It’s no secret to those who know me that I have a sweet tooth. I blame my genes for that particular trait. I first got into food photography by photographing the desserts I made to take to various family holiday gatherings. I liked photographing what I made because it helped me remember what I contributed to the family pot-lucks from year to year. I love to bake and trying new recipes is fun. For a while all my food photographs were of sweets simply because they are generally “prettier” than savory foods.

Even though I’ve photographed savory foods before, it’s not something I do often, but a few weeks ago I got to have a savory food shoot with some shrimp pasta salad and jambalaya from Bake My Day. I love, love, love their shrimp pasta salad and it was so hard to look at it and not be able to eat it on the spot! It turns out it’s really fun to work with savory foods. I got to bring in colorful ingredients–herbs, peppers, green onions–and I got to use some of my favorite food props, mini martini glasses. The shrimp pasta salad and jambalaya were star models. During the shoot I kept thinking about how perfect these dishes would be for parties. Endive leaves make great vessels for the shrimp pasta salad and would make such elegant hors d’oeuvres for a bridal shower. I tested out that idea for lunch one day this week and the crunch of the endive against the slight creaminess of the shrimp pasta salad is delicious! 🙂 The jambalaya would be a fantastic and hearty addition to a tailgating menu, especially once those cool nights of fall arrive.

So even though I still have my sweet tooth and love photographing desserts, I guess you could say I’ve been won over by the savory foods. Here’s a sneak peek at some of my favorite images from the savory food shoot. Enjoy!