Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Food Bloggers/Photographers

Today's Chronicle has a good article on camera-totin' food bloggers. This is something that I'm often torn about ... I don't offer up too many photos on this site because:
  • I'm not a great photographer, so more often than not, I don't think I can do the food justice.
  • I don't want to become one of those people (as the story touches on) that lets getting the perfect shot overshadow enjoying the food itself.
  • My husband isn't really a fan of me bringing out the camera with every course, although he's gotten better about it.

Yet I realize that:

  • In addition to smell, taste and texture, food is also a visual thing. There's a reason why people say, "Wow. Just looking at that [insert tantalizing treat here] is making me hungry!"
  • Some presentations are so beautiful, that it doesn't seem sufficient to describe them. Again, there's a reason why people say, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Some culinary creations really do need to be seen.

Anyway. The Chron piece is good, solid reporting. And it includes one of my favorite restaurants -- Chicago's Alinea. The chef mentions that they get at least one food blogger/photographer a night. During my dinner visit, in addition to myself, there were two other tables in our (small) dining room that were snapping pictures. (Most of my photos didn't really convey how gorgeous the dishes really were.)