Stoney Morris, Senior food stylist

Job: Senior food stylist, Quadras, Atlanta

What I do: Stoney Morris' work looks good enough to eat. Her cooking appears in advertisements and catalogs designed to entice buyers across the country.

Morris, 52, is a senior food stylist with Quadras, an Atlanta creative services company that prepares the materials. She is the cook and — in conjunction with the art director, photographer and other professionals — sets the table, arranges the centerpiece and even heats up the main course with a butane torch.

It's all for show, of course. The end product isn't dinner but a photograph that shows off the client's food in the best possible light.

Sometimes, what looks tempting on the plate would be terrible on the palate. Morris has more than a few tricks up her sleeve to keep the food looking good for the hours that a photo shoot can take. For example, she stuffs a turkey with aluminum foil and bastes it with soap to keep the skin taut. When a slab of barbecue ribs is starting to cool down, she'll fire up her torch to get the sauce — which is more like shellac — bubbling again.

In her kitchen, Morris creates far more food than is needed in a single shot, so there's always something fresh to put on the plate.

She also helps create the scenario with the art director by acquiring props to go along with the food. She buys or rents everything from fine china and silver to butcher paper to give just the right ambiance.

"I'll use stuff from my own home," she said, as she searches for "odd, perfect props."

She researches the products and even scouts antiques shops for items that could be useful someday. She even has a hand in selecting human models.

For one shoot for barbeque, she said, she needed a model with hands that showed a lifetime of hard work. She found the man she needed in a workshop nearby.

"You have to be an investigator," she said.

Part of the model's payment was that all the leftover barbecue — without the not-so-tasty additions — went to him and his co-workers.

What got me interested in this: "I was drawn to the visual impact of food as art," Morris said. "I went into culinary arts as a creative field."

In culinary school, she "gravitated toward garde-manger" — the art and presentation of cold foods, such as buffets. "I just so dug the colors, shapes, textures — the forms of seafood and vegetables," she said. "I'm definitely living my dream."

Best part of my job: "The crazy, creative chaos" of her workplace, Morris said, as well as "working and collaborating with a talented team of artists. We all share a common desire to do the best work on each shot."

Most challenging part: "Deadlines," she said. "It's the stylist's job to interpret the art director's vision, based on a client's needs. I have to make sure everything is ready."

That means that "many days are a multitasking juggling act."

What people don't know about my job: Morris described her work as fun and unique, but "it's not all glamour. Hard work and trickery go into making a good shot."

After the food spends hours on the set or gets the foil-and-soap treatment, it's inedible.

What keeps me going: "Being creatively challenged, being able to do something unique every day." The process "stretches my creative wings," she said.

Preparation needed for this job: You need a love of creative design, Morris said, and the creative confidence to interpret another person's vision.

A stylist also needs experience with food preparation. Morris has a certificate in chef's training from Northeastern University in Boston, ran her own catering company and worked in many restaurants.

She started freelancing as a stylist and built up a reputation over 20 years. Her work has appeared in Southern Living and other publications. She has been working with Quadras since 1998.

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.