Sharon Cosgrove 7/19/20 Sharon Cosgrove 7/19/20

What I learned about shooting ice cream

When I was asked to shoot for a local ice cream company I couldn’t wait to get started. I’d shot ice cream before but this time I was flying solo due to covid-19. That meant no food stylist, no art direction on set and just me (and my other half) left to eat it all at after! I had to buy an extra freezer just to house all the tubs but oh what a glorious sight - I’d never seen a more delicious looking freezer.

Ice cream is unforgiving, it’s unpredictable (apart from knowing it will melt to a puddle in no time) and it can be very difficult to work with. I had quite a few recipes to get through with this shoot so I knew I needed to be prepared.

I had already thought about pre scooping the ice cream and figured it would be a good idea. I’d watched a few styling tutorials before and it made sense to have a selection of scoops already frozen and ready to go on set. I’d read before about dry ice being a thing for styling ice cream so I looked into it. It can be bought in Northern Ireland in pellets or slabs but I didn’t have the room to house the 10kg minimum order (all my freezer storage was going to be occupied by litres of ice cream of course). So instead I bought a few extra baking sheets with the idea to freeze them to set the scoops on. I bought a glass Pyrex baking tray and an anodised baking tray. The glass one worked a treat, the anodised tray not so much. It froze well but as soon as the ice cream hit it it began to melt fairly quickly. The Pyrex glass held it’s temperature much better and froze the base of the scoops instantly.

Now it was down the utensils and the scoop. Any I had already were primarily for aesthetic purposes but now I needed a scoop that actually did a good job at scooping! I wanted beautifully round scoops with a perfect skirt (I also learned that’s what you call the ruffle of ice cream below). I settled on an OXO Good Grips ice cream scoop with a mechanism to release the scoop which came in extremely handy. Now I was all set.

This isn’t the OXO scoop but one I use a lot for aesthetic purposes

Knowing exactly what you are going to shoot and how you are going to shoot is vital with most food photography jobs but even more so when it comes to shooting ice cream. Ideally you want to build your scene with a stand in for the ice cream and have lighting, props and camera settings fixed before bringing out the real thing. There’s not much time for rearrangement once the ice cream hits room temperature!

Ice cream has a perfect scooping temperature, about -17 degrees Celsius or 0 degrees fahrenheit. My freezer was below this temp, I had to keep it more like a deep freeze as I was placing the scoops back in to re freeze them. Not ideal but I had to work with it - I let the tub sit out for about 5 minutes or so to soften very very slightly. With a bowl of boiling water to hand and a drying cloth, I heated my scoop before digging out the ice cream. After each scoop I dunked it into the water again and dried it off, this gave me a nice clean scoop each time. I set the tray full of scoops back into the freezer for about 2 hours or overnight while I planned everything else.

Chocolate ice cream bowl

For this shot I had multiple scoops ready to be layered into the bowl. I built up each one taking shots in between to make sure I was getting the angle right. The one downside about freezing scoops (especially darker ice cream like chocolate) is that when you bring it on set there is a layer of ice that forms over the scoop. It makes the scoop look very frozen - too frozen and not soft enough that you would want to eat it. The key to a good shot is that the ice cream looks ready to be eaten, you imagine digging in with your spoon and the texture being just right. I glanced over to my prop shelf, I saw a cooks blow torch and thought yeah that might work… So I gave the scoops a little blast of hot flame - it worked a treat! The ice cream melted very slightly, enough to give a nice specular highlight and the look I was hoping for.

Ice cream sundae

The whole fake ice cream and mashed potato thing is a method used by many photographers. Ive worked with fake ice cream before and it looked amazing, just like the real thing with all the time in the world to poke and prod it. That wasn’t an option here as it was the product itself we were showcasing and it had to be the real thing. For this sundae however I did fill the glass with Smash as I knew you wouldn’t see it through the glass anyway. I drizzled some chocolate sauce inside the sundae dish and swirled it around, popped in the Smash, filled in any gaps with more sauce and then began to assemble with a pre frozen scoop of vanilla that matched the colour of the Smash perfectly. This wouldn’t be an option all of the time, and one I’d prefer to not use as the potato close up does not resemble the exact same texture as ice cream. Only because I knew it would be hidden in the glass I used it - otherwise no way.

Waffle cone

This was a perfect scoop - it came out a great shape and fitted the cone perfectly. I wanted to shoot this scene as it was and not a composite so I had to lay the cone flat onto the actual ingredients. This posed a problem as when I lay the cone flat the ice cream fell out! Here’s what I did - I grabbed a strawberry that fitted tight into the bottom of the cone - this worked perfectly as its a similar shape and was firm enough for me to stick cocktail sticks into. I used three cocktail sticks and fixed them into place so the scoop of ice cream could be skewered on top and be locked into position. When I lay the cone flat now, everything stayed where it was meant to be. I poured the sauce onto the cone upright before laying it down again to give the sauce a chance to drip down the ice cream as it would naturally.

