My Food Photography Journey & A Little More About Me - Your questions answered here :)
- Addicted to dates
- Apr 9, 2018
- 15 min read
A few weeks back I was tagged by some lovely people over on Instagram to share 5 facts about me. So before rattling off some uninteresting facts like what colour socks I wear or my how many times I've been on a plane I thought it may be useful to find out what YOU want to know.
After taking to Instagram and asking you to ask me what you were curious about, I was overwhelmed by how many of you were interested in finding out more about food photography. So here is a post dedicated mostly to food photography, cos like myself you guys seem to enjoy photographing delicious vegan food!
BUT FIRST....
A LITTLE BACKGROUND
What did you study?
(@allabarrio)
I studied a Bachelor Business Degree in Culinary Arts. Throughout the course I did some work placements in professional kitchens, and at the time decided that this was not what I saw myself doing in the future. Even though I work well under pressure, I wasn't happy with the stressful environment and repetitive practices of my work as a chef. After completing my degree I went on to further study an Honours in Hospitality Management.
How did your food journey begin?
(@myberryforest)
I have always enjoyed cooking and creating. Every year at Christmas time, I would be put in charge of making the dessert. I would spend hours trying to find the most exciting recipes and unusual flavour combinations to create.
After leaving college, my passion for cooking went on the back burner. At the time I was working very long hours and had very little time to cook or create. I was eating really unhealthy, pizza's loaded with dairy cheese, milk chocolate etc. I would really only have time to cook at the weekends and even then, when I though I was being 'healthy' I was eating animal products, meat, eggs and so on.
It was only when I became vegan that I became interested in cooking again. When I first went vegan, I think I may have been (or at least it felt like I was) the only vegan in the small village that I lived in! So I had to go back to the drawing board and research what ingredients I could use to make dishes cruelty free.
How long have you been vegan, and why did you go vegan?
(@plantifullybased)
I first went vegan on the 1st of January 2015, I say vegan yet to be honest at that point I think it would be more fair to say that I was just following a plant based diet. I gave up meat 3 years earlier because I no longer wanted to contribute to the killing of animals. Up until the point of going 'plant based' I didn't understand (or look into) the vegan lifestyle. I always thought that becoming vegan was a bit extreme and that other animal products were pretty harmless.
After watching a documentary about the health benefits of a plant based diet I decided to challenge myself to 30 days of trying it out, sort of like a new year's resolution. At this point I wasn't committing myself to seeing the diet through after that, I just wanted to see if it was possible, and whether I found it to be beneficial. Oh boy, was I about to get a wake-up call.
Throughout the 30 days I realised how easy and delicious it was to adapt the change in diet. This was when I decided to watch some more documentaries about the ethical and environmental effects of animal agriculture. Needless to say I was shocked that I hadn't known the truth behind dairy, eggs, honey and other animal derived products. (I will leave some links at the end of this blog post for some documentaries that helped to open my eyes)
So I guess the reason I went vegan to begin with was more for myself, but the reason I will always be vegan now is 100% for the animals. The fact that the lifestyle comes with many health benefits is just a bonus, I now understand that animals are not here us, they are here with us.
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
How did you start food photography?
(@plantastybites @yolcsita_eats @therawberry @veeatcookbake)
I first opened my Instagram account in 2016. At the time, I did not own a good camera or have any experience with food photography (or any photography for that matter). I was a little skeptical about creating an IG account as I didn't really understand what it was about and also didn't want to get caught up in social media!
I initially opened my account to take photos while on a month long trip around Thailand. But when I came back to Ireland, I found myself using the account to post pictures of my breakfast. I found that it was great to connect with other people and also became inspired by accounts such as @talinegabriel and @tropicallylina. I would create smoothie bowls and share pictures on Instagram and over a short period became more passionate about food photography and showing how delicious and easy it was to be vegan.
That October I invested in my first DSLR camera and I've been glued to it ever since. Although I haven't taken any photography courses or had any professional training, I began to learn how to use the camera through YouTube tutorials and a LOT, and I mean LOTTTTTSSSSSS of practice! Each photo shoot could go on for hours and I would try out different backdrops, compositions and props in order to find the style of picture that I was happy with. With more experience, I am able to spend a little less time on the photography side of things, but it's still by no means a short process. Shooting can still take hours, between dish prep, styling, set-up and of course the editing which is another lengthy process. But it's so rewarding and I enjoy doing it.
