Food Photography for the Cookbook, Dinner With Our Friends

We are proud to be a part of the newly released cookbook, Dinner With Our Friends. This book is the passion project organized by our friend and local chef, Barbara Stern. The recipes are a collaborative effort of numerous chefs and bakers around the city, offering up their personal and family favorite recipes. Barbara wanted to use her skills and connections to raise awareness about a common food problem affecting children. Thousands of children in the US regularly go without food and often times do not know where their next meal will come from. With each purchase, the Freestore Foodbank will generously provide 5 children with meals for an entire weekend. OMS felt privileged to be included in Barbara’s inspiring mission.

The current national census report states that 1 in 6 children in our country, are living in food-insecure situations. In the Cincinnati area, the situation is even worse, where 1 in 5 children deal with this social issue. Proceeds from this book give these children a chance at a more stable food situation.

Photography and Food Styling with OMS

When Barbara first reached out to OMS, she asked TJ Vissing, her longtime friend and colleague, to help guide the photography for the project. TJ saw this as an opportunity to give back to the community.

It was clear our photographers, Anna Jones and Jake Anderson, were a perfect fit for this project. They were given full creative liberties and worked closely with our in-house food stylist, Melissa Mileto, to create the beautiful imagery you see within the book. They made an artistic choice to photograph everything with natural window light, which is a luxury not always afforded in our day-to-day commercial shoots. The cover photo was taken by one of our lifestyle photographers, Matt Witherspoon.

We are delighted to see this project come to fruition. It gives us joy to know we have been a part of something that will help feed children in need. We hope you will consider buying a cookbook or donating to this cause at the links below:

Dinner with Our Friends FreeStore FoodBank