cookbook photographer | Food. Farms. Chefs.

Kitchen Photo Studio of the Hudson Valley

Kitchen Photo Studio

Posted on January 30, 2019by Jennifer May

Kitchen Photo Studio Hudson Valley NY

Kitchen Photo Studio Upstate NY

Kitchen Photo Studio Catskills NY

This year, I built a kitchen photo studio on my property in the Hudson Valley. It has 800 square feet of open space on the main floor, complete with 10′ ceilings, a concrete floor, and a new gas stove and fridge. There are 16′ x 4′ banks of north and south facing windows, and windows to the east and west.

Upstairs, there is a bathroom, storage area, and a collection of props, linens, and surfaces I have been collecting over the years. I have tons of vintage flatware.

Photos of the finished interior to come soon. As of January, 2019, we are installing a display shelf in the kitchen. When that is done, I will do a big photo update.

This studio is especially suited to shoots where there may not quite be a budget to rent a studio in NYC, but lots of space is still required. Who is tired of shooting in cramped walk-up studios in Brooklyn? How about strange vacation rentals?

This is the perfect place to shoot a cookbook, or any kind of photo campaign. We also have a tiny AirBnB cottage on our property, which suits 1 to 2 people. And our town is full of new restaurants and a new boutique hotel, should you want to bring the team for a Hudson Valley experience.

I am currently booking shoots for the coming months. Email me with any inquiries, no shoot is too large or too small to discuss.

Cookbooks

Joe Beef Cookbook

Posted on January 24, 2019by Jennifer May

The second Joe Beef cookbook has been published, and it was an incredible experience. Over the space of a year, I gave the book about 30 shooting and travel days. Plus maybe another 15 days doing edits, organizing, prepping and sending files. That is a lot of days on one cookbook shoot Most cookbook shoots I get are budget around 7 days for photography.

On most of our shoot days we started in the morning, shot through the entire day, into the evening, and ended well into dinner service. The goal was to capture everything – but of course, when working with people who create new ideas as quickly as you can document current ideas, it’s a constant game of catch-up. When I work with Fred, Dave, Meredith, Marco, and the rest of the Joe Beef family, my mantra is: ‘Keep up, and don’t f*** it up’. Below is a short preview video I made to splash the book on social media. And, a sample of my favorite photos from the book.

Cookbooks

Japan Cookbook

Posted on January 20, 2019by Jennifer May

Announcing the Japan Cookbook that I photographed and that was published last April. This is clearly an overdue post, on an overlooked blog. Japan was written by Nancy Singleton Hachisu and published by Phaidon. The props were picked by Barb Fritz, and the food was cooked and styled by Hannah Kirshner, with the help of her assistant Saori Kurioka. We borrowed handmade pottery from potters in Brooklyn and San Francisco. And Hannah called on specialty farmers she knew across the country to send us unusual Japanese produce. An enormous team produced this book, I only wish I knew everyone’s names to note them all personally.

Product Photography

Lail Ceramics

Posted on September 16, 2018by Jennifer May

I spent a day with Lail Ceramics, a potter based in Woodstock, NY. In the morning, I drove over to the Kingston Farmer’s Market and picked up beautiful in-season produce. Then, we photographed the new color lines and plates. These dishes feel so good in the hands, and absolutely everything looks beautiful in them.

Restaurants

The Amsterdam Restaurant

Posted on May 28, 2018by Jennifer May

I have been making regular visits to photograph the chef, staff, bar, and menu items at The Amsterdam Restaurant, in Rhinebeck, NY. As usual, with restaurant photography, the shots are used on the restaurant’s website, printed matter, advertorials, and through their social media channels. Here are some recent shots.

Butchery & Meat

Applestone Meat Co

Posted on May 1, 2018by Jennifer May

I dropped in at the Applestone Meat Co for some new meat shots. The Applestone team took care of cooking all the meats. And Barb Fritz was on hand to deliver the props and style these pretty moments. Small team packing a punch.

Magazines & The New York Times

Edible Westchester Magazine

Posted on April 16, 2018by Jennifer May

Edible Westchester Magazine

The second issue of Edible Westchester Magazine features a photograph I took of Chef Chris Vergara. He took me on a foraging walk through some public lands in Westchester County. We looked for ramps, wild onions, and mushrooms. While squatting in the bushes, to get this shot, I also kept my eyes open for ticks and poison ivy. I love photographing in nature, but I am a little bit obsessed with the pests and hazards.

