Bookatable Workshop 2016
"Jan, do you want to lead a photo workshop for bloggers?" Petra, our studio manager, passes on Bookatable's enquiry. "Do you want to do that, Jan? I of all people, who is the least versed in technical stuff", I reply, but I am intrigued by the thought of exchanging experiences with a few colleagues, now that our own blog has been online for half a year.
So we get together with Natalie and Lena from Bookatable and discuss content, format and timing of the idea. The two charming women effortlessly find three Restaurants in Hamburg that agree to host our workshop. A few weeks later, we meet again. Bookatable introduces themselves, followed by the presentation of five different biographies: Blog images appear on screen, and five likeable self-confident young women share parts of their lives and how they became food bloggers. They talk about how important it is for them to travel, to immerse in different cultures and look past the end of their noses. And about cooking their OWN recipes - local, sustainable and healthy. They talk about their food intolerances and how their grannies influenced them in finding the courage to become food bloggers. All of them have other day jobs, some of them also families and children. Amazing, I think, but is there anything left for me to tell these women, anything expertise they want to know?
Our first stop is "Restaurant Philipps" in the Karoviertel. Philipp, the head chef, has prepared six Beef Carpaccio with Arugula and Summer Truffle for us. I meant to discuss the viewpoint, each participant was supposed to discover her own approach and then present it to the group in 20 minutes. But before I know it, my rambling about location analysis, mixed light, 3200 Kelvin, discontinuous spectrum, tripod use and depth of field is abruptly interrupted by the participants who grab their plates and walk outside, remove the table cloth like Nives, or start taking photos of each other like Christin and Corinna. Carpaccio from the side, sure, everything you like is possible and intuition is the best advisor, both in photography and when cooking.
Head Chef Kevin Fehling welcomes us in "The Table" and explains his alternative 3-star concept. A communal table, 14 courses, no table linen, and changing lounge music. We are tasked with a Pastrami Macaron on a miniature version of the "The Table's" wooden table. Award-winning cuisine en miniature that screams for macro lenses, and a mini burger which needs a low viewpoint. The iPhone 6 is made useful. Soon, my motto is: Why make it complicated if you can make it easy!
After an extended river cruise on the Elbe, Claudia Bellmann from "Louis C. Jacob" leads us into Thomas Martin's realm. He is the head chef of a kitchen squad of 40 chefs. Thomas talks about the interaction of reformation and tradition, an idea that motivates him and his young chefs to constantly invent new culinary creations. The pastry chef prepared an Araguani Chocolate Tartlet for us, a chocolate ring, decorated with gold leaf and filled with a dollop of chocolate ice cream.
We should hurry, not just because of the ice cream: On the lime tree terrace, rain drops are followed by the setting sun. Reflectors are held up, our patissier serves the ice cream à la minute, and, of course we chocoholics don't need to be asked twice to consume it. The day was long and, though it passed quickly, it has become late. It’s been fun to look at something with fresh eyes, observe different ways to approach food, absorb new ideas and answer more than a few questions about photography, as my rough, cracked voice confirms.
A sincere thank-you to the clients, Lena and Natalie von Bookatable, and the food blogger team: Christin Borja (Easy Tasting), Julia Neumann (Kochmädchen), Corinna Frei (Schlüsselglück), Nives Haag (Nives kocht), Magdalena Muttenthaler (kaiserlich und königlich). We also thank Patrick, our trainee, for taking the making-of photos. Find additional blogs about our workshop on Bookatable and Nives kocht.
