A Day with Food Stylist, Norman Stewart

It’s 8:45 am, and while I am putting on my socks I get a call from Norman. He is scheduled to arrive by 9:30, but he is already at my studio in downtown Long Beach ready to start our shoot. We are trying to create artistic, classic still life using food, for under $150. It is a lofty goal for such a laughable budget, but I have faith in Norman’s skills.

“Norman, just bring some of the old stuff you have around the house.” I had told him the day before. I arrive at the studio at 9:00 am, and Norman is outside the door with cases, boxes, an old desk top, bags of food, and fish heads. Yuck!

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We set up tables for Norman to work on, and a third table where we are going to build the first set. Norman sees a dead plant I have in the trash, and snatches it out, putting it in the background of the set with the fishes, calling it “perfect.”

I provide pieces of rock, a few dishes, and Norman provides everything else. I am going to light the set three different ways, all experimental. My new photography and video studio has great natural light, and I am going to try natural light with an overhead reflector first.

The second look I am going for is like a walk-in cold storage. I put a yellow gel over a hard light coming in from the back, and Norman runs my fog machine while I shoot. The fog machine adds “atmosphere” to the image, and the hard back light makes it look like a walk-in coolers in a restaurant.

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The second set is smaller, taking advantage of the wood texture of an old desk Norman keeps on his back porch. There is a French frying pan lid, at least 80 years old, and a spoon that has more rust than spoon left. However, the chicken looks juicy and beautiful, and the steak looks like comfort food.

Norman Stewart is an amazing food stylist. He has done the “got milk” campaign for the last 13 years, putting milk mustaches on celebrities such as Elton John, Brittney Spears, Usher, Beyonce, Harrison Ford, Martha Stewart and so forth.  He does Bon Appétit magazine covers 8 times a year, and has done styling for Campbell’s soup, Contessa, 7 up and many others. 

The frying pan with steak looks like something off a cowboy’s campfire, and the overall look says “rustic.” I love it. Norman asks me to raise the camera to as high as the tripod will reach. Every move he makes shows up on the flat screen TV a mounted on the wall near the set. He moves the frying pan handle left, then asks if it competes with the dish of eggplant in the back. He moves the gravy bowl closer to the chicken, and finishes with an old piece of brass. Perfect!

Although Norman works with many photographers, he and I have become a team, and love working together. If you have a chance to tap into this creative energy, go for it! Norman’s reel is at http://www.ironmyst.com/htm/portfolio.html see the Norman Stewart Video Profile. His still portfolio is at http://www.zenobia.com/food_n_z/food_stewart_la_f400.html

All these shots were done between 9-4 in a single day. Great work, Norman!

 

To see more of our work together, see the food portfolios at http://www.DennisDavisPhotography.com