Hi y’all, I’m Tara, welcome to my blog! I figured it would be nice to introduce myself and let you guys know a little about me.
If you read the About page, then you already know I’m an Arizona State University alumna, class of 2017! While at ASU I studied Graphic Information Technology with a focus in Commercial Photography as well as Business Entrepreneurship.
I’ve always loved photography and have been running my portrait photography business, Tara T Photography, for a number of years. While studying at ASU, there was a section of my commercial photography class that was all about food photography. Y’all I instantly fell in love! After that, all my photo projects somehow incorporated food. My senior project was all about macarons and I even started incorporating food into my senior sessions! My portfolio quickly became filled with photos of food!
Food styling and photography is quite a unique niche, although extremely relevant. When people think of photography, usually food is not the first thing they think of. People ask, “What would your dream job be?” The look on their face when I say, “I really want do food styling full time”, never disappoints!
As with every passion, the next question that follows usually consists of, “That’s so unique, what is it about that that you enjoy?”. The first time someone asked me that, I didn’t know how to answer… “Well, it’s my passion, I don’t need to have a reason for loving it, I just do”. And just like most conversations, I left and then my brain thought of all the amazing things I should have said instead. Why didn’t I say, “It allows me to be creative and work with a unique medium as my art” or “I love taking something so ordinary and turning it into an aesthetic creation of art” or even “Um because I get to eat the leftovers!” All jokes aside, that is one main reason I love shooting desserts! While it’s true that I didn’t necessarily need a reason for my passion, the list of reasons never end. I truly love what I do.
So, if it wasn’t obvious: I love eating food, I love cooking, and I love eating the things I cook! But here’s where it gets messy. My body doesn’t love food. It’s been a long journey of find things I can and can’t eat, and that list is ever changing. Currently my list of dietary restrictions consist of:
- Red Meat Free
- Dairy-Free
- Gluten-Free
- Yeast-Free
- Nut-Free
Finding things to eat has not been easy, but it has given me the opportunity to venture outside my realm of food knowledge. I grew up on a cattle ranch, so right off the bat, learning to cook without beef was a whole new world. My mother always made home cooked meals for us growing up. I’d say all her recipes were very traditional, so learning no only substitutes flour, dairy, bread, etc. but then how to incorporate those new ingredients into my diet has definitely been a process.
I tend to stick to simple dishes such as a cut of grilled or baked protein (usually chicken or fish), as side of fresh fruits or vegetables, and some rice. But that tends to get old very fast. My taste buds needed more! Remember; I. Love. Food! This led to some Pinterest deep-dives. Hello new recipes!
I am now combining my love for cooking, eating, and food styling/photography into one! Some of my posts will be passion projects, which usually consist of items I can’t consume (my roommate loves those), client work, or my ventures of trying out new recipes and modifying existing ones to fit my ever changing diet.
I hope you enjoy my posts, whether you are here for new recipes, as a prospective client, or if you’re just here for the pretty pictures! Welcome!
Awesome post! Keep up the great work! 🙂