food tour – Wandering Cows

I used to laugh at my Singaporean friends visiting London, who would took pictures of the food they ate on their travels. I’ve sat through photo files of steak tartare in Paris, truffle spaghetti in Siena, and breakfast kippers in London’s East End.

Now, with a travel & photography blog, I find myself doing it. Sometimes. It really is awkward. Inside light is often poor, white plates & shiny utensils reflect everything, and you stand about conspicuously trying to find the best angle.

The Lovely J is a bit of a foodie and she booked us on a food tour with Food Tours Stockholm. My favourite part was the samplings around the various stalls in the basement food hall at Hötorgshallen – where all these pictures were taken – and later at Meatballs For The People.

My modus operandi with getting the shots was to bump up the ISO, use a very low f-number and focus with a steady hand on one morsel of food. That way, the one morsel is in focus and everything else is progressively blurred. In order, the food images are of blood pudding with lingonberry sauce, ham in olive oil & garnish, and reindeer mousse with accompanied cold meats. All were taken on ISO 1600, f6/3 settings.

I also wanted a shot of the prep counter when the cook was making our herring and salmon samples. So I stood back to use the widest angle possible, with the camera still on ISO 1600 and a bit higher f9. Then a deep breath and fingers crossed that everything would come out in focus.

I think I did an ok job. I’m keen to hear other people’s travel food photography techniques.

~ Spotted Cow

The smell of spring is in the London air. We have three bank holiday weekends coming up in succession and my thoughts turn to city breaks. I love the capsule holiday long weekend getaways.

This week I’m featuring Copenhagen because it is a wonderful cycle-friendly city with greenery, street art, cafe culture and a fair dash of edginess. In particular, I did two city tours when I visited on my own – a food tour and a Segway tour.

The walkabout with Copenhagen Food Tours should be on every foodies list. Our guide, Maria, was very knowledgeable and passionate about food and its place in Danish culture. Go with an empty belly and open mind. I tried everything – sweets from the 120+ year old Somods Bolcher, beer at Nørrebro Bryghus, smørrebrød (open face sandwiches), an organic hot dog, and deli favourites at the Bornholm Shop. The eating is well paced between walks and the portions are reasonable but I was definitely very full at the end of it.

I’ve already written about the Segway tour with Tours Cph, which gave me a good spatial orientation of the city. The trip passed all the major sites – The Little Mermaid (lonesome), Tivoli (fun), Nyhavn (colourful), Christiansborg Palace (grand), Amalienborg Palace (impressive), the Old Stock Exchange (amazing building), just to name a few – as well as a several I wouldn’t have known to look for. I liked the feeling of being on the ground, but faster, and there were lots of photo stops.

I went back to explore many of the sites afterward :

Nyhavn for the waterfront colourful buildings that are a great backdrop to have a beer;

Nørrebro which is a melting pot of a neighbourhood with lots of cafes & bars;

Christianshavn and its canals and cobbled streets, past hippie Christiania and onto the Opera House which has a waterfront view back onto Frederik’s Church;

Tivoli for its gardens … and roller coasters;

Strøget and surrounding streets for window shopping and Danish design. I wanted the tea cups at Royal Copenhagen and I bought an intriguingly designed egg-beater at Magasin du Nord. When you’re tired, pop into Perch’s tea room for a cuppa and a slice of cake.

On hotels and restaurants, the girls at The Slow Pace love Copenhagen too and I want to go to some of the places they’ve highlighted.

~ Spotted Cow