Last night I had dinner with some friends at their house and brought over some salmon and cedar planks I’d been wanting to use. I don’t grill too often (mostly because I don’t own a grill) and really wanted to both eat food cooked on cedar and photograph it, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I brought all the fixins (minus the home-made Teriyaki sauce that Renee cooked up) and they helped out with the grill. I brought my Canon 7D w/ 50 f/1.4 along to get a few photos … I wasn’t expecting to get too much but I really like the images I made. Plus, they’re photographers, too, so they totally understood my need to photograph the food.

To make the salmon I soaked the cedar planks in water for about 20-30 mins and then marinated the salmon for about 20 mins in homemade Teriyaki sauce (soy sauce, garlic and ginger cooked for a bit … not sure exactly how she cooked it but it was good!). The grill was pre-heated to about 350-400° F, then we added the cedar planks and let them heat up for a few minutes. When they were ready we flipped the planks over, placed salmon on them (along with some asparagus seasoned w/ olive oil and salt/pepper) and I layered orange slices over the top of the salmon. It all cooked for approximately 20 minutes, then we took it off the grill and ate it up. It was really, really good … the smokiness flavor from the cedar really came through, especially in the asparagus … and I smelled like a campfire the rest of the evening (which is awesome!).

Here is a behind-the-scenes pic of me, along with a photo of the smoking asparagus:

Last night I had dinner with some friends at their house and brought over some salmon and cedar planks I’d been wanting to use. I don’t grill too often (mostly because I don’t own a grill) and really wanted to both eat food cooked on cedar and photograph it, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I brought all the fixins (minus the home-made Teriyaki sauce that Renee cooked up) and they helped out with the grill. I brought my Canon 7D w/ 50 f/1.4 along to get a few photos … I wasn’t expecting to get too much but I really like the images I made. Plus, they’re photographers, too, so they totally understood my need to photograph the food.

To make the salmon I soaked the cedar planks in water for about 20-30 mins and then marinated the salmon for about 20 mins in homemade Teriyaki sauce (soy sauce, garlic and ginger cooked for a bit … not sure exactly how she cooked it but it was good!). The grill was pre-heated to about 350-400° F, then we added the cedar planks and let them heat up for a few minutes. When they were ready we flipped the planks over, placed salmon on them (along with some asparagus seasoned w/ olive oil and salt/pepper) and I layered orange slices over the top of the salmon. It all cooked for approximately 20 minutes, then we took it off the grill and ate it up. It was really, really good … the smokiness flavor from the cedar really came through, especially in the asparagus … and I smelled like a campfire the rest of the evening (which is awesome!).

Here is a behind-the-scenes pic of me, along with a photo of the smoking asparagus:

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Nicole is a photographer, published author, and educator specializing in Lightroom, Photoshop, and photography. She is best known for her books on food photography but is widely versed in various photographic genres, including landscape, nature, stock, travel, and experimental imagery.

15 Comments

  1. Ben June 9, 2011 at 3:14 pm - Reply

    That picture of the asparagus is amazing.

  2. Christine Glade June 9, 2011 at 3:28 pm - Reply

    I could not love that asparagus photo any more than I do. Wow Nicole. That’s gorgeous!

  3. stuart June 9, 2011 at 3:30 pm - Reply

    More beautiful food photography by my favourite food photographer, the asparagus does look excellent.

  4. Emily June 9, 2011 at 3:49 pm - Reply

    Wow! LOVE the photo of the asparagus! And the color of the salmon is yummy too!

  5. James Benet June 9, 2011 at 3:52 pm - Reply

    Delicious, the smoke effect on the asparagus is so cool, you could do an entire smoked shallow DoF series!

    • Nicole June 9, 2011 at 3:53 pm - Reply

      I’d need a grill to do that … I’m crossing my fingers I find an apartment with a balcony when I move to Seattle. :)

  6. Iza June 9, 2011 at 5:04 pm - Reply

    I have never seen grilling on wooden planks. It looks interesting (And I suppose gives a lot of flavor?). Where can you buy those?

  7. Sheila Rose June 9, 2011 at 6:35 pm - Reply

    Nice!

  8. Chris Plante June 9, 2011 at 7:47 pm - Reply

    Great images! Love the smoking asparagus or as I call them, “sticks”.

  9. Ben Klaus June 9, 2011 at 9:19 pm - Reply

    Amazing how the higher ISO cooks the salmon!

    That Asparagus pucture is fantastic!! Love it!

  10. nicole branan June 10, 2011 at 7:47 am - Reply

    Love the asparagus photo – gorgeous and also really unique. Thanks for sharing!

  11. Claudia June 11, 2011 at 6:45 am - Reply

    I want that asparagus in so many ways. Fabulous shot! It’s all in the perspective.

  12. Alberto L. Gallardo June 12, 2011 at 5:08 pm - Reply

    I like the colors, especially of the grilled salmon. Recently bought your book: Canon 7D From Snapshots to Great Shots and was wondering if all the shots from the book were taken with a Canon 7D. I just have, for two months now, a Canon 7D and trying to get more saturation of color in my photos. Do you retouched your photos for richness of color ? I admire your work very much and highly appreciate all the advice you provide in your blog.

  13. Dina June 12, 2011 at 5:26 pm - Reply

    the color of the salmon is gorgeous!

  14. Corinna | kitchenklatsch.com July 17, 2011 at 4:37 pm - Reply

    I really want to try this way of grilling salmon! It looks so delicious…

    Great images!

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