Can you tell us shortly about your background and how you came to the idea for your cookbook?
Healthy, plant-based eating with fresh, seasonal ingredients has always been a big part of my life as a nutrition coach. I love creating new recipes, and I especially enjoy the food styling and photography. I’ve always dreamed of holding my own cookbook, with my own recipes and photos, in my hands. Together with a colleague, a certified herbalist, I decided to create a herb-focused cookbook and everything just fell into place. I developed the recipes using her herbal expertise, and step by step, the project came to life.
Where do you take inspiration from for your food photography?
I’m always inspired by the beauty of nature, especially when spring is in full bloom. I love the fresh, vibrant greens and all the blossoms bursting with color. I also find inspiration in the work of other photographers — sometimes a certain element or detail in an image catches my eye, and I build on that, creating my own vision by combining different ideas and impressions.
What was the creative vision for your cookbook, and how did you bring it to life through the imagery?
To reflect the “herb” theme, I wanted each image to feel fresh and full of vibrant greens, but at the same time, I also wanted to balance that freshness with a touch of boldness. I love strong colors, and pink — my all-time favorite — goes so beautifully with green that I knew I wanted to bring this combination into the cookbook. In the end, for the cover shoot, I decided to feature my favorite color mix right on the cover. To make sure the book looks cohesive and everything fits together nicely, I paid special attention to the post-production and editing process.
How do you prepare for the book photography?
When I was starting out, I already had a complete list of recipes to shoot and knew exactly when each one had to be done, depending on the season. The project took about nine months so I could use all the seasonal ingredients. Because of that, I never had to shoot more than two or three recipes a day, which made it really easy to prepare the meals and props for each session.
Do you work with natural light, artificial light or both?
I totally prefer natural light, and I managed to shoot the entire book using only natural light.
Why did you choose to use our vinyl backdrops for your book?
When I was planning the book, I looked for specific background colors, and I already knew that I loved the look and quality of your vinyl backdrops. So I scrolled through your selection and ordered what I needed — and I’m still really happy with that decision!
