Twenty years ago when I decided to start cooking in earnest, I fell in love with cookbooks. Those that taught techniques, I studied rigorously; those that offered mouthwatering recipes, I devoured with my eyes. One in particular - The Essential Asian Cookbook (Murdoch Books, 1997) - sparked a bizarre collecting habit: chopsticks, ramekins and Asian dishware.
As a politics reporter, I dreamed that someday I'd be able to ditch nasty world of politics and write about food for newspapers (a coveted position, by the way - everyone wanted to be a food writer). But never in a million years would I have envisioned that I'd become a food photographer, and that many of the items I'd been collecting for fun would appear in cookbooks enjoyed by tens of thousands of readers.
This week marks the release of the third cookbook featuring my photography: Buck, Buck, Moose: Recipes and Techniques for Cooking Deer, Elk, Moose, Antelope and Other Antlered Things, written by my partner Hank Shaw. And I'm pleased to say it is BOTH types of cookbook that I fell in love with 20 years ago: It contains detailed and accessible instructions on technique - both butchering and cooking - and what I hope you'll find to be beautiful photography showcasing mouth-watering dishes.
There's something extra special about this book. The first, Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast, was published by Rodale in 2011. The second, Duck, Duck, Goose: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking Waterfowl, Both Wild and Domesticated, was published by Ten Speed Press in 2013. This one, we are self-publishing - made possible by an immensely successful Kickstarter campaign.
If you are a deer hunter, or you know someone who is, I hope you'll check it out. As someone who ate everything I photographed, I can tell you you'll be glad you did. Cheers!
© Holly A. Heyser 2016
I have to say, that as a fine-art landscape shooter who's making the transition over into food/wine/product photography for my own blog, your pics have quite inspirational esp. in terms of your clarity of vision in what you're trying to portray and your restraint.
ReplyDeleteLove your shots.
Thank you so much! Appreciate you taking the time to share the thought!
DeleteDuck Duck Goose is absolutely gorgeous and I am loving it as I read through it. May I ask, what kind of plate is that on the cover? Looks like an antique blue willow with a gold rim of some kind. Beautifully shot, written, and edited.
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