How did you start your passion for vegan food (art) photography?
(@the.veganvibe)
I've always enjoyed the presentation aspect of the food more than anything. The fact that you can begin with a blank canvas and build something that can look beautiful and delicious. I have also always been interested in art and creating. The idea of being able to combine both of these interests in order to showcase vegan food and living is exciting to me. I guess us humans, we tend to eat with our eyes, and my goal is to show people that there is no compromise on taste when choosing the vegan lifestyle. There is such an abundance of plant foods out there, and the possibilities of what we can make with them are endless. Who knew that delicious brownies could be made by using less than a handful of healthy plant based wholefood ingredients? I definitely did not :). When I discovered that I could be healthy, enjoy all the flavours that I love and not contribute to the suffering of animals, it was a no-brainer to me. My goal is to inspire others so that they can do the same.
How did you learn to take such beautiful pics and amazing creations?
(@samanthahadadi)
We've all heard it before, (and sorry to bore you with this one) practice makes perfect. However, I don't believe there is such a thing as being 'perfect' but I do believe that practices improves everything. The single most important thing that has helped me on my food photography journey so far is, practice. That and a lot of patience I guess. Lets be honest, when I first started sharing my foodie pics on Insta, I didn't have the slightest clue what I was doing. I would look at a picture I had taken and think 'Wow that looks kinda decent', and the next week I would look back at it and think 'gosh that looks kinda sh!t!'. I think that it's important to always strive to do better than your last picture, because that shows that we are growing and shaping our talent.
What I love about Instagram is that it's literally a reel of your progression over time. You can scroll back and see how far you have progressed and that to me is very motivating. As Albert Einstein said "Once you top learning, you start dying".
Besides practice, here are a few of the most important things that I bring with me to a photoshoot;
1. Lighting
I always use natural light when shooting. The one fallback with this is that you need to be very organised and the time of day will pretty much dictate when you shoot. I usually try to shoot quite early in the morning (hence all the breakfast pics hehe). It's important that there isn't any harsh sunlight present as this will cause lots of harsh shadows in your images. Luckily we don't often have that problem here in Ireland as it's cloudy and overcast a lot of the time! This makes for great food photography conditions. :)
It's a good idea to invest in a light diffuser which you can place in front of the window as it will soften the light and help to evenly distribute it on your subject. I'll link the one I use in the Amazon bar below.
At the moment I don't own any artificial lighting and have no plans to invest in it either. Perhaps as time passes that may be an area of photography that I may explore!
2. Composition & Depth of field
Asides from styling, composition is a key factor to consider when making your food look amazing. The human eye is naturally drawn to images which are nicely laid out and which invite them in to grab a spoon!
I love presenting food in odd numbers. Like a bouquet of flowers, I just find it more intriguing to look at. If you've seen my Instagram feed you'll probably already know that I often make 3 jars for breakfast, and since there are only two of us living at home, this usually means good news for my partner who gets his hands on a double breakfast!
In the first image below, there is one jar in the foreground. This jar is in focus and sharper than the jars in the background. This helps to guide the viewers eye to the main subject.
Arranging the jars at different distances from the lens helps to bring the image to live by creating depth of field. The image becomes three dimensional, more realistic and hence more appealing to the eye.
In the second image, the addition of a bunched up tea towel helps to create depth of field in the image. Placing items at different distances from the lens makes an image more interesting and realistic. If we were to take out the tea towel from the image below and leave the background blank, the image would appear to be more two dimensional.
FOOD STYLING | PHOTO EDITING
How do you make food look so amazing?
(@gdarguelles)
When it comes to food styling, there are a few key points that I always try to bear in mind;
1. Set up
This relates deeply back to the lighting and composition elements of food photography. It's important to find a good space for taking your photos. It doesn't need to be a big studio or anything fancy. The most important thing is that the room has a window that you can use as a source of natural lighting. Remember, the frame of the end photo will be relatively small, so you only need to focus on that small area which will be visible to the viewer. So for example, I take most of my photos in the dining room. I set up my backdrops on the table and the natural light comes in from a right angle through the patio door.
