Sticky ‘n Sweet… Oh Yeah, Maple Syrup

The new website is finally up and almost finished. It seems many who visit professional photographers’ websites don’t want to be entertained with animation, Flash templates and other time-wasting eye candy.  I don’t blame them, so, back to HTML and its quick-loading simplicity.  Now on to a more interesting topic…

Pure Maple Syrup

Pancakes

 

When I got the chance to bid on a maple syrup job, I made sure I did everything possible to get it. The job was for a new maple syrup company (Crown Maple) and the opportunity to be around all that sticky-sweet bliss made my enthusiasm level rise. I spent the weekend in NY State to capture the owners, facility, production crew, tree-tappers, grounds and their beautiful cabin. The weekend was fun, educational and a great experience to see how syrup was made.  Above all, the people were such a pleasure to work with. Their hospitality and assistance throughout the weekend made the whole job run like a Swiss watch.  The next shoot was the following Friday in NJ. This is when we saw the recipes come together. Now we’re talking!  On to shooting the food…

Sticky Buns

 

I used to think of maple syrup was just for pancakes, waffles and an occasional twist to a recipe, but this was an eye-opener. There were pancakes and some of the usual drool-inducing items, but then they brought out trout, (yes, trout), sticky buns,  breads, pecan squares (these were hedonistic) and the list went on.

Coffee Sweetened With Maple Syrup

 

The last item was coffee. They sweetened coffee with maple syrup!  I didn’t question the idea, I just listened and put the set together. I can never look at pure maple syrup the same way.  When I mentioned this coffee thing to a friend in Canada, he thought I was nuts for not knowing this.

The client wanted to create a warm, homey feel in the images. I mixed three strobes with a series of mirrors, flags and cards to create the effect. I did a custom white balance and then after, gelled only one of the lights with a 1/2 CTO against the custom white balance.