Day 28

Day 28.  I have a lot of catching up to do.  I’ll start with the Natural Food Styling & Photography Workshop by Lara Ferroni.  I spent day 28 driving three hours to Seattle, and spent half the day attending this class.  In less than five hours Lara packs in a lot of information on the basics of food styling.  We charged through many topics; lighting techniques using natural light, setting up the shot, camera angles, tips and tricks of bouncing and absorbing light.  Then onto props and simple plating of food for the most attractive shots.  She shot first, then let us pull props of our own, plate our own food, and have fun with our cameras.

It was fantastic!  I loved every minute of it, and now I am hooked.

These photos are a few of my best shots of the day.  Unedited – straight out of the camera.

So many tips.  So many lessons.  One big lesson – over ripened fruit should not be cut in half and photographed because it appears mushy and unappetizing.  I loved that she let me figure this out on my own.

Now it’s time to keep practicing and build my prop collection.  I’m on the hunt for a couple of plates like the one used in the fruit shot.  I bought this little gem the day after the workshop while on a mad search for vintage housewares on etsy.

Now I just need to figure out my shooting area where I can get loads of natural light.  If you’ve been to our house, you’ll know that I’m challenged by our galley kitchen with only a little space next to a south facing window.  During the summer our huge east facing, single pane window is covered in space age reflectors to keep our house cooler.  I’ll be happy when I can take those down and use our dining table as my shooting area.  For now I’ll have to get creative.

Lara’s Seattle loft studio has two grand, north facing windows.  I’m not sure how tall the ceilings are, but I’m guessing close to 15′, maybe more.  The walls and ceiling are painted white which just floods the space with amazing light.

I definitely need a new tripod.  My cheap little piece of crap can’t even hold the weight of my camera anymore, especially at a portrait 45 degree angle.  That will most likely be my next investment.

Of course I’m dreaming of a Canon EOS 5D Mark II which will soon go on my vision board.  In addition of dreaming of a new camera, I’m dreaming of my perfect kitchen.  Like this north-facing gem in Chris and Lisa Goode’s NYC rooftop home featured in NY Magazine.

Kitchen image courtesy of NY Magazine.

I’m off to dream a little dream, and will continue catching you up with more posts later.