Everyday we see food photos on Instagram or Facebook which make us feel hungry immediately. Behind all these pictures there is a careful work. Most of us are food photographers and stylists at the same time. And this means lots of planning before that “click”.
We not only go to the market and cook the food but also platter our recipe, choose between the props and the backdrops we have. Then we compose the scene with the best possible light (always natural in my photos) to finally take a shoot. It is not an easy task and the stylism has a really important role in all of this. So any continuous learning is important and this is why I traveled to Portugal at the beginning of this month.
I decided to participate in a food styling photography workshop organised by the blogger Raquel Fortes, from the blog It’s Up to You, and developed by the food photographer Samanta McMurray, from the blog Eat Love With Love. Both of them decided to start the workshop “Style Up your Food” a few years ago. It was so successful than since then, and every six months, they plan a new edition.
Another reason why I decided to participate was that Porto is quite close to La Coruña (just 3 hours driving) and I love the town. Also, I have been following Raquel and Samanta’s Instagram for quite a while now and I love their accounts. I also attended the workshop because, as previously mentioned, I am always open to learn new techniques about food photography. Besides, I started this blog just two months ago and this workshop seemed to me a great opportunity to meet other bloggers and share good moments around food.
During the workshop Samanta gave us ideas and tips to understand better how to style the food for a photography. It was of great help too to see other examples of shots, to have suggestions on how to use the light in our photos and to work with the colours. We could also understand how to use backdrops and props to compose our scene and give different touches to our photographies.
Then, the funny part started! We worked with all the food, props and fabrics at our disposal. I loved all the options we had as well as the opportunity to make the styling both indoors and in the lovely garden. Samanta also made a few styling compositions which we could photograph. At the end of the workshop we visualised the photos and one by one we received Samanta´s comments about each styling while we ate the dishes created!
Definitely it was a great and funny morning to learn lots! You can find more info about next editions on their blog but you must consider this workshop is developed in Portuguese.
Photography: Carlota Fariña
Instagram: @carlotafarina
