Close Quarters
When photographing food for South Jersey Magazine, I sometimes find myself in quite, um, cozy situations, as was the case when shooting at Park Place restaurant in Merchantville, NJ. The teeny gem of a café is booked weeks in advance, and given my tight print deadline, I was told the only place I could shoot was in the bustling but spacially-challenging back kitchen. I was able to squeeze in a single flash and a diffuser and set up a few dishes next to a wall that was a touching collage of drawings by Chef Philip Manganaro’s young son, and various recipes scrawled directly on the wall by the chef himself. Sometimes you have to make do in close quarters, but there’s always room for soft lighting on exquisite dishes.