B.T.S. Breakfast Favorites Creative Shoot!

Breakfast is such a versatile meal. It can be sweet or savory, but always filling! How can you capture some of the simplest breakfast options like cereal or yogurt and take them to the next level? Working with a creative and collaborative team of stylists. For this test shoot I got to work with food stylist Hadley Sui and prop stylist Alya Hameedi. We laid out some colorful ideas to capture iconic yogurt brands and cereal with our own creative take on them. In a crowded market it’s important to not just help a brand make amazing photos, but make them unique to their identity and stand above the other competitors! A big part of being successful with this is planning ahead. So much can be figured out ahead of the shoot to allow the actual day of the job to run smoothly and leave room for creative spontaneity. Reach out to discuss your next project and how we can bring it to life!

Photo Shoot Diner Series

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and what better way to showcase that amongst other fun foods than recreating a diner! My dream team, food stylist Janine Kalesis and prop stylist Penelope Bouklas put our minds together to come up with fun diner environments with different diner foods to highlight including an early morning breakfast. I loved the challenge of lighting the scenes and making them feel like different times of the day. Also I was able to capture different angles and mini silhouettes of the scenes. Lots of fun props to help tell the story. Can’t wait till the next shoot!!

Check Instagram for more shots from the shoot!

@perrettiphoto

@foodstylistnewyorkcity

@penelope_props

New Personal Series "Wawa Run"

This personal series I conceptualized and shot captures the real food and real orders of everyday customers that shop at Wawa. I wanted the food to feel heroic so I incorporated bright colors that play off the brand as well as strong lighting to cast shadows and highlights giving the food dimension, and shooting at a lower angle to make the food feel big. This was so fun to go through each order and compliment the drink choice with food. Being from the Philadelphia area I know what Wawa is all about! Hope you enjoy these fun photos.

B.T.S. Video Shoot Brooklyn Bagel and Coffee Company

If there’s something I’m really passionate about in New York City it’s a good bagel! Once I came upon B.B.C.C. I knew I was hooked. I’ve had my fair share of bagels and hit up the “hot” spots but a true kettle boiled bagel was the answer. NYC knows that’s the only way to make a bagel and anyone that has had a bagel this was they wouldn’t forget it. Here’s a couple brief articles about the science of it:

https://www.thekitchn.com/food-science-why-bagels-are-bo-86711

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/05/21/405190434/chew-on-this-the-science-of-great-nyc-bagels-its-not-the-water

I really am writing this because it was so exciting to work with them to create a amazing bagel piece I could use for my portfolio but something they could also use for their advertising. I arrived ahead of the shoot to sit down with the owner to discuss my idea and vision and to make sure he was on board. Once that was settled I had some interview style questions to ask that would be sliced over the visuals in the end. When we agreed on a date my team and I shot for the good first half of their shop being open capturing the beautiful kettle boil process, their coffee being made, some of their signature sandwiches, and of course the happy customers. It was all about the beauty in the food so we had our cine prime lens on the entire time. In addition to that we had a tungsten light back lighting the steam and certain shots. Also we staged some shots at the front of the store and incorporated the natural light coming in. It was a fun day and flew by! The final product came out great, see it in my motion portfolio

Photo Shoot BTS: Conagra Packaging Redesign Part 1

What a amazing project this was to work on with Conagra. Packaging work is some of my favorite work to do because there’s so much attention to the little details, and it can make or break a design. My team and Conagra’s agency out of Canada photographed the re-design of Odom Tennessee Pride’s breakfast and sandwich offerings sold in the frozen food section. The re-design was modern with a white wash wood surface and up to date propping and lighting to bring the food to life! It was a big project shot in 2 parts but we got through it. Excited to share what we put together so keep a look out for the items at your local supermarket.

You can see some of the final designs here: http://www.perrettiphotography.com/commissioned/

Preparing A Perfect Poached Egg

I know poached eggs look difficult and have a delicate quality to them. If you follow some basic steps to making these you will have no problem whipping them up next time for a weekend brunch at home!

Use fresh cold eggs.
Use the right vessel to get the eggs to the pot such as a large spoon.
Use the right vessel to get the eggs out of the water such as a slotted spoon.

Recipe for making perfect poached eggs

- Fill your pot with water that comes up to the edge about 1-2inches.
- Add 1 tsp of salt and 2 tsps of white vinegar.
- Bring the water to a simmer
- Crack your very fresh and cold egg into large spoon.
**If doing 2-3 eggs swirling the water in the pot like a whirlpool then dropping the egg in the center helps keep the egg white together.
Patience: Once eggs are added to the pot turn off the heat, cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Do Not Touch.
Remove egg with slotted spoon and serve!

National Pancake Day- March 8th

It’s National Pancake Day on March 8th! IHOP in the past has had it as today so I'm not sure...

http://www.ihoppancakeday.com/

This form of batter that was fried and considered a flat cake dates back 30,000 years ago. Amelia Simmons’s was the first known American to have a cookbook published which included pancake recipes back in 1796.

My personal favorite style of pancakes are buttermilk pancakes. Please see recipe referenced below from Bon Appetit. Recipe by Jessie Damuck

Ingredients
Servings: Serves 4 (Make About 8 Pancakes)

    1⅓ cups all-purpose flour
    3 tablespoons sugar
    1 teaspoon baking powder
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1 teaspoon kosher salt
    2 large eggs
    1¼ cups buttermilk
    2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
    Vegetable oil (for griddle)
    Pure maple syrup (for serving)

    Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk eggs, buttermilk, and butter in a medium bowl; stir into dry ingredients until just combined (some lumps are okay).
    Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium; brush with oil. Working in batches, scoop ⅓-cupfuls of batter onto griddle. Cook pancakes until bottoms are golden brown and bubbles form on top, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook until cooked through and other side of pancakes are golden brown, about 2 minutes longer. Serve pancakes with maple syrup.