Food and Light started promptly at 8:00am. I was up at 5:50am and went for that run which actually energized me for the morning session and the rest of today.
Our teachers: Jen, Todd & Diane
I was sitting in the back row next to Elana of Elana’s Pantry. She is the sweetest, kindest, and most friendly person. Truly just a sweetheart!
Loved her!
Everyone was excited to learn.
But we all had to really put our thinking caps on because our first morning session and lecture was from Jen on camera settings.
Aperture, shutter speed, ISO, controlling depth of field. Pretty much it made my head spin.
I am not a numbers girl. And camera numbers and settings make me especially cross-eyed and really tax my brain and take me back to 9th grade algebra class wondering if these concepts will ever click for me.
Algebra finally clicked by the end of 9th grade and camera settings and numbers are beginning to click after reading about them over and over, for months and months.
Like most people, I shoot based on trial and error rather than on studying the numbers and knowing how shutter speed and depth of field and ISO settings all integrate.
However, knowing and understanding the fundamentals and knowing what the numbers do and how they effect your photos is really powerful.
I suggest reading anything you can online about these concepts. And read from many different sources. Google it. Someone will explain it in a way that will click for you. Also in Helene’s book that I reviewed here, she does an excellent job of going over these concepts.
After Jen’s presentation, Matt gave a lecture and here are a few of my lecture notes from his presentation:
Camera Angles
Vary your camera angles in a series of shots
Shoot top down, 3/4 and straight on
Flat food shoots well from top down
Top down shots often give a very graphic composition
Food with height shoots well from straight on
Straight on gives height and drama
Composition
The best photographers tell a story with their shots
A visual story keeps photographs interesting
Fake it if you have to!
After Matt’s lecture it was time to start shooting.
I was ready to get up and just dive in.
The food table with everything from radishes to fresh flowers to peppercorns to desserts.
Guess what I chose to shoot?
You guessed it: cupcakes!
I chose, plated, and styled, and accessorized the cupcake
And then shot it.
The pink sugar sprinkles were the icing on the (cup)cake for me <— pun intended
And after that, we broke for lunch.
It was an intense morning. I learned tons.
It will all continue to sink in as the days (and weeks and months) pass.
But for now, my internet connection is painfully slow and so I am going to sign off and explore a bit of Boulder in the evening before it gets too late. We start again bright and early tomorrow!
I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures of the early morning Boulder run I did. Yes, it’s super pretty here! I won’t lie, I love San Diego and the beach and ocean will always be my true love, but it is so pretty here!
Questions:
1. What are your photography challenges?
I have these photography tips posts, too:
Food Styling: Books, Props, & Photo Quality: It’s not just your equipment that matters
Food Styling: Pretty & Not So Pretty Pictures
Plate to Pixel: Book Review & Photography Tips
2. When you’re in lectures, do you take a lot of notes or do you just try to absorb what you can and not stress out about writing it all down?
When I was in school, yes, I stressed out about writing every single word down that I possibly could.
But for lectures like this, there is so much information, and there are no “tests” and I didn’t try to write it all down. I remained mindfully present, wrote down some key pointers, and worried less about writing it all down and more on just listening and absorbing. In a few weeks I may wish I had written more down! But they are sending us the Powerpoint slides so I’m not too worried.
Reminder to enter the Giveaway for the Healthy Cookies & Brownies
Oh my gosh, I need to attend something like this. We have classes in the city here, but they aren’t very good… and definitely not focused on food photography by any means. I’m so happy you’re sharing these tips with us. So awesome!
Thank you for these awesome tips Averie! Your food photography is fantastic and inspiring. It’s an entirely different genre than I am accustomed to. I shoot underwater photos, and this has its own set of challenges.
-Shutter delay/speed – Fish move fast! My current camera is not up to par in this department.
-Exposure – different water depths and times of day produce rapidly changing lighting and color
-Image Cataloging – I’m woefully behind.
My photography challenges are 1.) not having a decent camera 2.) trying to figure out how to take pictures at night and 3.) basically not knowing what the heck i’m doing ;)
Oh, gorgeous pictures! What a fun workshop. :D
I’m definitely a note taker! I write down everything, as it helps me stay focused. Otherwise, I tend to drift off and lose attention. ;)
Totally impressed by your dedication to this! Think you will go far with the food photography.
Ahhhh, I’m SO jealous of the awesome photography workshops you’ve been attending!!! Your photos are phenomenal!
Glad you’re having fun! I would love to learn everything you’re learning there…and I hope to make more time for photography learning this year.
The last few conferences I’ve attended have offered audio recordings (and sometimes video) of the sessions, so I’ve just purchased those and only taken notes when something really jumps out at me. Otherwise, I just listen and absorb. It’s more enjoyable that way!
Ugh photography makes my head spin. I just sort of get lost. I love it, but can’t seem to figure out how to make myself focus to learn all the “stuff” I really should be learning.
What gorgeous photos!! Thanks so much for sharing your notes from the lecture. Right now my biggest struggle is lighting. I’m having trouble finding good lighting in my house! I’m surrounded by other houses. I’m also concerned about the winter when it gets dark super early. Not sure what I’ll do then! But my biggest personal struggle is telling a story with my photos. That’s not something you can learn out of a book! I think once I jump that hurdle my photos will start improving.
I definitely used to be a “take notes on everything” girl! It paid off, I did really well in school. But now I’ve been through so much class I just don’t want to think about it anymore, so I take wayyyy fewer notes.
I’ve always loved your photos and cant imagine them being any better than they are!
Enjoy the workshop :) And bring me back that cupcake!
No wonder your pictures are always so amazing! Did you get to eat that cupcake!!!
I wish but no we had to put everything back! Plus food that’s been on set really isn’t good for eating b/c it’s been handled sooooo much!
Beautiful shots Averie! From your last posts too! I am for sure a note taker. I love love love taking notes! I wish you well with your classes tomorrow girl!
Wow, great post with tons of tips and information – thanks! What a fun day, love the food table.
1. Probably angle and lighting. And sometimes patience. :-)
2. Both, depends on the lecture. I take notes, but not loads of them. At the raw expo I just scratched down words of wisdom, helpful tips, and things I’d like to further research.
Those cupcakes look perfect! Great photos.
Those are great tips. I hear ya on that math thing. Yikes!
Cool that you met Elana! I totally bop by her blog sometime. It’s good stuff!
Your cupcake pics are lovely, and yes, that part of the country is absolutely gorgeous. Hey, just realized that Prana might being doing their annual 40% off everything clearance while you’re there. It’s usually in early August. Keep your eyes peeled just in case, doll! ;-)
I always love to take notes for future references :) I find it really helpful and makes me let the speaker know I’m actually really listening to what they have to say.