Our 95th year of FCS Professionals began at Allianz Field marveling at the diverse food service operations at the brand new soccer stadium. We ended our year in the comfort of our homes, connected to each other through WebEx! The year could not have ended more different than it started. The one thing that has not changed in our ninety-five years of existence is our resilience, our creative solutions to problems, and the connection between members through our shared passion of food and consumer science!
Our 2019-20 Annual Meeting and Awards was held online Thursday, May 21 from 7:00-8:15 p.m. We welcomed John Yuccas as our speaker for the evening with the topic, “Food Photography in the Age of Social Media.” John was slated to be our speaker at our March meeting that was cancelled. We were thrilled that he was able to provide his content over WebEx for our May meeting! John started his photography journey with nature. He dabbled in wedding photography but did not find his passion until he discovered food photography. As he shared his photos throughout the evening, this passion was so evident. He said the goal in photography was to, “create images not take snapshots.” As a food photographer it is his job to tell the story of an establishment. He really tries to capture the moment and show a “behind-the-scenes” look also including the guest experience in his photographs. He currently owns his own photography business, The Culinary Portfolio.
John gave several tips throughout the evening. First, one does not need a lot of fancy equipment to take excellent pictures. Cell phone cameras have come a long way and include some basic editing features and lighting options. He recommended doing an Internet search for directions for your personal cell phone of how to expose or adjust the lighting. John also stated that psychologically, people will think a food item looks less appetizing if it is in cool light vs. warm light. The photos below show the range from warm to cool lighting.
Choosing the correct angle is also very important!
Close to 0 degrees–Subjects that stand tall
45 degrees– Capturing details, stacking subject matter
90 degrees–Overhead perspective, great for flat lays and flat subjects
Near the end of his presentation he discussed the current restaurant situation with so many struggling due to Covid-19 shutdowns. He talked about how he has changed the way he takes photographs including taking food home and photographing it there. He suggested ways of helping restaurants beyond just getting take-out including purchasing other items from them like a t-shirt or a hat–anything to help their cash flow. John said that telling the story of the restaurant is more important than ever. They might emphasize their safety measures vs. just delicious looking food.
John has also started an additional business minimetalprints.com where he sells 5×7 prints on metal that do not require any additional framing. All you need is a hammer, nail, and a little wall space!
After John’s presentation we began our annual meeting and encouraged guests to remain online with us! President Vicky Cherne welcomed all. The minutes from last year’s meeting were adjusted and then approved. Due to the online format of our annual meeting, the year in review, introduction of the new board, and award winners were put into a video. To view the video, click here
Thank you to our 2019-20 Board Members
President Vicky Cherne
President Elect Karen Smith
Advisor Jean Knaak
Treasurer Liz Sellet
Secretary Molly Lass
Program Co Chairs: Colleen Glenn and Gerry Luepke
Membership Chair Marge Ryerson
Nominations Lisa Krause
Blog Chair Susan Vance
Newsletter Editor Sierra Kaptain
Conference Lead Colleen Zenk
CE Application Processor Marie Winker
Administrative Assistant Tanya Hamilton
Introducing our new board for 2020-21
President Karen Smith
President Elect Susan Vance
Advisor Vicky Cherne
Treasurer Liz Sellet
Secretary Molly Lass
Program Co-Chairs: Gerry Luepke and Casey Mikel
Membership Co-Chairs: Marge Ryerson and Konnie Zimmerman
Nominations Lisa Krause
Blog Chair Royalee Rhoads
Newsletter Editor Sierra Kaptain
Conference Lead Colleen Zenk
CE Application Processor Marie Winker
Administrative Assistant Tanya Hamilton
2019-20 Award Winners
Emerging Leader Award: Royalee Rhoads
Spirit Award: Julie Miller-Jones
Volunteer of the Year: Gerry Luepke
Behind-the-Scenes Star: Pam Voelkel
FCS Professional of the Year: Karen Smith
All award winners will be highlighted in-depth in a future blog post. Stay tuned!
Thank you for all the members and guests who joined us! We look forward to great things in 2020-21!
Thanks, Susan, for a terrific recap of our meeting. It’s been a quite a year!