My First Food Photography/Styling Workshop

My first assignment of the day

Recently I had the pure pleasure of attending my first ever food photography & styling workshop. G researched finding a local food photographer, Clare Barboza, who puts on food photography and food styling, done by Becky Selengut, workshops out of her studio in Seattle which he gave me as a gift for Christmas. 

I was so excited for this opportunity. I started this crazy addiction 2 years ago now with a little point & shoot camera and no idea what I was doing. I have upgraded to a DSLR and have read a few books and blogs on food photography but beyond that I still have no idea what I'm doing. 

I arrived to Clare's studio down in the SODO area and immediately thought, "this is going to be so cool." The amount of props and accessories she had was pretty amazing.

And Becky was already working on creating some beautiful food for us to photograph in the studio's kitchen.

Clare first gave us a nice tutorial first while reviewing some of her beautiful photos. She asked us to first consider what kind of feel of mood we wanted to set in our photo: "Rustic, Modern, Elegant or Sweet?"

Assignment #2 of the day, staging shot #1. 

She encouraged us  to consider the textures, background and surfaces. 

Assignment #2 staging/style #2.

She reminded us to think of colors, complementary recommended and the clutteredness of the photo.

Assignment #2, styling/staging #3

She us asked to consider the size or our props and making sure the props make sense.
She then turned us loose in her studio to photograph Becky's beautiful food.
I was definitely a bit intimidated , feeling like I really had far less expertise than the other gals in the workshop.

The first dish with the trumpet mushrooms and pesto Becky styled for us on the plate.
The dahl dish we plated ourselves.

We all took our styling and staging very seriously. It was a fairly quiet place when we were taking our photos.

And then the tasty part of the class after we were done shooting our photos then we got to eat our beautiful delicious dishes.

Assignment #3, Style/Staging #1

Our final dish of this beautiful mango salad we plated and styled ourselves. I was trying so hard to get the aperture right on this first shot. I have such a hard time with this technique.

Assignment #3, style/staging #2

I finally gave up and changed out lenses and tried to get a darker, moodier look on my last shot.

It was an inspiring day. Of course I walked away thinking I needed a new camera but upon reflection what I really need is just a class about how to really use my camera. I'm not patient enough to read the manual and really do want to know how to use it all my lenses properly.

But G gets a huge gold star for this gift. It was the perfect day and the perfect gift for me. If you are in the Seattle area I highly recommend checking this workshop out.