Thanksgiving. Its All About the Food.

Well, isn’t it? I mean even Google’s theme of today says this is so. Thanksgiving here in the US has come to mean the kick starter for the holiday season, the time to get together with friends and family. And sure, its a time to count your blessings. But come on! Its really about getting stuffed on stuffin’ and giving thanks for those just-harvested green beans and candy-sweet potatoes (and finally the time to use up the rest of that Karo syrup!)

Last week’s Win-It-Wednesday on Facebook revealed that the Pixable community is loving the food that has come to be as much a tradition as the holiday itself. Of your whopping 77 comments, it turns out that Stuffing, Pumpkin Pie, and Sweet Potatoes were your top three favorite Thanksgiving treats. Therefore, we’re urging you to show us your goodies in the Thanksgiving Food Video Contest. We’ll post details in the next blog post, but for now, just be sure to capture some photos. Our suggested shot list includes:

• some slick shots of the vegetables in their unstripped state, and other raw ingredients prior to preparation
• that gorgeous spread before the revelers dig in, decor included
• the hot chefs who make it happen (in their full apron, oven mitt, stained shirt glory)
• guests in hungry mode and afterward in a tryptophan daze
• deserts! all laid out and asking for trouble

Now, I can’t speak for all of you, but I know that my food pictures usually fall short of capturing those contours and colors in their full splendor. Therefore, I gathered some good suggestions from the masters of this art.

Katrina Kennedy on the DailyDigi gives some really great and practical tips for squeezing photos into that busy and hectic day that can be Thanksgiving (particularly if you’re double-timing as host[ess] for the day). I particularly love how she captured post-cooking pre-cleaning kitchen shots (total documentary style)!

In the New York Times Diner’s Journal, Andrew Scrivani offers some really nice pointers for you point and shooters and some more in-depth suggestions for you manually capable shutterbugs. And yet another one for those who are more focused on flavor than aesthetics.