My brothers and I are all grown up and missing all our old family recipes, so I thought I'd compile them all into one place! This is the first in a collection of family cookbooks which are a combination of classic German, Dutch and Indonesian dishes that have been passed down from generation to generation. The whole project was a family production from beginning to end, from the recipes, to cooking the meals, to setting up the photo shoots.
My mother was a great help, and together, we cooked most of the meals for this book. For the dishes I photographed at home, I basically transformed my mother's kitchen into a photo studio. I used our big kitchen windows for the lighting and used my reflector to fill in the rest of the light. For the top shots, I would literally stand on the kitchen island or table. My mom was also the model for several of my shots. I wanted to book to follow a season theme, and for one of the baking shots, I asked my mom if she would wear a wool sweater, to make it look more winter-y. Even though it was the middle of September in Arizona and the oven was on and the kitchen was hot, my mom was more than willing to comply.
I photographed some of the dishes in the studio at Arizona State University. Many of those were set up on the floor. During these shoots, my friends and family were very helpful as well. They helped me pose the food and even lay on the ground so I can have their hands in the shot.
All in all, this was a great learning experience. I enjoyed cooking the foods and creating the sets at home and in the studio. And now, we can all make our favorite family recipes on our own.
