Grace of Grace(full) Plate has a nice post up today about food photography which dovetails nicely with what I’m thinking about.
Because I’m thinking about my own food photography, food styling, etc.
As you may or may not know, many moons ago, I was a film major in college. (I actually have a BA in the poetic-sounding field of Moving Image Arts.) And as such, I wanted to take cinematography, which was a very competitive course to get into. The instructor only taught it once a year, and he only accepted 14 students per class. He required that you write an essay on why you wanted to take the class, get a recommendation from another professor, and have photography 101 as a pre-requisite. Moving or still, capturing images on film through a lens requires many of the same skills.
So I dutifully took photography 101, which required the use of real, black and white film, which we processed ourselves in the dark room—my college was very big on understanding the original medium, even if we were eventually going to shoot digitally. I will never forget ruining a roll of film that was to be part of my final project, and desperately having to re-shoot.
Having gotten deeper and deeper into this foodie blogging world, I have realized that I’m going to need to up my game when it comes to food photography, though. I’ve got Plate to Pixel on my Christmas wish list. And one of the only places I went on Black Friday was to Anthropologie to take advantage of their sales to pick up some props.
But I know I’m still learning! So if you have any wonderful food styling or photography resources or tips to share, please let me know!
Above: Some of my favorites from the last year or so. In order: blueberries for cake, Il Mondo Vecchio salumi, peas from Isabelle Farm, and a squash blossom tart from Terroir.
November 28, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Great point. I wish I had more props and I need better lighting. But it’s all part of my 2012 for more focus on food photography. It’s really fun and in 2011, I was surprised with a nice camera for my birthday so that was the first step.
So much of what I learned in high school and college has inspired me, but I definitely need a refresher. Mike’s Camera actually has some really cool classes too if you want to check them out
November 29, 2011 at 4:05 pm
I think you got a great start. I’ve got Plate to Pixel and have taken a few classes and I’ve come to the conclusion that besides having a natural talent, it takes lots and lots of practice. I’ll have to hop on over to Grace’s site.