One of my favourite things to create is cocktails. It’s a bit of a joke in our family, since I don’t really like drinking them. My drink of choice is wine, preferably a very chilled Australian Sauvignon Blanc. I’m going through an Australian phase now. Perhaps it has something to do with my binge watching Masterchef Australia. Australians are so much nicer than Canadians and Americans. They always hug each other after each challenge. Sorry, I digress. Back to cocktails.

Mixing up different flavour combinations and then taking pictures of them is my idea of fun. I especially like to create cocktails with my brother-in-law Brandon. He is always game to try something new. This genius cocktail idea came from my friend Erin, at Dish Catering. She was telling me about a new cherry flavoured gin, made by Dillon’s. She mixed it with Fever Tree Lemon Tonic water and said it was outstanding. If you can’t find Cherry Gin or Lemon Tonic, I think you could use regular gin and tonic and add a bit of lemonade, cherry juice and some fresh cherries. Not quite the same, but, in a pinch, it would still be quite good.

Fresh cherries get muddled in the bottom of the glass. A shot of cherry gin, some lemon tonic water and lots of ice. Really refreshing. If you’re a G&T fan, this could become your new favourite drink. We’ll be serving it at our big family reunion next weekend. Nothing brings families closer together than lots of gin, or in the case of our family, Prosecco!

I have spent the past week immersed in studying light. The uber-talented food photographer Bea Lubas, threw down an Instagram challenge this month to shoot only using backlight. Bea’s philosophy is that “If you want to improve your photography, don’t take pictures of food. Become a student of light and take pictures of it instead.”

Backlight is when the light hits the subject from behind. Most food photography is side lit (light comes from the side of the subject), as it is universally flattering. Backlighting is difficult to do well. If you’re keen to learn more about it, Bea wrote an excellent blog post on the subject. It really helped me to nail the technique.

Here is a photo I shot, using my iPhone, showing the setup I used to get my photo.
I undertook 4 backlighting photo sessions this week, practicing, trying different windows at different times of day. I shot carrot cake (recipe coming soon), but didn’t love the results.
I shot blueberries, with somewhat better results.
My final shoot was this G&T. The sweet spot, for me, was a North facing window at around 2:00 pm. It was a grey rainy day and the soft light coming in through the window created that magical glow. I used a white foam core board at the front of the image, to throw some light back onto the front of my scene, as that area was quite dark. Check out the #belightinspired gallery on Instagram to see the amazing images others have created.

Click here to print recipe for Cherry and Lemon Gin and Tonic.