As you can see here is my not so glamorous looking set-up. This is what a typical photo shoot will look like for me. I have a lot of windows in the dining room so I can close the curtains to create an ambiance for the picture, using the patio window to the right as the main light source.
To the left side of the set up I have placed some white boards which will help to reflect the light back onto the subject. It looks subtle, but if you look at the second photo you can really see how much it helps to light up the subject.
2. Colour
We've all heard the saying that 'we eat with our eyes' and it couldn't be more true. We are naturally drawn to beautiful colours in fruits, vegetables etc which make them appear ripe and ready to eat.
I love working with strong contrasting coloured foods and then pairing them with a more neutral backdrop for balance. If possible, I try to stick to just a few strong colours as I find this helps to build a theme around the image.
Take the image of the kiwi cake below for example, the green and blue fruits contrast against the neutral grey background. Likewise in the orange cheesecake there is a strong contrast between the bright oranges and the dark slate plate.
3. Texture
Textures should not be underestimated in their power to bring a picture to life. Sometimes I'll look at my set-up and take some pictures that I'm not happy with. "There is something missing", I'll think to myself, and after adding just the simplest touch, like some granola, dried fruit powder, miniature flowers or a drizzle of nut butter, the whole image is transformed into something more interesting!
Texture can even be something as simple as adding some crumpled up baking paper, dried tea leaves or an oozing filling that spills out of a dessert.
In the image with the blueberry cake below, the addition of dried chamomile flowers help to add texture to the image. They also provide a contrast against the blueberries and help to tell a story about the recipe itself, Chamomile Blueberry Cheesecake.
Adding some baking paper to the image with the wagon wheels helped to make the picture more interesting and also framed the subject a little more, providing a contrast against the dark chocolate.
4. Props
Adding props to your photography helps to make the images more interesting and also helps to tell a story to the viewer.
Props can be physical items such as cutlery, jars, plates, bowls, books, chopping boards and plants. You can also add a living element to your pictures by introducing some actions in the background like a hand pouring a glass of milk (plant milk of course :)) or you could have a picture with your lovely self munching on your creations or even your companion animal eyeing up your breakfast!
A great way to incorporate props to your photos is to include some of the ingredients which you used to make the dish. This again will help tell a story to the viewer.
Below are some examples of how adding actions, physical props and ingredients to shots can help the viewer understand more about the recipe.
5. Editing
I always shoot pictures in RAW mode as this creates the best quality images by recording all the data from your camera's sensor. When shooting in jpeg for example, the image is compressed and therefore the quality is compromised.
Lightroom! I love using this program to enhance my images. I feel like I need to take a course to learn how to use all the features! To date, I've been able to get the joist of it through a few quick YouTube tutorials. The thing I really love about Lightroom is that it allows you to enhance and pull out certain tones in the image. Below are some examples before and after they were enhanced. Most of the time, I like to keep editing as natural as possible, adding a little light here and there and bringing out the predominant tones of the image.
PHOTOGRAPHY EQUIPMENT
What equipment do you use?
(@nat98y)
Here's a list of the equipment and editing software which I like to use,
you can find the links to them below in the Amazon bar;
Camera: Canon EOS 700D (Rebel T5)
Lens: Canon EF 50mm Macro 0.45m/1.5ft
Tripod: Vivitar VPT1252 52-Inch Tripod
Editing Software: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom
PHOTOGRAPHY PROPS & BACKDROPS
Where do you purchase your photography backdrops from?
(@nat98y)
This is kinda funny, but my backdrops are so random. I have never dished out a lot of money for them (let's face it, they can be pretty pricey). Although, I would love to be able to get some of those gorgeous professional custom made pieces, my budget doesn't allow for it! Here are some of the things that I like to call my backdrops;
Wallpaper
The very first backdrops I used were brick effect wallpaper. You may have seen these on Instagram (pictured below). My favourite one to use is made from foam sections and you can stick it to a wooden board or piece of cardboard to create a fake wall (link above in the Amazon bar). To make the wall look as realistic as possible. I like to sit the 'wall' quite some distance away from the subject. I feel that this gives it a more realistic look as the more blurred it is, the more realistic it looks!