There you have it kids, my take on shooting ice cream. I feel a lot more comfortable with it now and with more experimentation I’m sure we’ll be best friends in the studio as well as the kitchen.

Take care and happy shooting!

Sharon

Sharon Cosgrove 6/20/20 Sharon Cosgrove 6/20/20

Siena International Photo Awards

This was my first year entering the Siena Awards so when I discovered my image had been shortlisted I was naturally delighted!

Siena International Photo Award is one of the photo contests with the highest international participation ever. 2019 edition has received nearly 48.000 images from amateur and professional photographers from 156 countries worldwide.

As a photographer and a creative it’s hard not to criticise your work and beat yourself up with doubt and inadequacy. It’s a constant battle but one I think you also need in order to progress and ‘up your game’.

Entering awards such as this and qualifying removes some of that doubt, at least for a short period of time anyhow. It validates you and your work in a way that others cannot. I think the fact that it’s judged by such revered figure heads in the industry, they demand a certain respect and to be honest I crave the approval. I know they are looking at my work and I know they have no idea who the hell I am but are judging this one image amongst thousands of other amazing images. For them to select that image, for it to be good enough to reach the next stage and then the next, wow.

Anyway - enough blabbering! Here’s the image ‘Honey Cake’ awarded Highly Commended in the Food & Beverage category.

The Festival

"Siena Awards" Festival represents an unmissable occasion for all the photography lovers who will arrive in Siena from all over the world. An entire month of Festival, during which many photography events will be organized: the “Imagine all the People Sharing all the World” exhibition with the most beautiful images presented at the contest Siena International Photo Awards, unique tours around Siena, post-production courses, workshops, conferences given by famous photographers and more exhibitions held by important international authors. An unforgettable experience realized and tailor-made for photography lovers, which will let you discover one of the most interesting places in the world, with wonderful events linked to photography. The Festival’s goal is to lace a cultural and international initiative to the name of Siena, a city of extraordinary inspiration for photographical research, beginning with the unique Festival which gives us the most intimate representation of the city: the Palio.

This year would have been the 6th edition of both the awards and the festival which has sadly been cancelled due to the pandemic.

I can’t wait to enter again next year and with any luck be making it to the awards festival!

Sharon Cosgrove 9/24/19 Sharon Cosgrove 9/24/19

Elderberry Cordial

Autumn (Fall to all those across the pond) brings about a change in our menu and many, many delicious things to eat and cook with like apples, nuts and stone fruits. I walk my dogs regularly in Belvoir Forest Park in Belfast and I’m constantly noticing various berries growing all around the walkways. One in particular appealed to me so before I chose to pick it, I checked with an expert that it was indeed edible! Clare McQuillan is a foraging queen and knows the ins and outs of what you can pick and where you can pick it in and around Belfast. She said they were elderberries and they would make a beautiful cordial so that’s exactly what I did with them and I was delighted with the results!

Great British Chefs Elderberry cordial recipe

500g of elderberries

500g of water
350g of caster sugar
1/2 lemon, rind plus 1tbsp lemon juice

Method

Remove the berries from the stems using a fork then wash them, removing any bits of stalk or leaf

Drain the berries and place in a pan along with the lemon rind. Cover with the water and simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes, until the berries have broken down. Skim away any scum that appears on the surface

Strain the juice through a colander lined with muslin cloth set over a bowl. Gently press the berries to extract as much juice as possible

Return the juice to the pan and add the sugar and lemon juice. Gently heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved

Taste and add more sugar or lemon juice to your taste

Decant into a sterilised bottle and seal

I topped up my elderberries with some blackberries which I think deepened the dark rich colour of the final product. This would taste great added to some gin or Prosecco to make a delicious cocktail.

I added mine to some sparkling water with a few pomegranate seeds and a sprig of mint (purely for decoration) but I will definitely be trying it with some prosecco come the weekend. I can’t believe I am only happening upon this foraging movement at this late stage of the game, I’m hooked already! The satisfaction from start to finish has inspired me to learn more about the art of foraging so watch out for future posts of this nature!

Kai background by Black Velvet Styling

Sharon Cosgrove 9/23/19 Sharon Cosgrove 9/23/19

The Edible Flower - Oktoberfest 2019

This month signalled a change in the seasons and the beginning of Autumn. It also meant I had the joy of returning to capture The Edible Flower’s latest supper club - Oktoberfest and true to form it did not disappoint.

