83. Meatloaf and Ego Lighting

It's been a while since I have talked about ideas for your food photography.  I thought today I would share a few pictures with you about the use of the Lowel Ego lights.  I bought these two lights about 4 years ago and have loved them ever since.  They have been in storage and I just got them back…YAY for me.

The lights are less expensive than a full set of studio lights, they are quite portable and light weight.  In fact, they fit perfectly inside of a pillowcase and this makes carrying both of them with one hand much easier.  I am looking at purchasing two more for a larger lit area.  These are great for offering white light with a fluorescent bulb.  I bought 4 day time light bulbs for 18.00 at the hardware store and they worked great.

This is my set up in my office for what I have been working on this week.

This past week has been very busy for me with work.  On weeks like this, I am overwhelmed with Mommy and Working Mom duties.  I like to keep our meals simple and easy.  Last month I bought this cool meat pack: veal, pork and beef.   A trio of ground meat.  I was unsure why they would combine three meats but felt that their must be some dish or type of meal this was prepared for.  I asked on my Fb fan page and got lots of suggestions but the two with the most votes and ideas were  meatloaf and meatballs.

I asked my family which one they would like and the unanimous vote was meatloaf.  I will admit that my meatloaf is not anything fancy or different.  It's a standard, everyday recipe by most meatloaf types.  We like it and that is what counts and on weeks like this one, I don't have time to "create" new, I just need the old stand by that works.  I am sure that you can relate to this.  We all have our favorite recipes that just work and there is a lot of comfort in these recipes.

I did get fancy with the potatoes.  Pinterest is always sharing this picture of these potatoes that are sliced very thin, sprinkled with salt, pepper and olive oil.  I thought they looked fun and tried them out on the family.  I don't think they were impressed and I probably won't do them again.  You lose the fluffy baked potato texture and you get in return a cross between a chip (on the edges)  and a sticky potato.  It was cooked but the texture was funky. Of course, this is just my opinion.

I used these two very basic and easy foods: meatloaf and potatoes, to demonstrate the lights for you to see how they work.  These images were taken at night, with my lowel ego lights and a standard white paper back drop.  The full back drop is not necessary to shoot food. I just happened to have this already set up for the seasonal pictures I have been working on for a client.  

SOOC (STRAIGHT OUT OF THE CAMERA)  Notice that the image has been brightened (post processing), the crumbs on the plate removed (post processing) and the gray has been lightened (post processing).  

This would be my final image.   These images were taken in a dark room with only the lowel lights on.

Recipe:  Meatloaf

1.5-2 pounds of a meat combination of : veal,  beef and pork, ground
1/4 red onion, diced
1/4 green onion, sliced
1 tsp. garlic,  minced
salt/pepper
2 eggs
1 cup of uncooked oatmeal
1/2 cup ketchup
3-4 shakes of Worcestershire sauce

Top with more ketchup

I combine all of the above ingredients in a large bowl.  I use a bread pan (mine is Pampered Chef stoneware) and shape the mixture so the top is rounded.  I take the ketchup bottle and zig zag ketchup across the top.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until done.

In the past I have also added a cheddar cheese middle.  Grate your cheese.  Put half of the meat in the bottom of the pan, add cheese and then add remaining meat.  Make sure the edges are sealed and that the cheese cannot ooze out the sides.