Jennifer May Photographer

And, here is a shot Chef Vergara took of me, from my perch behind a log.

Awards Magazines & The New York Times Video

Eddy Award Finalist – Iron Cross Cooking

Posted on January 30, 2018by Jennifer May

A video I made became a top 5 finalist for an Eddy Award. It’s not a win, but it’s not a loss! (The Eddy Awards are brought to us by the people who put together the family of Edible magazines.) I made the video during a cover shoot for the premier issue of Edible Westchester magazine. Chef Christian Petroni, co-chefs and friends gathered to cook a local lamb using an Argentinian style of cooking. Petroni had a steel cross, of sorts, fabricated by a steel-worker, and he lit a fire underneath. They spent the day stoking coals, watching the meat get “more and more sexy by the minute.” Check out the video, above.

Eddy Award Edible Westchester Chef Christian Petroni

Video

Swoon-Worthy Swirls

Posted on December 15, 2017by Jennifer May

The Fearless Baker wanted to show her followers how to make swoon-worthy swirls. We got together and made a video. Cake & swirls by Erin McDowell, video & editing by me.

Bread & Baking Video

How to Prep a Double Crust Pie

Posted on November 17, 2017by Jennifer May

How to prep a double crust pie… look at it! It looks just like the ones my grandmother used to bake. Erin Jeanne McDowell, the Fearless Baker, shows you how to prep that dough, so you can make one, too. We made this pair of pie videos in the week prior to Thanksgiving. Although, there is a whole season of pie-appropriate holidays to come. I’m definitely going to see if I can make one to match Erin’s.

Bread & Baking Video

How to Prep a Single Crust Pie

Posted on November 17, 2017by Jennifer May

If you have ever wondered how to prep a single crust pie, here is a very clear demonstration. Erin Jeanne McDowell, the Fearless Baker herself, and I made a video showing you how to do it. This video shows the step between making your dough and filling and baking your pie. This shows the very crucial rolling out, trimming, and crimping of a single crust pie.

Look at all that butter! No matter how many times I work with Erin (and I have worked with her a lot, both when I hire her to make food for my photoshoots, or when she hired me to photograph her baking cookbook) I am always surprised by the butter in the dough. One day I will get it right, and stop over-mixing mine. One day.

Cookbooks

The Fearless Baker Cookbook

Posted on October 25, 2017by Jennifer May

The Fearless Baker Cookbook was published yesterday. My friend and colleague, Erin McDowell, wrote it and I photographed it for her last summer. Erin wrote a beautiful story about the process for Food52, complete with lots of behind-the-scenes pictures I took for her. Check it out for a sample of her terrific writing. And here are some photos of recipes you will find in the book. As Erin writes: 200 recipes, 1000 photos later, The Fearless Baker is born…

Hudson Valley Restaurants

Canoe Hill Restaurant in the Hudson Valley

Posted on May 31, 2017by Jennifer May

I recently visited the Canoe Hill Restaurant on assignment for Hudson Valley Magazine. The restaurant is owned by Michael DelGrosso and his wife, Lauren Lancaster. They are Hudson Valley transplants, via Brooklyn, where Michael helped create the aesthetic of many of Manhattan’s and Brooklyn’s most beautiful restaurants. I only wish he would bring his eye to Woodstock. I would be a regular.

In My Kitchen/Garden

Cooking Julia Child’s Recipes

Posted on April 17, 2017by Jennifer May

I returned from a week photographing a cookbook in Montreal and decided to spend a month cooking French food. I turned to a book that is already on my bookshelf: Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

These photos are not examples of what the recipes should technically look like – only what they did look like. But I am excited. The stock that simmered on my stove for two days, eventually became Glace de Viande (meat glaze). We reduced a tablespoon of that glaze with wine and shallots and made Beurre Marchand de Vins (Shallot Butter with Red Wine). We put slabs of it on an inexpensive cut of beef, and transformed the steak into a delicacy.

meat glaze jennifer may food photography — A white stock, which boiled on my stove for two days.

meat glaze jennifer may photography — The stock, as a red wine reduction. We then used it to make an infused butter.

