Sunday, May 8, 2011

Something orange


Life is treating me good so far since I moved to the city. I made a post on Craigslist last week to look for a food stylist to build portfolio together. To my surprise, quite a lot of people replied. I got emails every day until a week after. There are people with very interesting background. One girl called Michael-Ann is a food TV show host and producer, who also does food styling on the side. In her show, she travels around to eat different food and hear stories and cultures behind the food, which reminds me of Samatha Brown's show of the Travel Channel. Another one is an executive chef of a hotel restaurant in New Jersey. He has appeared in Iron Chef America as sous chef for Cat Cora and a contestant of Chopped. I am excited about all these opportunities. Only New York can provide me such diverse talents and surprises. You never know!

I met photographer Mira Zaki this week for coffee. And I am her intern now! She is sweet and easy-going and actually cares that I will learn from this internship, which I appreciate very much. I don't know how other professionals start, but for me having someone nice and approachable to show me this business is so invaluable. I got to know that she didn't enjoy driving for the same reason as me. Driving isolates us from the vibrant minutae of daily life on the street. You miss too much when driving. It's New York City!



Orange is my second favorite color besides pink. My personalities always prefer warm tones. They just cheer me up! I recently received Helene Dujardin's new book-Plate to Pixel. This is a practice shot of making use of complimentary colors--in this case orange and blue, that I just learnt from her book. Before I can work with the cooking and styling professionals, I just did some simple styling.

I am testing my new website and am gonna launch it officially soon. Stay tuned!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's very exciting getting in touch with people that share the same passions as you. It's like meeting kindred spirits. Congratulations on your internship, it sounds like a very exciting opportunity and I hope you learn all you can from Mira Zaki. I'm also attracted to warm colours but with a healthy dose of purple mixed in (is that a cool or a warm colour?). No wonder our wedding was red, orange and pink! I love cooking with colourful ingredients too and I guess that's part of making things look too good to eat.

Anonymous said...

It's very exciting getting in touch with people that share the same passions as you. It's like meeting kindred spirits. Congratulations on your internship, it sounds like a very exciting opportunity and I hope you learn all you can from Mira Zaki. I'm also attracted to warm colours but with a healthy dose of purple mixed in (is that a cool or a warm colour?). No wonder our wedding was red, orange and pink! I love cooking with colourful ingredients too and I guess that's part of making things look too good to eat.

ARK said...

awesome opportunity!

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

Beautiful shots, especially the first. I love citrus preserves of all kinds =D. Since it sounds like you're working on your photography, I would add some constructive criticism that both shots in the diptych would look even better if you baked away just a little bit. Currently the frame is crowded at the bottom. In fact for the toast shot, something is being cut off by the edges of the frame on all 4 sides. Great colors and composition though otherwise :).

The Cilantropist said...

What a great idea! I have thought about trying to develop my photography into something 'more' this year - and getting in touch with local professionals is a fantastic idea. So helpful to know what works for you! Also, these photos of oranges look great - I actually just read that chapter from Helene's book on complementary colors and I think you executed it beautifully here! :)

athena said...

Hi, I found your blog through the 31DFPT forum... your food shots are wonderful! The orange and blue combination is lovely. I love Helene's book too, I carry it around with me everywhere. Look forward to seeing more of your photography and reading your blog!

Yue Jiang said...

Thank you @bunnyeatsdesign, @allenaim, @Xiaolu, Cilantropist and @athena!!

Uriel said...

Wow!!! I love the photos you've taken. I've just ordered this book online and can't wait receive it. My photos are total amateurs. It's nice to know that a book can teach you tricks without spending on expensive photography classes.