Experimenting with Food Styling

Goodmorning! I don't know about you but I am so glad April is here because hopefully with it will come warmer temps and the ability to spend more time outdoors. In order to kickstart a new month I tried out a barre class this morning, which was amazing, so I wanted to keep those happy endorphins flowing by cooking something healthy but fun! Well my definition of fun anyway ;)

A few days ago I stopped in with some friends to the Market Tavern on Main Street in Sykesville. You can sit at the bar and order food and drink or you can peruse the shelves that are filled with local and national small business items. I quickly found a ton of my favorites (Mouth Party Caramel, Kinderhook cookies and crackers) but was also intrigued by the dairy case and its offerings of fresh sausages and cheeses.

I have a tiny (okay more than tiny) obsession with goat cheese and when my eyes alighted on Cherry Glen Goat Cheese Co.'s Chevre (just a fancy word for goat cheese) I knew exactly what recipe I wanted to use it in.

A while ago I pinned a recipe for a goat cheese quiche with a sweet potato crust. I had been waiting to make it because it's a little lengthy and required a few cooking tools i.e. a springform pan that I didn't have but I found a cheap one yesterday so it was time!

Today I'm trying a different approach to my blog so instead of typing out the whole recipe, you can find it here: http://www.farmgirlgourmet.com/2013/03/goat-cheese-quiche-with-sweet-potato.html

I wanted to focus more on presentation and photography today. Unfortunately I'm without my reflector and will have to get a new one. I also need to get a few pieces of white posterboard for backdrop, but I've been playing with angles and a photo editor app on my phone called Bokeh. Below is some of my experimentation!

Here's the original:

Now edited with Bokeh:

Without editing:

With editing:

I like how much sharper the images are and how the focus becomes the food and not all the clutter in the background. I can't wait to try this app out once I have a solid white background. I have a lot more to learn but I'm excited.

I'm also happy to report that this quiche tastes as good as it looks. It's sweet from the sweet potatoes, savory from the eggs and seasonings, tangy from the goat cheese, and creamy in the center. You can see the split layers here: