Notes #4: My humble views on food photography (Part 2 [of 3])

Note: The following post might sound a little trivial, preachy and meh, but as I said in the first post of this series, I too am learning the art of photo/food photo. However, I’m enjoying it a lot, and have observed/learnt several things over the years that I want to share with you, and hope that you might enjoy reading/make use of it. Thus – here’s the 2nd instalment of the 3 part mini series.

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2. Develop your own unique food photo style/vision and be proud of it!

Food photo is art – as art as you make it

Food photography is an art, even if you don’t want to see it as that. Some people invest a lot of time and effort to carefully compose a meaningful/beautiful shot. On the other hand, some people might see it as just a snap/freeze in time and space, but soon enough they’ll appreciate the intricacies and possibilities of food photos.

As an art form, and similar to design/fashion/style/taste, there are several ways to doing it and everyone has a unique way of seeing it. This is a fab thing because not only does it help build confidence in and nourish the soul of the photographer, it can also help contribute to and benefit the creative circle and world at large. Food photo art is a potent medium.

Individuality vs trends

As an artist/photographer, I advocate individuality, self-expression and experimentation. I try to practice this with my own photo/food photo work as well. I love seeing other food photographer’s unique style and character/personality shine through and stand out from the crowd.

In the modern world/system, it’s easy to lose ourselves in the work that are set by the media/big guns and our peers. And the truth is – they can all look great and work too. Whilst we can learn from and respect what’s happening around us, I believe it’s most important to not forget about our own unique/special style/taste, and way of doing things.

Admiring and appreciating trends/fashion and the work of others is not a bad thing. In fact, on the contrary, because not only can it feed us new ideas/info, it can also inspire and motivate us to work harder. What I’m saying is that (from experience), it’s easy to like other people’s work, but don’t forget just how special our own unique character/style/method/potential is and tap into it.

What on earth are you talking about now Padaek?

It is wise to notice and observe the world around us, and learn from it too. However, be acute/discerning in your observations and notice what work and doesn’t work for you. Learn and try to apply/adapt those ideas/methods shared by others to your own work so that you can nourish and improve on your own unique style and id.

This way, not only are you accepting and appreciating the love provided by the universe, you’re also helping to improve and build confidence in yourself as a photographer, and your own work – theoretically make you want to create and explore your field more and inevitably help feed back to the creative world/sphere too.

Like how?

Be true to yourself and your work, and have fun in the process. Be proud of your unique vision and style and cray way of doing things. Have fun experimenting and push yourself to try different methods/ways of seeing and taking photos. Love your camera, and it will reward you – I know this sounds weird but believe me this is true. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. If you do make a mistake, just learn from it and move on/take another photo. Perfection is impossible to achieve (although I did get close to it once – just joking!).

Be humble and graceful in receiving feedback and criticism. We can’t please everyone and not everyone will agree with your method/style. But at least you’re having fun/learning and know that you’re making at least one person happy/proud – you (and most likely your family too). And that’s what matters the most at the end of the day!

Also (as mentioned in the first post) – by simply regularly taking more photos of food and things (no more excuses please) – this is an excellent way to improve your skills and style as well. I advise that you always take your camera with you when you travel and be on the lookout for photo opportunities – ala your style.

Read/research/study about photography and food photography when you can. There’s a saying that you need to know the rules before you can break them. I agree with this and there’s a plethora of food photo rules that I need to learn/know, and when I do, I hope to share them with you also. The web is a wealth of inspiration and useful info. Learn how the experts and your peers are doing it and take note, adapt, practice and grow/nurture your style. I will talk more about this in detail in the next post.

Conclusion:

To wrap up – I love photo/food photo as an art form, and what I think makes it so much more special/cool, is that our own unique style/character/personality (even if it is a little bizarre) shines through in our work. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, and if you do make mistakes – just start gain, learn from it and improve/move on. Love your work because when you do, it will shine even more and inspire you to be even better/greater!

That’s it folks – I hope you found it helpful. Please let me know if you have any thoughts/questions. See you next week for the wrap up on the series. Ciao!