighter on this guy waiting at a hot dog stand. I couldn't figure out why he was out on this night getting food but I am sure he might have wondered the same about me out with my camera. The wet pavement reflected the red lights providing brilliant colors and the light from the stand lit the subject perfectly.
No-Karts
Another wide angle shot this long exposure brought out the colors of the different lights in this scene creating a totally different scene than what would be available in daylight hours.


If you enjoy this blog please share and give some feedback. Much more of my Urban Landscape, Street and Night Photography can be seen at www.torontophotographs.com or www.robertgreatrixphotography.ca.