The Cow Byre dressed for the occasion by Shannon Bunting

I’m a massive fan of Autumn, like many it’s my favourite season (plus I’m an October baby) so I was excited to try all the autumnal flavours the girls had prepared for us. The weather was kind and we had a dry, warm evening that allowed outdoor refreshments as the guests arrived around 7pm. Ginger and coriander seed shandy greeted us accompanied by the most delicious pretzels I have ever tasted made by the master baker Clare McQuillan (my husband was obsessed with them). The mac and cheese croquettes held up their end of the bargain and delivered a crispy, creamy mouthful of tastiness neatly packaged in one little flavour bomb.

Clare and her amazing pretzels with mustard dip

Now that our tastebuds were adequately warmed up, it was time to move indoors to the cow byre where starters awaited. Spiced cheese butter spread and mushroom crostini with pickles and garden salad served with Edible Flower brews own OJAB Yarrow Dunkel. I’ve never tried Dunkel (or heard of it to be honest) but Jo spoke passionately about its German origins and her friend whom she named it after.

Moving onto mains and before we sat down to eat I had my duties outside where the barbecuing was taking place. Short of needing some safety goggles and breathing apparatus, I managed some shots of the sausages sizzling on the coals. You can see from the photos there was a looooot of smoke! Ossetian pies, goats cheese pancakes, courgette and avocado salad and an amazing beetroot and blackberry dish all married beautifully together on the plate. Another home brew from Jo to wash it down and at 6.5% ABV, this one will have you singing on your way home!

Courgette, avocado and lemon salad with poppyseeds

Roasted beetroot and shallots with pickled blackberries

Hellbent Boerwors sausages with rhubarb ketchup

Room for more? Were only half way through! A breather and a refresher of spiced plum sorbet with the faintest of hints of black pepper. Yes, black pepper on your ice cream. Only to be applied by a skilled professional in my opinion. It was delicious. Then came the pudding - an ode to the season itself with an apple and cinnamon Streusel cake with blackberry and bay ice cream. I’m all about the suite and this, well this was amazing. I’m pretty sure I could have managed another slice…

Apple and cinnamon streusel cake with blackberry and bay ice cream

The darkness surrounded us as we ate under the beautiful hops by Flowers By Mee in the cow byre. It made the candles glow more brightly and ascertained the arrival of the new season as it settled into itself and settled into us that evening.

All photos by Sharon Cosgrove Photography

Background papers by Black Velvet Styling

Sharon Cosgrove 7/5/19 Sharon Cosgrove 7/5/19

The Edible Flower

I don’t know how I’ve managed this long without experiencing the wonder that is The Edible Flower but I recently had the pleasure and all I can say is WOW! Well that’s not all, or this would be a very short blog post. These guys know food and they know it well. Their flavour combo’s are a knock out and their passion for food is inspirational. They are sensational hosts to boot!

Jo working her magic on some flatbread dough

The evening was warm and balmy, the sun was low and golden and the air was filled with the scent of buttery, garlic flatbreads cooking in the wood fired pizza oven. Amongst the rolling fields and hills of County Down, people gathered for a Midsummer’s Feast to share food, wine and laughter with new friends.

Erin delights guests with flatbreads and honeysuckle punch on arrival

On arrival we sipped honeysuckle punch and enjoyed flatbreads topped with summery yellow courgettes and wild earthy mushrooms all while lingering through the kitchen gardens of Erin and Jo’s beautiful country cottage. Starters were then served in what was once a cow shed with the trough for the cows still present along the sides of the barn! There were no cows but plenty of feeding going on as we chowed down on our Vietnamese noodle salad and home brewed ale which was a delightful accompaniment. The flavours were light and fresh but with plenty of depth given in the Nuoc Cham dressing. As a foodie crossed with being a food photographer I was torn between just wanting to devour my meal or shoot it to within an inch of its life. I did both, and enjoyed every minute!

The rest of the courses followed suit, amazing flavours meticulously paired and with plenty of seconds if you had room. The pork was raised by Erin and Jo who added that if they were going to continue to enjoy eating meat they felt they should be comfortable with rearing their own animals for slaughter. My friend nearly fell into her plate crying when she heard this, realising that what we were about to eat had been somewhat of a pet in it’s previous life. It’s a sensitive subject but one that should be considered as a meat eater. I didn’t dwell on it at that particular moment however and enjoyed the glorious food before me.

The evening drew to a close around the fire pit, swilling chai tea and cramming buttery crumbly shortbread into the last little pockets of space left in my stomach. The embers sparked and flitted as everyone basked in the heat from the fire and the warmth we felt from having enjoyed such a wonderful evening of beautiful food and great company. Bliss!