Tricks of the trade

Maggi Liquid Seasoning 

Ania Elias 

I’m a food and lifestyle photographer sharing life between London and West Berkshire, England.
My work focuses on the emotional component of food. 
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I believe that there are three components to creating a beautiful and eye-catching photo. These are: light, a pleasing composition and making the food look delicious and real. 
The food needs to be the star of the show, and we food photographers and stylists go to great lengths and adopt various tricks to get the images looking irresistible. One secret weapon that I recommend everyone has in their styling kit is Maggi Liquid Seasoning. It’s much more than just an inexpensive kitchen staple. It’s great for creating fake drinks when you don’t want the cost and hassle of using real ones. You can use these drinks as stand-ins while you are preparing the set, working on your composition, or testing the lighting. When all is ready to go, you can then swap them for the real stuff (or keep it as it is!). Depending on how many drops you add, you can make anything from white wine (just a couple of drops added to water will create a realistic looking Chardonnay) to tea, bourbon or whisky. It also makes a great ‘coffee’. A challenge with tea or coffee is that it looks great initially, but when it sits for a bit it tends to develop a funny looking sheen that doesn’t look appetizing at all!  
Soy sauce can occasionally be an alternative to Maggi Liquid Seasoning although I find it doesn’t quite have the same rich, brown and caramelized look as Maggi does. 
Feel free to experiment with the dosage to get the look that you like. However, the key is to make your cocktails or drinks look realistic and believable.  

A timeless look

Never underestimate the value of the little bottles buried deep in the darkest depths of your kitchen pantry. With just a little bit of creativity and resourcefulness, they could take your photography up a notch (and save some precious time!).  
 
If you want the water droplets on fresh produce, for example, to last longer - spray it with a mixture of glycerine and water. This simple solution is an easy answer to improve your styling and photography game. It’s very quick to make and involves mixing a 1:1 solution of glycerine and water. You need a small spray bottle to apply it. It won’t evaporate as quickly as water would and will remain on your food until you wash it off! It will also create bigger dew drops.  
 
A constant challenge when shooting glasses of cold drinks is that natural condensation evaporates very quickly and it’s not easy to control. Keeping beverages ice cold can be challenging, especially when you’re on location. A mixture of glycerin and water works perfectly on glass to create a realistic-looking refreshing chilled effect and adding a beautiful textural detail. You simply use the mixture to spray the parts of the glass where the drink will actually be touching the glass (this is where condensation happens in real life) and it will stay there for as long as you need it. This will give you enough time to adjust the composition or lighting if necessary, without the pressure of the condensation disappearing in a couple of minutes.  

Gear used