Cookie monster

Girl Scout cookie time is one of my favorite times of the year. As a kid, I went door-to-door, order form in hand, talking neighbors into buying from me. As an adult, I hit up my coworkers' kids to get my fix. So when reporter Meredith Hines-Dochterman came to me with her latest food column idea of baking with Girl Scout cookies, I quickly staked my claim to shoot it. Any time we can photograph food outside of the studio, I jump on the opportunity, so we headed to Meredith's house one afternoon to bake up a storm. The kitchen had windows along one wall, so I bounced my flash off another corner for some fill and contrast.

We don't use many process photos from food shoots in the paper, but I still shot steps along the way. Since this baked for awhile, it was the last finished dish I photographed. Nothing I had shot so far really screamed "these were made with Girl Scout cookies!" so I used Meredith's daughter's vest as a backdrop.

For the trail mix, I took it out in the yard in a camp-esque bowl (shh, it was actually a pet dish, but looked just like a bowl I used at camp!) and discovered a few burned logs. Instant campfire backdrop.

The parfait was super simple, so I didn't need to show any steps of the process. Once again I used the huge window as my main light source, while using flash to fill in the left side and make the colors of the fruit pop.

For our final dish, Meredith made mini cheesecakes with a Shortbread cookie crust. With some fill flash and overexposure, the countertop fell off to white, leaving me with a bright pop of red. The magenta platter she had on hand worked perfectly to display the little cakes -- yet another reason I like to shoot in kitchens. You never know what you'll be able to repurpose for a prop or plating.

Needless to say, all these goodies made the newsroom very happy the next day, and everyone here will vouch for the tastiness of everything we made.

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