Of all the places I've been to so far, Amsterdam is that one city that truly stole my heart! But before we get to all the reasons why I love Amsterdam which will definitely take some time, today I want to talk about what inspired me to make my very first Avocado rose and since it's #AskMahaMonday I thought I'd share how I photographed it as well!
First, let's start with the fact that Avocados are delicious, nutritious and pretty much taken over Instagram in the past few years, so I was starting to feel a little behind for:
a) not having enough avocado pictures
b) not even knowing how to make an avocado rose!
Jokes aside, I love avocados, so regardless of Instagram, avocados have made their way into my food for way longer than I've been photographing food! That's why, being in Amsterdam meant that a visit to "The Avocado Show" was a must, which got me thinking about making my very first Avocado rose, afterall you can't NOT be inspired when surrounded by all those pretty and delicious avocado dishes!
So let's get down to business of how to make an avocado rose, first you need to buy avocados, ripe ones because otherwise you'll have to wait few days, second, google/youtube "How to make an avocado rose" and voila! Simple right? haha
Ok, in all seriousness, that's what I did! In fact, I have a video on my IGTV channel showing how I made my first avocado rose with one hand while holding my phone with the other hand to tape it! Go ahead and watch it HERE, it's perfectly imperfect ;)
Let's just say I won't be commissioned anytime soon to make Avocado roses myself, but I will happily photograph and eat them :)
So here is the process of how I styled the avocado and beetroot hummus toast and got it ready to be photographed:
1. Spread the beetroot hummus on top of your toast, I love the thick and rough texture because it photographs well:
2. Transfer your avocado rose onto your toast (using a spatula - watch the video on my channel HERE of how I figured that out) and sprinkle it with feta cheese, I think it's looking pretty darn good now:
Before we get into the final touches, I'd like to give you a peek of my setup, I am staying at my sister's place in Amsterdam and I don't have much of my props or gear so I had to improvise. I also moved around a bit, I started by the balcony but the wind was blowing into my food so I had to move my setup to the table which was also by the window and had the same beautiful soft light:
Now that I am comfortable with my setup, quality and direction of light and the styling of my food, I needed to add few last touches to my toast to make it look a little more insta-delicious, so I added fresh cilantro, sprinkled some seeds and crumbled some bread to add more texture to my photo, I also added a glass of water with slices of lemon to complete my breakfast story and this is the result:
I have to confess, it was fun, fresh, healthy and delicious! I am seriously thinking of making more of these recipes since I've been eating way too much sugar and fried food in the past few weeks and my hips could really use the break so I can get back into shape, haha
My sister also loved it:
Now it's your turn, have you made an avocado rose before? Are you inspired to make one or do you think it's just an Instagram trend? Let me know in the comments, would love to hear your thoughts!
Love,
Maha, xx
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