Hi everyone! Mr. JOC here. Ever wonder about the behind the scene magic for food shows on TV and how the talent always look perfectly lit and the food super delicious? We got a glimpse of how it all happens during our visit to Seefood Media studio in New York City. I’ll share a few tips on DSLR video setting as well towards the end of the post.
During our visit to New York City over the Christmas holidays, one of the highlights of the trip was being able to visit our friends Jamie and Saukok of Seefood Media. We were really excited since Nami had just started Just One Cookbook YouTube Channel and had a ton of questions about food videography. Who better to answer our questions than our own James Beard Award-winning video production friends.
A bit of background on our friendship. Long before Jamie and I both settled down and got married, he used to live in San Francisco and we had met through our mutual friend Leonard. Loving food brought us together and I learned a great deal about ingredients, food preparation, and how to create good food from the many hours we spent in Jamie’s kitchen. Those days were an amazing gastric ecstasy experience for me (thank you Nami for allowing my stomach to continue enjoying the same happiness).
From Jamie, I learned how to make stock from scratch with fresh ingredients and many other fundamentals cooking skills. During that time, Jamie was always hosting parties for his friends and I became a frequent beneficiary of his delicious creations. White truffle rice, Kobe beef burgers, seared foie gras, and slow-roasted beef tenderloin just to name a few memorable dishes. I was a bit surprised when Jamie left the technology industry to get his master’s degree in Food Studies because he loved gadgets and technology. Now with Seefood Media, he gets to combine his passion for high tech and his love for food.
As Nami started her Just One Cookbook YouTube channel, it was an unfamiliar undertaking since neither Nami nor myself had any experience with video. To get started, we got our inspiration from watching hundreds of Upwave videos Jamie and Saukok had produced, which is nominated as a finalist this year for James Beard Award Video WebCast! I’ve included one of our favorite ones below.
Bahn Mi Lettuce Wraps from SeeFood Media on Vimeo.
When we arrived at the Seefood Media studio, it was quite cool being in the same space where Rachel ray, Bobby Flay, Emeril Lagasse, and other amazing chefs have been. Jamie and Saukok patiently answered all of Nami and my endless questions about kitchen setup, countertop material, cabinet set up, and how to create a space that is optimized for food videography. The promo video below for SeeFood Media is a great glimpse into the amazing work they do.
We got an exclusive tour of the 3 existing kitchens and how they are optimized for shooting. My personal favorite was kitchen B with the movable islands (see Floor Plans below). How cool is that? We drooled at the incredible prop collection and kitchen gadgets room, 8 Kitchen Aid blenders in all different colors… do I need to say more? Besides the existing kitchens, we also got a sneak peek into their future plans to build even more studio space.
Thank you Jamie, Saukok, and Chewbarka (their cute dog!) for hosting us in your amazing studio and we look forward to seeing a live shoot there soon.
Now, a few DSLR tips for those of you that are thinking about starting food videography with DSLR.
1. Make sure your Auto Lighting Optimizer is turned off and ISO is set to manual. This will prevent your shot from being over or underexposed based on the brightness of your object.
2. Always shoot on manual mode, unless you have Canon 70D which is able to auto-focus in movie mode.
3. Change your picture style setting by lowering the contrast, saturation, and sharpness. This will make your objects look more natural.
I find the above clip by Philip Bloom really helpful with DSLR setting and wished I was aware of the information when I first started.
Happy shooting!
Full Disclosure: Just One Cookbook has not been compensated by Seefood Media and all images courtesy of Seefood Media.
Great post Mr. JOC! I am delighted to hear that you could renew your friendship and get some new fresh ideas to help with video production. Video production is intense and I think video editing is even more intense. I think we are all super jealous of those studio layouts/kitchens. Are you thinking about building a new kitchen for Nami-san? She would be thrilled. (PSST.. Nami-san, wink wink…is Mr. JOC reading these comments?) Take care BAM
Hi Bam! Haha! Yes, Mr. JOC is reading all the comments but he’s too busy to respond… I totally agree. Both video production and food blog (with food photography) require a lot of work. We barely have time for anything else due to keeping up both… We’re considering about a new kitchen that’s “video shooting” friendly… I’m afraid we can’t sell the house after we make some changes! It’ll be a while till we make it happen as we’re still learning the best way to video shoot… but you and Mr. JOC think alike. Haha!
