Skaiste

Malevskiene

Rose blossoms macaroons with chocolate basil ganache. These are my very first homemade macaroons. And it turned out it’s not so difficult at all and this rose and basil chocolate ganache flavor combo is amazing.

Flourless chocolate hazelnut tart with apple blossoms. When I have started the food photography path I have learned so many rules about the composition which I had to incorporate in my photos: layering, triangles, implied action, etc., and at some point of time, I have noticed that I just make a composition intuitively that looks beautiful to me and somehow find all these rules in it retrospectively.

The very first blossoms in my garden this year were these little purple pansies. I had to make something special and beautiful with it. And here is the result - chocolate cake with whipped cream, blueberries and my beautiful pansies.

The Blueberry Dutch Baby. This picture is my story for the 5 days of storytelling challenge organized by amazing teachers and creators Eva Kosmas Flores and Beata Lubas. Adding a human element to the scene always makes a difference. A big thanks to my husband for his patience and support.

Blueberry Dutch Baby. This is one of my favorite breakfast dishes and it is as beautiful as it is delicious. I am a bit crazy about food aesthetics. When looking for recipes and dishes to cook, I always look for the right balance in beauty, tastes and complicatedness of the process. I think this dish is a perfect example of a well-balanced, delicious, easy to make and beautiful meal.

S’mores tart with toasted marshmallow meringue. I was really anxious before making this tart. It seemed a rather complicated procedure. But when you start it, it really isn’t. I am so happy I was able to capture a short smoky effect of the toasted meringue. It’s just a matter of a second before you burn it too much.

White Cosmo drop. I had this cocktail photo in mind for some time. But then only during the actual shooting, I have decided to bring this drink ‘alive’. One little droplet ads so much magic.

The dance of the bubbles. I was shooting a champagne glass collection, trying different lighting and wine movement techniques. When shooting this coupe glass I wanted to emphasize the color of this vintage champagne and the beautiful dance of the bubbles.

Easter meat pie. I was shooting this beautiful pie for my client, but I had to bake it myself since it was a ‘before and after' photoshoot. I was so happy about it because it's not just the end result that gives you the satisfaction it's the process of baking itself. It fills your home with mouth-watering scents and the feeling of coziness.

Sometimes all you need is a small bucket of happiness. A magical taste and texture of blueberry-blackberry ice cream. Ice cream always makes things better.

This picture is about the details of the grilled meat. I was trying to convey the heat, the scent, the sound and even the Maillard reaction that makes this steak so irresistibly delicious.

Blueberry ice cream. I had a vision of a cone of ice cream standing still in my photo for some time, the question was how to make it happen. And with ice cream it is always a matter of seconds before it starts melting and falling apart. But I guess the challenges are the reason why I love photography so much. It is about the moment when the idea, the construction and the postproduction meet and you get the result that is simply magical.

Carrot-ginger soup. There is nothing more comforting and soothing than the warmth and silky creamy texture of this soup. It's almost like a warm blanket just exactly when you need one.

I was training how to photograph fire, smoke and ashes and therefore have flamed and caramelized lots of marshmallows which consequently ended up in a beautiful dessert - S’mores.

This picture is about the anticipation. Anticipation of the magical moment in time when the frost turns these berries into piece of art or the anticipation of one irresistibly reaching for the chocolate drips to be swiped and licked from the finger.

Donuts with white chocolate and edible flowers. I guess I was craving for spring blossoms so much it got reflected in this donut composition. All winter I was heavily dependent on my studio lights and whenever I’ve tried to use natural light it was still too blue or too grey and suddenly when shooting these donuts the magic happened. The natural light was so soft and gentle I new the spring is near.

This is how chocolatiness looks like. Three different textures of chocolate: chocolate dribble, brownie and chocolate shavings meet and melt in just one bite.

Beautiful octopus stew with shafron and coconut milk. Now when the restaurants are closed and the travels are restricted you can choose to have a gastronomical journey to a different continent. This is a shot of our home ‘restaurant' dish and a short but marvelous journey to Brazil.

I wanted to make this orange, almond cake with bloody oranges, but I could not find any, anywhere in our city. But I guess sometimes restrictions release your creativity and I’ve decided to dye the oranges in beetroot juice. The result was magical.

When I’ve put this piece of brownie on a plate it was something magic about it. The color, the texture, and that scent of freshly melted chocolate. With a little bit of proper lightning hopefully, I was able to stop the moment.