On Strawberries

And still lifes starring strawberries!

Hello and welcome to the Tuesday UnRecipe post, which today is free for everyone thanks to Oishii, who sponsored today’s post! Read on to learn more about their strawberries! As always, thank you for being here. You can check out more of my work here.

Welcome to another edition of behind-the-scenes featuring Oishii Koyo Berries! This post is all about capturing the sweet flavors of summer, which Oishii has made possible with their strawberries, which are in-season all year long. I've been obsessed with Oishii berries ever since I tasted them last spring at a conference in New York, and I cannot believe they're finally here in Whole Foods in Chicago! To celebrate, I styled a still life with these beautiful berries.

The Photo

Oishii berries are Japanese strawberry varietals that are vertically-farmed, pesticide-free, and non-GMO, which makes them ideal for food stylists like me who have to source beautiful fruits all year round (and those of us who sometimes need a quick on-set snack!). I wanted to create a still life that embodied the feeling of eternal summer that you get when you bite into a Koyo Berry from Oishii.

The Props

Since these strawberries are so picture-perfect, I wanted to keep the props fairly minimal. I went to the farmers’ market to grab some fresh flowers and picked a small, bronze box that I had picked up in Wisconsin at an antique store. It had exactly the right color to compliment the strawberries.

The Set-Up

I wanted to try a few different lighting techniques for this photo, so when I set up my set, I pulled the table close to the large, North-facing window in my dining room. I set up my light between the table and the window, but during the shoot, I switched between using the light and just using the diffused sunlight from the window. I liked the way that both lighting techniques emphasized the strawberries.

I kept my camera just slightly elevated above the surface on which I styled the strawberries so that I could really make the photo feel like you could reach out and grab one of those delicious Koyo Berries. 

The Equipment

• My camera (Canon EOS 6D Mark II) and a tripod for the camera

• My strobe light and trigger (Godox AD400 Pro) and a tripod for the light

• My C-stand

The Post-Production

One of the perks of shooting tethered (more on that here) is that through Capture One, I can edit the photos as they’re being taken. For these photos, I warmed them up and took out some clarity to soften the look of Oishii’s Koyo Berries to really create that endless summer feel.

The Final Shot

I loved the way these photos turned out—a true celebration of Oishii’s Koyo Berries and the summery look and taste they’ll bring to Chicago all-year around! Make sure to grab some at your Chicagoland Whole Foods Market so you can celebrate this endless summer treat!