Divine Chocolate USA - Holiday Chocolate - Washington, DC - Branding & Product Photography

Have a wonderful holiday and be sure to treat your friends and family nice.

Pizza - Silver Spring, MD - Food Photography

I don’t know about you but I have been spending a lot of my time lately -- eating. We all have our coping mechanisms especially during stressful times. However, for me this “eating” is as much a comfort as it is an inspiration. I’ve been overjoyed that a small highlight of being trapped at home with my children and spouse 24/7 is also quarantining with some neighbors. And they’re not just any neighbors, they are our best friends here and embody family to us. They’re the kind of friends that my children refer to as “Aunt and Uncle” we spend holidays together and they put up with my terrible and all too frequent puns.

But one of my favorite nights as of late has been pizza night. And I’m not talking delivery — I’m talking homemade, from scratch with flour flying, tossing the crust in the air and the like. I’m not a food blogger because goodness knows I never really stick to a recipe but I do love to eat food and to photograph it (which is obvious to anyone that follows me on Instagram @MeghanLaPrairie) so here goes a food photography blog with recipes and some light riffing.

Dough Follow the recipe from Ken Forkish for the dough.

This pizza is hand tossed and makes five delicious large pies. Be sure to weigh in grams. This crust is to die for so I highly recommend it and although I’ve never made it myself I’ve seen it made a number of times and have been informed that although it’s time consuming that it’s also really easy to make. Another thing you will want is a food processor, something of which I registered for but was never given off of my registry because well...people know me but anyways it makes kneading the dough a breeze.

Next the sauce. This is pretty easy so I’ll include Kabir’s recipe here because I think you and I can make this. 

Kabir’s Coveted Pizza Sauce Recipe

1 -16 oz. can of whole peeled tomatoes 

1 - clove of garlic 

1 - tablespoon of olive oil 

1 - pinch of crushed red pepper 

2 - pinches of oregano 

1 - pinch of oregano 

3 - pinches of salt

Blend on medium in a blender for 30 seconds. 

Like many of us I just cook off the cuff as does Kabir. We often joke that getting him to tell you what he is doing is like trying to get a famous cookie recipe out of an old Italian grandmother.

Toppings And lastly the toppings. This was all made during quarantine, so at times we had to get creative as grocery runs were sometimes scarce.

One of my favorites to date was the crumbled chèvre and roasted pears drizzled with honey and mint. Another was roasted sweet potatoes, feta cheese with caramelized onions and fresh basil. 

One of the more traditional pizzas was delectable slices of whole milk mozzarella with whole cloves of garlic. Occasionally a pesto sauce was made from fresh basil from the garden paired with kalamata olives and crumbled ricotta.

Pizza night is great on a night and perfect for when you want to clean out any fresh veggies or fruits that are in your fridge. Ideally though, you do want to roast or sauté your toppings before you put them on top of the pizza so that they’re already cooked before they get baked, otherwise you will end up with a soupy mess.

Now I enjoy pizza just as much as the next gal but I felt pretty spoiled over these past few months with this gourmet approach to what I would normally substitute for frozen pizza night. 

Coronavirus has stretched us in many ways like pizza dough and it has bubbled up some difficult emotions but what you have left over in the end I hope is a presentation that with time and attention brings about feelings of joy and satisfaction. 

I warned you about the puns.

Tom & Heather - National Arboretum - Washington, DC - Family Photography

I love working with Tom and Heather with each passing year, from finding new places to showcase their beautiful family to seeing little Henry and now Harper grow. But I am always impressed with their wardrobe. I often point new clients to my recent photographs of their family for what to wear the day of their session.

Patterns and Textures Not everyone can bolster stripes but Tom rocks this sweater and having Harper in polka dots really creates a theme. To balance the family out Heather and Henry are in solids. This plays nicely but it’s not overly matchy. Jeans tie everyone together and also bring depth to black and white photographs. Also I kept these in color because the foliage at the the National Arboretum is outstanding.

Details Jewelry like a wedding and engagement ring are often the focus when taking a portrait. For example, I had posed them with Heather on the opposite side but wanted to capture her ring to focus on their marriage which is something as parents we often have intentionally bring back into focus. Once children enter our lives so much energy, time and love is bestowed to them so taking a portrait of just the parents allows for the reconnection between them. I once photographed Heather wearing a Shinola Watch and it was so prominent in the portrait (We both coincidentally originally hail from MI where Shinola is based) that I felt the shot could have been a Shinola ad.

Autumn Colors Bright colors pop during this time of year. It is nice to see this mustard against the muted and varied colors of the trees. Red, orange, Yellow, Purple, Teal and Blue look nice during this time of year also though I tend to prefer a warmer palette. White also allows for the pop against the colors in the Fall foliage.

Shoes Not many people think about shoes but it is clear to me that Tom and Heather do. This is a detail that families occasionally overlook thinking that they may not have their feet in the shot. But as you can see from the images, shoes are often prominently featured so putting forward your best kicks is highly recommended. And unless we’re meeting on even ground for an engagement session leave the heels at home and they may get stuck in the grass and make it difficult to cover ground.

This session is from last November. I am excited for our next one!