So I’ve been bad about posting. I know. There are many reasons (including some bad mojo connected to an old post, but I think I’ve let that all go), but one of them – a hard to believe but quite serious one – is, well, winter. To be more precise the convergence of Daylight Savings ending and winter in the there-are-fewer-hours-of-daylight sense starting. By the time dinner is cooked, my kitchen is dark, the lighting is horrible, and everything looks yellow and kind of gross no matter what kind of photoshop magic I work (granted, it’s not magic at which I’m particularly skilled).
Enter the light tent. You can pay a lot of money for one or, if like me you enjoy an hour or two of making something, you can create one from:
After some measuring and cutting and taping and glueing, behold!*
So now instead of hideous yellowed food that isn’t fun to write or read about, I can show what things really look like. Along with the fab risotto cakes (which Ernie kept referring to as “rice meat” – um, whatever), we had an arugula and persimmon salad, dressed with a basic vinaigrette of 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar, 1 clove minced garlic, salt, and a bit of ground mustard to help it keep its shape, if you know what I mean. Oh, and I like my persimmons peeled, but that’s just how I swing.
Doesn’t it look divine? It really was. I proclaimed it my new favorite salad. We’ll see how long that lasts. Persimmon season, after all, is pretty short.
*Cut windows in sides and top, cover them with vellum or tracing paper. Somehow line inside white. It seems to me spray paint would have been a better way to go, but lining the whole thing with poster board worked too. Note: I left the vellum over the top “hinged” by taping just one side down. That way I can do overhead shots too. And that top “flap” in the front isn’t taped in place so it can fold back to allow more angle possibilities.
Is wood glue the best choice? I’d say not. Spray adhesive would have been better. But wood glue is the first thing I found in the basement and it worked okay. Just okay, though. There’s some wrinkling and whatnot. But I think I can live with it.
Charmian Christie | 27-Nov-08 at 8:17 am | Permalink
Brilliant! I’ve been having the same problem.
I’m going to try this. Thanks so much for posting this amazing solution.
Spinach and Honey | 05-Jan-09 at 5:01 pm | Permalink
Ditto! Great idea. I’ve got to try this.
Molly Watson | 05-Jan-09 at 9:37 pm | Permalink
It works. Seriously. And I haven’t even gotten any fancy-pants photo lights to make it extra-awesome yet!