Note: Hooray, we’ve reached the final post of the series! As much as I enjoyed writing and sharing my views on food photography with you, I was starting to run out of good new ideas/info to talk about so I’m sort of glad that we’ve come to the concluding post. smile As a photographer, I still consider myself a beginner, no doubt about it, but I do enjoy learning and sharing things that I’m interested in. This is the reason why I wrote these food photography posts – and also in the hope that you might find some of it useful. Learning is a great thing and the world is full of stuff to discover/learn – never lose the passion/hunger to learn. And that brings us to the third point/tip. It’s another obvious advice, but it’s the last one so please bear with it.
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3. Learn/study food photography and always be inspired/observant!
In order for us to be good at something, we need to practice and learn/study it. Simple, right?! Some people learn better from doing, and some from reading, or a combination of both. Which ever method you apply, the advice is the same – try and invest some of your precious time to learn and improve on your skills and knowledge on food photography, if you’re serious about it.
Read more:
Start by reading and understanding your camera’s handbook. This way, not only will you know more about all of your camera’s capabilities and features, you’ll also enjoy using it more too. Time is precious to everyone, and usually it’s just easier to put difficult things aside (such as reading/learning) and instead, spend time online or doing whatever, but learning about your camera/lens/gear is a great investment for your hobby/budding passion/profession. In fact, I should practice what I preach more, because more often than not, I’m quite happy with just knowing about the basic operations of my camera, etc.
Besides learning about how your camera/gear works (through reading and doing), it’s also smart to read and study about photo theory and food photography too. The web is a great place to start with many free resources. The library and second hand book stores are also good sources for books on the topics too. Reading up on these topics is not only a great way to expand your knowledge and have an understanding of the bigger picture of your field, it can also help inspire you with new ideas too.
After reading, it’s as simple as applying what you’ve read/learnt and practising it on a regular basis until you’re competent and confident.
This advice applies to photo editing, and other aspects of food photography too, eg: the business side, etc. Like everything, you get out what you put in, and while it takes time and effort to learn something properly and in detail, you’ll be glad that you found the time to do so.
Be inspired:
Sometimes, it can be a real effort and challenge to take photos, especially if we’re not in the mood or there’s obstacles that hinder us, for example, bad weather, bad lighting, etc. Sometimes, we just lack ideas or inspiration/motivation. One way to solve this problem is to always be observant and take note of the creative inspiration that exist around us. This includes mother nature, the TV, the web and the work of other food photographers (professionals and our fellow food bloggers/peers).
The web is an incredible source for inspiration. I am constantly inspired (and made humble) as I read/view other food blogs/food photos online – admiring other people’s work. Hardcopy magazines, newspapers, etc. are also a great source for inspiration.
My point is be observant and always open to inspiration from the things and people around you. Being inspired by other people’s work and learning from them is a natural thing. I’m not suggesting that you copy other people’s work because that won’t make you happy and your style/way is always much better. What I’m suggesting is that you take note of the work that you like/admire and ask why, and find out how you can apply the method/style that are shared to you, to improve your own work!
It’s a wrap!
That’s it folks – the wrap up on the series of food photo posts. I hope you found it a little bit interesting and helpful. A lot of the things that I talked about are obvious, and possibly what you already know and do. If so, I hope that it serves as a gentle reminder for you to continue doing what you love doing and work hard to reap the rewards. This series of posts started as a normal single post, but it soon got too long, so I divided it into three separate posts – which ended up being a job bigger than I had expected, and explains why some of the content got repeated/overlapped.
Anyhow, I had fun writing the posts and I’m glad that I did it and could share my ramble with you. It was a humbling experience, and also served as reminder to me about my own food photography/method of working, and made me realise that I still have a long way to go with my own food photo journey. Looking forward to sharing more with you as I learn more also. Thanks for reading and please feel free to leave your feedback.
Note: Coincidentally, Billy Law at A Table For Two has also recently written a series of food photo posts, with excellent experienced technical tips and advice. Be sure to check them out for some great food photo words of wisdom!
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