Each month we profile a different Canadian Food Blogger who is part of the FBC community. This month we meet Diana, a professional food photographer and stylist, living and working in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.
Name: Diana Muresan
Blog name: Diana Muresan and Craft and Muse
Where were you born? Romania
Where are you living now? Milton, Canada
Why did you start your blog?
To help people by sharing what I know, both in terms of food, and regarding food photography. I see my blog also as a way to practice my writing and photography skills.
How did you decide on your blog name?
As creators, we mix skill (“craft”) and inspiration (“muse”) to bring into the world the food, recipes, images we feel called to create. When these two elements line up, I feel I’m creating my best work. Craft without inspiration is just practice, and inspiration without action is just ideas.
What do you blog about?
I share plant-forward vegetarian recipes, as well as food photography tips and tricks.
Is your blog your business, your hobby or something in between?
It is part of my business, in the sense that it’s a kind of portfolio that showcases both my writing and photography. I have my professional portfolio website, which is only images, but here I get to tell the story of a dish, and use my writing and not just my visual voice.
What post on your blog most encapsulates you and why?
In terms of recipes, the Roasted cherry tomatoes with white beans is a quintessentially “me” dish. I love food that is plant-based, comforting, and has big flavour but is easeful to make. And of course, being a photographer first, it has to be beautiful to look at.
Which post do you wish received more love and why?
I’m always most excited about the latest recipe I post, so the green beans with whipped feta are my current favourite. In winter, seeing something so vibrantly green as haricots verts always cheers me up.
Which post’s success surprised you and why?
I don’t really track which posts do best. I definitely understand the value of that from a business standpoint, and would not discourage anyone from keeping an eye on the numbers. On the one hand, I don’t want to let that influence what I post next. I feel the lesson from being on instagram, for me personally, is that if you post only what your audience or the algorithm wants, you can narrow your focus so much, you become bored and unmotivated. Also, highest traffic isn’t necessarily an indication of the intrinsic value of a post, but more of its popularity, which aren’t the same thing.
What’s your biggest challenge as a blogger?
Consistency, always. I am a photographer first, blogger second, so showing up to blog, in addition to shooting for clients is tough right now. I really love the creative aspects of blogging (recipe development, writing and photography) and always wish I had the time to do more of it.
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned as a blogger?
How important it is to be comfortable with the back end of a blog, the technical side of it, if you want to grow your blog. I’m very technical as a photographer but when it comes to WordPress, I feel anything but.
What has been your biggest success as a blogger so far?
My blog is very, very small so what success I’ve had has come for my photography work, not really as a blogger.
Share a couple of your favourite food blogs to read. Why do you like them?
This will be an unpopular opinion, but I love food blogs from the time when blogging was about more than listing ingredients and describing the recipes. I read religiously Aran Goyoaga’s blog, Cannelle et Vanille and La Tartine Gourmande. We are talking 2011, 2013ish. They are a perfect combination of gorgeous visuals, with lifestyle images peppered in among the food photos, and writing that felt heartfelt and personal. Reading them was like sitting in your friend’s kitchen and exchanging a story and a recipe.
What are you working on next for your blog?
You couldn’t tell by looking at my blog, but I really love baking. So I’ll be working on adding some sweet recipes in there too.
What else should we know about you that may or may not be in your “About Me” page?
I love travelling and I’m happiest when wandering in a city I haven’t been to, camera in hand, and searching for good places to eat.
What makes your blog unique?
That it is an expression of my own creative voice, both in writing and in photography.
How do you cultivate a sense of community around your blog?
By showing up on instagram, authentically. People connect to people always, so showing up as a real person, a real human, will help with that.
What part of the FBC site do you find most useful?
Hands down, the Blogger Resources section. So much to learn there!
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