Food Photography is not my Forte – (doesn’t mean I can’t learn though)

You may have guessed that I am now determined to improve my food photography. Winter is coming (don’t tell anyone I said that though) and there will be more time to make new feeds from all the food I am storing in the cellar, and share the results with you. And doing something well is so much more fun. So I have collected a few blogs from the Fellowship whose photography I would like to emulate.   Emulate is a much politer word than ‘copy’.  Be afraid ( insert witchy laughter!).

Roger has to top our list. Roger  teaches food photography from his home in France so he really does have an unfair advantage that I would like to take advantage of. His work has passion but a pared down to earth handsome passion that encourages the essentials of the dish to shine.  

Barbara  at Just a Smidgen produces work that is unapologetic in its  feminine and romantic tones. Her work is very personal and perfect in its attention to detail.

Bread can be romantic right? If you want to see some really good bread shots pop over to Kristy’s family food blog.  Wonderful.

Rachel at Rachel Eats is not yet part of The Fellowship because she does not know about us! But  I have just discovered her and I cannot resist including her work. She shoots in her tiny kitchen in Rome, with very low light and can make an empty plastic box look tasty. I have been staring at her work trying to see out how she gets that lovely soft grainy look. Hmm. Is it the European light?

Taste Food  chooses only one superb shot to showcase her superb food. This is a lesson in ‘less is best’. Plus Linda uses texture to pop up her images. Sometimes fabric or fiber mats and ethnic plates or stressed surfaces.

Cooking in Sens – Rosemary pushes her exposures right to the edge to create  crisp light images that shine brightly from the screen. She also has the most beautiful plates. Her food is always local and delicious. Rosemary is a great food shopper.  Often she cooks what is in the markets that day so it is very fresh.

Frugal Feeding creates warm tasty images getting close to his food with minimal dressing up.

The list is long and I hope to extend my search further but you get the general idea.  Most of  you ‘The Fellowship’, are like me – not food bloggers but we all eat food, often we grow food too and we ALL love to see good pictures of food.   Not posh over styled pictures but real images of real food well presented. Sharp, clean, honest and enticing. So  I am hoping to get some more tips to improve my own pictures and I shall share these with you all too.

I made tomato chutney yesterday. No picture of that though. I ran out of energy and light. It is all about the light. You will remember that Dad said  – where there is light there is a picture.

So this is what I have learnt so far.

• Natural light is the best.  I have set up a space by a window  just for the food shots. (I remember reading once that Roger had a tea trolley that he wold set then he moved it about the house in the winter  – seeking light!) Cover a lit window with baking paper or a thin white cloth so the light is indirect.
• Back light or side light the dish.  Use a mirror or a white wall to bounce the light back into your subject. NEVER use a flash.
• Use your tripod -clarity is a MUST.   (I hate my tripod it has a wobbly head, what use is a tripod with a wobbly head.)
• Styling: Less is Best. (Which is just as well as I am not the type to have a cupboard full of beautiful dishes and cutlery to dress the pictures with.)
• Use textures and shine. Textures in your plates and table tops. Layers of white or stone. Shiny food. Floating baking paper to add life. Imagination.

Mad said” Natural Light and Focus.”  So I will make sure my shots are Sharp.  Makes sense to me.

Well, I did my study,  I did my homework, took photos of tomatoes before I chopped them all up and threw them unceremoniously into a pot.  Then I unshackled my poor Camera House from the bonds of the mean wobbly old tripod and back outside we went.

Good morning. Poor Queenie. See how that eye has a milky blue film over it, it is meant to be a bright brown eye. This is why I have gone straight to the strong medication. She is deeply unimpressed but is eating and drinking well in this dark stall with no competition.  Animals can lose weight when they are sick, and we don’t want out Queenie Wineti to lose condition during her pregnancy.

You all have a lovely day.

It is chilly again this morning. But I am promised warmer temperatures later in the week.  I do hope so. I am not ready to be cold yet.

your friend on the farm, celi