THAI CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Nikon D7000, ISO 100, f 10, 1.6, 50 mm

The idea and concept (still life) attracts me long time ago. But it was just second time (EGGSPERIMENT was first) when I dedicated my time for still life. Actually it is my favorite food photography area.

First of all I made some adjustment with my stuff (made more black colored panels) to be able to make this photos.

And Thai chicken noodle soup was chosen as star. The recipe is very easy and I easily found all ingredients to cook my star.

The recipe and processing below:

2 tablespoons olive oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons finely grated ginger 4 carrots, thinly sliced into disks 1 1/2 lbs skinless boneless chicken thighs sea salt to taste 4 cups chicken stock (stock was made beforehand) juice of 0.25 lemon 1 1/2 tablespoons sriracha 1/2 cup sliced scallions 1/2 cup torn parsley leaves 6 oz package of rice noodles, softened or cooked according to package

Preheat oil over high heat in a large heavy bottom stockpot. Add garlic & ginger and cook, stirring often, for 1 minute. Add carrots and cook for 1 minute more. Add chicken thighs (cooked beforehand) and cook for about 3 or 4 minutes. Add chicken stock & salt bring to simmer. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove chicken thighs with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool for 5 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Skim any foam off of the stock. Slice or shred chicken into bite sized pieces. Add the chicken pieces back to the stock along with lemon juice & sriracha. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Bring just back to a simmer, remove from heat, add scallions and cilantro. Ladle into bowls, serve with a generous handful of rice noodles.

My star is ready for session. And to start it I prepared the place and made several pictures with bowl and other heroes (lemon, basil, garlic, ginger and pepper shaker). The preparation went in long way to find right light. As you remember I use only natural one and to achieve the special lightening I need to make dozen of manipulation with panels and reflectors. At least my "right pose" was discovered.

To be able make all this manipulation I have remote control to pull the trigger which allows me to handle reflectors. It is very cheap and nice stuff. Just my recommendation to have it. The second point why it should be in your list is the necessity to avoid camera tremble when pulling the trigger.

As for me the main for picture is composition. And as you want to have proper still life you need to spend some time for making composition. It took me a week to draw it in my head and almost an hour to make it real.

At least I had all thing in place: star, second parts, composition and light.

And to reach the target (picture in my head) I had to make 120 pictures. As final result I have only three. You can see them in Gallery and my portfolio at microstock agencies.

Post processing was very easy. Just to check noise and adjust a little bit in Camer Raw.

That's it))) I'm happy with result. Do you?