I am really loving preparing simple ingredients in a different way than my standard, and creating entirely new flavor profiles. I make soup all the time. But Soupe au Pistou (Provencal Vegetable Soup with Garlic, Basil & Herbs) is a fresh take in my kitchen.

vegetable soup jennifer may photo — Soupe au Pistou

pistou jennifer may food — The tomato, garlic, parmesan, and fresh basil pistou for the soup

I am working on my baking. Now that I have made “cream puff paste,” I will use that basic recipe and make gnocchis.

onion quiche jennifer may photo — Onion quiche in a “short crust”

cheese puffs julia child jennifer may food photography — Preparing the “cream puff paste” for baking

In My Kitchen/Garden

Easter Weekend

Posted on April 16, 2017by Jennifer May

We hosted Easter weekend for some grown ups and a trio of children. Here are some food memories… Thank you to Kendra McKnight for making mince-meat tarts, home-made raspberry marshmallows, charcuterie, French 75s, lakeside grilled leg of lamb with yogurt-garlic sauce, and so much more. She even delayed her family’s morning departure so she could teach me step-by-step her favorite pie crust recipe.

raspberry marshmallows jennifer may food photographer nyc — Making home-made raspberry marshmallows

mince meat tarts easter weekend — Mince-meat tarts

Aperol Spritz Easter Weekend — Aperol Spritz and pastry dough remnants

wood fired pizza — Margherita pizza in the backyard wood-fired pizza oven

Cookbooks On Assignment

Joe Beef Cookbook

Posted on March 28, 2017by Jennifer May

I am in Montreal this week, photographing a cookbook for Joe Beef. This got me thinking to the year I spent photographing their first cookbook. It was before I had my daughter, and that makes it seem like such a long time ago. Although, she is only 5 years old, and in the scheme of things that is no time at all. I am so excited to be here. This is the 2nd week of a at least a few I will spend with the team on this book. I so look forward to what Fred, Dave, Meredith, Marco, Ari, and the rest of the team (their family has also grown since I was last here) will show me.

Below are some shots I did for their first cookbook.

Bread & Baking Video

Baking Videos for Social Media

Posted on March 19, 2017by Jennifer May

This winter, I spent some time with Erin McDowell, filming baking videos. These videos will roll out as social media spots in advance of her upcoming cookbook, The Fearless Baker. Erin is an incredible baker, and also a food stylist. I work with her often on shoots for my clients, and last summer she asked me to photograph her own cookbook. We ended up shooting every single recipe, which is unusual. But if you know Erin, you know she is not only fearless, but has boundless enthusiasm and energy. The book will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt this October. Until then, here area a few videos showing the techniques you will find in those pages.

In My Kitchen/Garden

Food Motion – Shrimp Scampi

Posted on February 9, 2017by Jennifer May

In these deep days of winter, I have been playing around with food motion. It is so much fun. I am becoming obsessed. Here is one video I made, it is a recipe for shrimp scampi, which my husband cooked in honor of the most delicious wild-caught shrimp we found at a local butcher shop. It’s a very simple recipe. It is quick to cook, and it is rich and delicious with crusty bread or pasta. See this video, and a few other examples of food in motion over at my website, www.jennifermay.com

Butchery & Meat On Assignment

Butcher Shop Meat Photography

Posted on February 7, 2017by Jennifer May

I was recently asked to do some butcher shop meat photography. The Applestone Meat Company wanted pretty much all of their cuts of meat documented. The challenge was to come up with an attractive way to photograph this glorious meat in its raw form. We wanted appetite appeal, and that can be a tough ask from a raw piece of meat. We brainstormed. They suggested white. I suggested marble. We decided to show the raw meat in the very early stages of cooking. The higher end cuts were dressed up in only salt and pepper. Some of the other cuts were given marinades and dry spice rubs.

This butcher shop also produces a lot of sausages – andouille, bratwurst, hot Italian, chorizo, Parmesan and broccoli rabe and many more… well over a dozen different blends. We wanted to show these, but we didn’t want to show them raw with raw ingredients around them. So, we cooked the sausages in a way that reflected their particular characters. One of the butchers at the shop happens to be a trained chef. He and the Applestone team came up with recipes, and he cooked them for the camera.

Look for these images rolling out on the Applestone Meat Company’s website and social media channels in the near future.

In My Kitchen/Garden

Preserved Meyer Lemons

Posted on January 29, 2017by Jennifer May

On a chilly day in January, I made preserved Meyer lemons. I will give them a shake every day, and in about three weeks they should be ready. I am collecting recipes for pasta, gremolata, roasted potatoes, relish and fish dishes. I am excited to see what new dimension this condiment will bring to the food we cook at home!

preserved meyer lemons recipe nyc food photographer