Going Bananas at Everyday Food

Photography: Jonny Miller

Photography: Jonny Miller

Photography: Jonny Miller

Photography: Jonny Miller

Photography: Jonny Miller

In the current March issue of Martha Stewarts Everyday Food I have a number of stories, It is the Budget issue. Every few months Everyday Food has asked me to do a whole issue which is great as you really get to work through the look and feel of a whole issue, Sadly Everyday Food recently lost it's past Editor Anna Last with whom I worked with in this issue, As a result some stories were re-tweaked with a new team, however one story that stayed was this great Banana desert story.


I makes me laugh because I know Anna does not like Banana deserts personally but putting her tastes aside she knows most people do! I love banana everything so it was fun to shoot.


We decided on a palette that reflected the aging signs of bananas from pale yellow to black. I loved using the zinc surface as a base with bright punches of yellow. With Everyday Food we shoot quite a lot of process style shots that are also woven into the layout. 


The Going Banana's story was shot by the very talented Jonny Miller  

Martha Stewart, Everyday Food, Jan/Feb Issue

Photography: Con Poulos

Photography: Con Poulos

Photography: Con Poulos

Photography: Con Poulos

When a gig comes around as a Freelancer that is nearly 3 weeks long, It is very hard to knock it back, especially when it's in the neighbourhood and I don't have to get on a plane to get to it like most long jobs! A couple of blocks with my latte and I am there! For my first Everyday Food issue, to style the whole issue was a great experience, Like working on a book, You are able to invest the head space into creating a whole booklet in one go with the same team. Everyday Food use a different team every month, Mine consisted of myself and Photographer Con Poulos www.conpoulos.com. Working with the ever talented Editor in Chief, Anna Last, Design Director, Chi Lam and Food Editor's Heather Meldrom and Lesley Stockton, It's a small team with big results. 

For me there is a lot of propping involved, with a whole issue with over 10 larger stories plus smaller ones too, You need to be able to get your head around how to approach so many stories but give them their own personality or flavor. We also got some surfaces made, but also sourced many as well. The props and surfaces for a whole issue really come from everywhere, My own storage and home, prop houses and the market place but also from the Martha Stewart and the Everyday Food prop cupboard combined. 

Included in this set is a story on Onions, In a section called "In Season" 

The interesting angle to this job was my first larger introduction to the I-Pad and how it effects most shoots now, Shooting video footage, We filmed many aspects of the stories so that they could relate back to an I-Pad format where you can view much more than just the printed page, It's very exciting to see the cross over, It's like having a little bite of the future.     

Martha Stewart, Everyday Food, Jan/Feb Issue/ Superbowl

Photography: Con Poulos

Photography: Con Poulos

Photography: Con Poulos

Photography: Con Poulos

For the same issue, Included was the much expected Superbowl party, not said with a jaded tone at all but January is always Superbowl and like Thanksgiving, Holidays, Easter, It comes around sooner than you think!. For me not really being an avid sports follower, This event intrigues me. For the last 5/6 years Superbowl comes around, We shoot way ahead of course and for me I have to delve into the mind of a Superbowl party host and look at how we can reinvent the wheel. Of course to a degree there is a formula to a party like this, Mainly it revolves around a TV, A remote control, fat fueled foods and of course beer! However this time, Everyday Food are doing the "light" version, no fatty foods here, except you would never know! 


It was important with this story to keep it tasteful but "Everyday" as well. I thought it would be nice to include an environment and even though most people may not own a Saarinen Womb Chair, I know from experience that it if there was any chair you wanted to watch TV in, It would be this one! So for the opener we created the scene and opposite it a play on a scoreboard with a schedule planned out for the host, The stories colors are fun and bright and even though I am yet to ever host or be invited to a Superbowl party, The spirit of the game was there, even if shot in October! : ) 

Martha Stewart, Everyday Food, Jan/Feb Issue/ Flavor without the Fat

Photography: Con Poulos

Photography: Con Poulos

Photography: Con Poulos

Photography: Con Poulos

This story was a story is called "Flavor without the Fat" Using Rubs, Sauces and Seasonings, The idea is you can bring flavor to your meals without the calories. Perfect as it is the "Light" issue. This story we wanted to do something super graphic. When shooting a whole issue it is important to vary the stories so that they look different and allow the pace of the magazine to vary. Using powdery painted Plexiglas surfaces with super shiny plates helps give that subtle but unexpected kick to the story. It was very simple but with such a beautiful palette, The food really shines. I love the reflections of the studio windows in the plates, so pretty!  

Anna Last's New York Apartment

Last Saturday, My friend Anna Last who is incidentally the Editor of Everyday Food, hosted a very fantastic Christmas dinner. Being a Food Stylist and Editor, you would hardly be surprised if I said the food was amazing! The big hit of the night, especially amongst the fellow Australians present was the pavlova, our national desert.

Anna and I also worked together on Real Simple where she tailored her many skills to prop style on our Styling Team so not only was the food delish but so was the view. I always marvel at Anna's apartment, A fellow collector of charming objet d'arte, Anna like myself is a regular flea market junkie and her style reflects a love of an era past. She often says one of her main influences was her grandmother and it's with this nostalgic eye she pulls together a variety of objects and artwork that some would imagine would feel at odds together, but with Anna's eye fuse together like still life painting themselves. Her and I share a love of all things botanical, you can witness this in her collection of oil paintings of flowers and metal organic sculpture that adorn the walls. Turquoise seems to be Anna's signature color and is laced through the apartment like a delicate thread, but makes a bold impactual statement in the hallway as you walk though the door. To brand Anna's style, it is delightfully random and eclectic. I loved the part of the evening where she took down her collection of blue and white ceramic off their plate hooks on the wall and served up the sides in them at the table which itself was decorated with an mismatched array of plates and paper peacocks.

Another highlight for me is her collection of nautical paintings and model boats, they remind me of growing up near the water and when I look at them I can hear the tightening of rope and the creaks and groans of clinking boats, a far cry from urban New York where we both now reside.

Most of these pictures are vignettes of her collections, maybe one day we will see more pulled back photographs of her rooms, Until then enjoy a small glimpse of another Stylist's and Editor's home, Thanks for dinner Anna!

You can catch all her news on everydayfoodblog.marthastewart.com/author/alast or her personal work combined on annalaststylist.tumblr.com