Hello Nami and Mr. JOC! 🙂 Just like everybody else, all I could say while watching the two videos was “WOW!” I have always loved watching cooking shows, competitions and this is just amazing! You guys are so lucky to have friends who are in this exciting business. Last weekend, my husband and I watched your videos on our TV (it’s quite a huge TV) and my husband was amazed at how your videos looked on our TV, it was very clear and I think we were drooling after watching about 5 videos! 🙂 We look forward to many many more videos and recipes!
Hi Lorely! Thank you so much for your kind words! We’re so happy to hear you enjoyed our videos. 🙂
What a fun trip and a fun post, look at that setup I wish I had those at home 🙂
Thanks for sharing this wonderful post
I was waiting for this post! How amazing to have such good friends that are also an incredible resource for something that is a passion for you both. You and Nami do such a wonderful job on your videos. Thanks for the tips!
Aren’t you two lucky to have friends like this? Wow, what an amazing (and droolworthy) setup. I’d LOVE to visit a place like that. You are well on your way to achieving greatness!
Hi Nami,
Thank you for this. I always wondering how it is behind the scene of food shows.
Also the tips are so useful for me who just started my blogs.
Chantal
Wow! They were interesting videos! And packed with information which I’m grateful for. I bet your family had a great trip. I love New York! Oh, oh, I can hear the song by Sinatra!
Awesome post! Thanks, JOCzes.
Another tip– get yourself a roll of 216 diffusion, and hang it up over all of your light sources. This will soften all of the light for a glow-y, wraparound effect. Also, make sure that you aren’t mixing color temperatures, ie. daylight from a window and tungsten light.
Thanks so much for the tip and spending time with us, Jamie! The kids miss Chewbarka (and still ask us to get a dog….). 🙂
Great Post Mr. JOC! 🙂 Their kitchens are simply amazing, and I don’t need to say anything about props haha I saw pics, it’s a dreamland…that is one pretty incredible job! Thanks for sharing and have a great week ahead!
Must be a fun trip for the family. I always wonder how it goes behind the scene. Very nice set they have there and good props and equipment. Thank you Nami for a good and helpful post. 🙂
WOW! I mean WWWWow! The kitchen and video set up looks amazing! The most surprising thing is, they could make a simple salad video into such a cool thing, by the tempo of music and how they clip and edit. I feel I could learn a lot by simply watching this short video! 🙂
I just started my video channel last month and has been using my Canon point and shoot with automatic setting the whole time. Can’t even to compare…. I’m start to think about switch to DSLR now.
By the way, what kind of software are you using for post shoot editing? I’m using iMovie, but I couldn’t find a way to add cool subtitles, or lots of effects I saw in other people’s video. Any suggestion on video editing software or tutorial provider?
Hi Maggie! We currently use Power Director but hoping to switch to Adobe Premiere Pro soon (still studying how to use it).
Thanks for the quick reply! You’re getting more and more professional. 🙂
I’ll do more research on the software. I thought I won’t need to pay more to Adobe after Photoshop, but maybe I was wrong…
I know what you mean…. expense one after another! Good luck on your videography!
Fun post! Video looks challenging (not to mention time consuming) and I’m still trying to come to terms with still photography! So video is some ways off for me (and probably never will happen — I really don’t have a burning desire to do it). But I admire anyone who can and does. Really great read — thanks so much.
Hi John! It’s true. I tell Mr. JOC that we don’t have weekend anymore because of video shooting. So much planning is required ahead of time, and post edit takes a long time. Not to mention, we still take step by step pictures too. I think we’re crazy! But it’s fair to mention that we get GREAT feedback on videos from blog readers and we started to get new blog readers coming from YouTube (different from blog readers). We’ve been busier than ever, but it’s been fun and creative outlet for us. You probably don’t want to hear our “behind the scene” conversation while shooting. With the kids around, it’s crazy! 😉
What a fun trip! It is amazing to see what goes on behind the scenes. Bobby’s been in film and video production for years and every once in a while I show up on set. It’s a lot of “stuff” and a lot of work for just a few seconds. It’s pretty amazing. What great resources you have and what a beautifully shot and lit video!
What a great location and so fun to visit with friends who are experts in the field. I was just about to try using my DSLR to try to take video, so this is so timely. I love your videos Nami – they are very professional looking!
WOW! Now that is any foodie’s dream job! Video is definitely a lot of work, and it’s so great to see both of you working on the videos together. I just need to get my hubby in the game!