From what I can gather, Stef eats a lot of cereal: for breakfast, as a comfort food after any kind of trip, and as a late night snack. Usually the snack is a mix of little bits of all the cereal varieties she has in the cupboard (five on my visit) in a glass or ramekin.

Something that I’ve noticed on these shoots is the beautiful release of tension that people get when they start eating a familiar, delicious piece of food. People can be a little apprehensive about having their picture taken, and then, once the first bite of snack hits the tongue, bam. A sigh, a low hum of contentment, a smile. Aaaaahhh.

Enjoy!

My wife was a little apprehensive that my treats wouldn’t be up to the high standards of her club, or that enthusiasm for the photo project wouldn’t be there. But (a.) I know my way around a treat club, my friends, and (b.) give a crowd a couple dozen pastries and a small keg of caffeine, and you’ll get yourself some enthusiasm. I’m happy to say that the shoot was a success. Witness:

Faxin' 'n' treatin' - oh yeah!

Many thanks to the Third Floor North Treat Club for graciously hosting. May your treats always be plentiful and hand crafted.

A fine example of a snack cave

Her favorite snack? Pickles.

What intrigued me most about Annie was that in our email conversation she called pickles a nostalgic snack; when she eats them she can visualize walking through the Minnesota State Fair, where you can buy ginormous pickles on a stick. So we went to the fairgrounds for our shoot, and I brought a couple jars of Gedney’s State Fair award-winning pickles upon which to snack.

But our timing was off: the fairgrounds were closed off to let the fair vendors get ready for the throngs. So we had to make do with one of the entrance gates.

Of all the snack subjects, Annie showed the least pain at eating her snack for the duration of the shoot. I told her to pace herself, but still, she took down almost an entire jar of Norwegian Dills. She’s got snack dedication, for sure. And after our time together she was even going to have lunch with her boyfriend’s parents (second meeting), but she showed not restraint.

Annie told me about a couple of her favorite pickle hook ups in New York – storefronts that deal exclusively in pickles. Annie, could you elaborate in the comments if you read this? And how did lunch go??

I’ve got to say that for a couple previous snack shoots I felt a little guilt; continuously pushing fritos or tootsie pops in to your mouth for an hour while some guy takes pictures. . . I suspect that some governments may construe that type of endeavor as a violation of the Geneva Convention. But Stephen. . . I really felt like an enabler. He just had the kind of complete, enrapt enjoyment only felt by the true addict.

There were photos from this shoot that I thought about posting, but just couldn’t: Stephen with 25 vines in his mouth at once, Stephen with a big tooth-reddened smile. I figured I’d have to post some kind of warning with them, though, and this is a PG blog.

Stephen was a photojournalist in North Dakota when his Red Vine addiction started. There was a lot of driving to cover stories out on the plains, and he needed a car snack. Perfect! Except now. . . wow.

Taking pictures of another photographer can be a little nerve wracking, but Stephen has a healthy dose of ham in him, and none of the attitude that most photographers have: that they picked up a camera precisely so that they wouldn’t have to be photographed themselves.

Hungry for more snacks? Serving after serving available here.

Brian, on the other hand, if our photo shoot time is any indication, is a prodigious consumer of tootsie roll pops. Sure, as I got set up he mentioned that it was “a little early” to be hitting the pops (10:30). Then he proceeded to take down four or five in a little over an hour. And unlike earlier snack series participants Alex or Carrie, there didn’t seem to be any ill effects. In fact I’m pretty sure he went straight to #6 as soon as I walked out the door.

But what can you expect? He’s a software engineer; those guys resort to some drastic measures to keep the focus going.

I was a little sad, but not exactly surprised to learn from Brian that you can’t – and never could – collect a certain number of wrappers with the Native American shooting the star and turn them in for free stuff. Apparently that was an urban legend. But Brian does remember bringing one of the special wrappers to the store when he was little and getting a free replacement pop. Man, those were the days.

OK, so it’s not the flashiest, most showy snack, but who can argue with its effectiveness? And Carrie just recently learned that her mom gave her the same snack at bedtime when she was little, so it’s got history.

Interesting conversation during the shoot with Carrie’s brother Brian, in for the weekend from Seattle. Apparently Brian’s favorite snack is apples and peanut butter. He cuts the apple in to eight pieces every time, and he has it down so that he scoops out exactly the right amount of peanut butter every time. I asked him whether he scoops out a little extra on the PB if it’s been a particularly long day and he feels like he deserves a little treat. He said no, more doesn’t make it better – there’s a perfect proportion and he sticks to it. I gotta say that such thinking almost never occurs to me when it comes to food, particularly snacks. Then again, he’s an engineer, I’m a food photographer.

What’s your favorite snack? Can I take your picture eating it? Drop me a line to set something up. chris (at) chrisbohnhoff dot com.

Is she content to eat a fry, then a bite of ice cream? No. It’s got to be the dip.

What I like about these shots is the feeling that when you’re with your snack the world just fades away. In a suburban strip mall parking lot? No you’re not. You’re on a grassy knoll eating delicious fries and ice cream.

My friend Alex is hilarious. She told me before we started, “I’m one of those people who count the number of chips and stop at the serving size. Except for the broken ones; they don’t count.”

Alex recommends participation in the snack series to anyone trying to break a food addiction. 45 minutes of eating your guilty snack and you don’t want to see it again for. . . a while.

When did I make this vinagrette? Why am I talking to a loaf of bread?

Snacks are such a personal thing. They’re horded in desk drawers, tucked on top of refrigerators, carried to work or school in briefcases and backpacks. And snacks can be very specific: if you’re a Cheez Its person (like I am), no other cheese cracker will quite do. And I’d wager that to some of you out there, a peanut butter granola bar is *far* different from an oats ‘n’ honey. Maybe an oats ‘n’ honey person will eat a peanut butter in a pinch, but it’s somehow not quite the same.

What I’m getting at here is that you’ve got some go to snacks. Maybe you make them, maybe you walk down the block to the gas station to get them. Whatever your snack is, it’s a part of a lot of your days, a part that rejuvenates and gets you back in the game. It’s a part of your personal style, even. Only some people have the smoke break; everyone has snack break.

Why the snack post? Because I want to know, my socially networked friends, what your snack is, and then I want to photograph you and your snack. It’s a little personal project I’m starting. I’ll even provide the snack itself, or the ingredients with which the snack is built. I’ll work with your schedule. It’ll be fun, because we’ll have snacks.

Boring snack, crazy unique snack, eaten at work or at home. . . I want ‘em all. Share your snack in the comments, and email me at chris (at) chrisbohnhoff.com, or tweet me @chrisbohnhoff and we can do a little snack shoot.