Wooden boards
Wooden boards provide a lovely rustic texture for backdrops. I usually make these myself to save some cash! I picked up some unfinished sections of wooden boards in a hardware store. I then painted them with a few different shades ranging from light to dark to get the stonewashed effect such as the boards pictured below. Another great way to save money when making your own boards to buy the sample pots of paint. This was you won't have to fork out for the bug tubs!
Tiles
This is probably my favourite way to get the effect of an expensive backdrop at a very low price! I always keep an eye out for special deals on floor tiles when in hardware stores. Tiles are usually sold in small packs of 4 or 5 pieces, sometimes they sell for very cheap if they are coming close to the end of their stock. You may recognise the below backdrop from some of my pictures on Instagram, it's my absolute favourite to use at the moment as I feel that it looks nice and realistic, almost like a concrete effect. I was able to pick up five of these tiles for less than €10 on sale!
MAKING A LIVING
Do you work as a food photographer now?
(@dreamfruittale)
The shot answer to this is no. My goal is to work on my passion full time in the future, however this is something that I don't want to rush or focus on too much. To me right now, the most important thing is to create quality content to help encourage people to choose a vegan lifestyle. I also want to keep learning and refining my craft and I know that if I focus on mini projects and actions now that my long term goals will manifest as a result.
What do you do outside of Instagram?
(@polishvegangirl)
To support myself I work part time in an accounts office. Instagram is not something I make a living from. I am extremely careful and particular about the brands and products that I choose to promote. The most important thing to me is a clear vegan message, and if a product or brand conflicts that message then I am not able to work with them. On top of that, the product or service has to be something that I love and believe in. The great thing is that there are more and more vegan brands popping up and more existing companies are introducing more ethical products and ranges to their brand.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR ADDICTEDTODATES
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
(@nathaliesadar)
In 5 years time, I see myself in a much more vegan world. Over the past couple of years I have learned a lot and my priorities have changed accordingly. I was always concerned about my future and having a college degree and a steady job. Having spent a lot of time learning about what goes on in animal agriculture, the cruelty and use of animals and on top of that the negative impacts it has on the environment and our health, I have come to an understanding that in the grand scheme of things, worrying too much about the little things is not productive.
Life is too short, we have a very short time on this earth and lately I have been trying to live in the moment more than in the future or past. As long as I am happy and able to support myself, for me personally, I feel that my focus should be more on what can I do today to help grow, instead of where do I see myself in the future. Of course I still have goals and an idea of what direction I want to go in (see next question), but in general, I like to focus on mini projects instead of planning too far into the future.
What are your future plans?
(@nalierinha)
In the next couple of years I definitely want to focus on writing a hard copy book. It's something that I have been considering since releasing my first E-Book. I just need to set aside the time to go about it!
Other than that, I really want to be able to dedicate 100% of my time to the vegan movement. So there's more recipe development, photography and cooking demos on the cards amongst other things :)>
I also want to travel a bit more and meet more like minded people.. This year so far I have plans to travel to Berlin and London (Hit me up if you want to catch up!).
SOME RANDOM FACTS
What was the last book you read?
(@crystalhughes)
I'm in the middle of reading Revolution by Russell Brand at the moment. So hilarious and he talks a lot of sense!
Do you share your breakfast or is it always for you?
(@gaspic_healthyberry)
I ALWAYS share :). I couldn't possibly eat all that to myself haha.
Live the rest of your life solely on savoury or sweet food?
(@celinaliya)
I would have to pick sweet. Because I usually crave breakfast more than any other meal of the day, and that is almost always sweet. I'm not sure how I could live without fruit and of course the odd bit of vegan chocolate :)
Thank you so much for reading! I really hope that this post can be of value to you and help you on your food photography journey. I must reiterate, when it comes to photography I am not professionally trained, so all views and techniques in the post are based on my own experience to date.
If you have any more questions about photography, food styling, veganism or even me, please don't hesitate to get in touch!
With love,
Christina x
Comments