I’ve done some food photography (see here and here - and read some tips here) myself, but in contrast to the Sunday Times shoot, I did everything on my own - from planning and preparing to cooking/baking, to styling, to photographing, to editing, and finally eating.
I can tell you, doing all that yourself can be very stressful, especially when you’re making something delicious that you just want to get your teeth into. Being patient and taking the time to photograph your food can be hard. And you don’t want to rush the process either, as you want to ensure you’ve got some good shots.
I’ve learnt a few new things on set the other day, e.g. that being picky is a good thing when it comes to photographing food. Don’t just settle for a shot that looks great at first sight, but take a closer look, especially if there’s a ‘repeating element’ in the photo (such as rice, chips, lettuce, …). Those things can easily create ‘gaps’ in between each other, leaving black holes. Go back and rearrange single parts, e.g. move a piece of lettuce slightly to create a homogenous image.
Relating to what I said before, it can really help to have a team of people working with you. Don’t feel like you have to do it all yourself. Of course you can, and it can be tempting to feel in control of everything, but it is so much easier to share tasks. If you want to focus on photography, work with someone who does a good job in the kitchen, and consider another person to help you out with props and styling.
Having a team of people on set also helps to judge the photographs and to get helpful feedback.
I’ve worked with my mum a few times before, she made most of the food, which let me focus my energy on styling and photographing. Just find people who are just as passionate about food as you are, and that you work well with.
That’s another thing - you have to really love food to work in food photography. Otherwise it can get really boring very soon. It’s still life after all, and in a way it’s all very similar.
I do love food a lot, so I really enjoyed being on set of a professional food shoot for a whole day. But even though I love food, I felt tired at the end of the day, and had definitely had enough of food for the day. I might not have actually eaten that much throughout the day, but being able to snack on so many different things all the time over the day really makes you feel like you’ve stuffed yourself.
But if you do love food enough, you’ll find that the next day you’re up for more food all over again ;)
This is a rather general post on food photography, and I’d love to share more specific advice with you. Is there anything that interests you in particular regarding food photography?
Lovely pictures! I usually take pictures of food when I go eat out with friends do you have any tips for taking photos in dimly lit places like pubs or restaurants?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Elle. A few tips I can give you now - definitely increase your ISO (as long as it doesn't get too grainy), try to get as much available light as possible, and then later edit the white balance (e.g. to turn the fluorescent light colour into something a bit nicer), and if you're really into it, you can take a tripod (or find some stable base), so you can expose the photo for a long time without it getting blurry. Hope this helps a bit :)
DeleteThis looks so yummy (is there a recipe as well?;) - and I like what you say, although I sadly don't have a 'team' on hand at home (especially since I'm more the cook and eater than the photographer...
ReplyDeleteI do have a question as well though: How can you shoot great food pictures without having a studio and tons of pretty props?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Hanna! There is a 'recipe' ;) It's very simple - just spaghetti, mix in some butter while they're still hot so the butter can melt, and add some walnuts, herbs, and parmesan cheese on top. :) Super simple, but it really tastes great!
DeleteYour questions is great! I think it will make a really interesting blog post, so I'll do that, and will let you know when the post is up :) Thanks for asking!
What an incredible opportunity to observe the Sunday Times Magazine shoot. I'd love to hear more about that experience. Enjoyed your lovely photographs.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kari! Will see if I can share more from the shoot, maybe in relation to another 'food photography tips' post :)
DeleteThis looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteLucky you going on that shoot, I bet it was amazing to go to and watch people at work. The magazine is one of my favourites for good food photography.
A food photography tips post like you mentioned in the above comment would be amazing!
Thanks, Emma! That's cool to hear that the magazine is one of your favourites for food photography. It's really been an interesting experience, especially after working on their picture desk for a couple of weeks and seeing what actually ends up in the magazine.
DeleteI'll definitely write that post Hanna mentioned above. Thanks for letting me know that you'd be interested in that as well. :)
Lovely post, its so nice to hear your thoughts on the day you had and trying something new. It's good to keep these thoughts on our blog - you will look back in a few years when you have regular jobs and remember all this learning you are doing now and how you felt about everything, lovely stuff x
ReplyDeleteThank you for your nice words, Jo! I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts as well - I'm sure it will be so interesting to look back. (Sounds like you're speaking from experience) :) x
DeleteI was on a professional cook book shoot too and it's as you describe it. There are tons of people working on one single shoot. But it was amazing to see all the professionals working their magic. I have also learned a lot, especially that I would need somebody to help out, but at the moment is one woman show. ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear someone else's view who has experienced the same. It's definitely a great way to learn, and very interesting. I hope you can achieve some great shots on your own, too. I think it just takes a bit more time and effort ;)
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