{Wrap up} of a Food Photography Workshop

After being asked for so long by other food photographers, I finally put together an in-person Food Photography Workshop.

If you’d like to be on the waiting list to be notified of the next one, GO HERE.

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There is so much that goes into preparing to teach and share not just through talking, but through hands on and doing.
It was so important to me that every single person leave the workshop having done one or all of:

overcoming a fear
learning something (of value) new
pushing themselves out of their comfort zones
understanding the importance of the fundamentals
the art and the design aspects of photography
of their story, of their journey and how it makes their work authentic
of creating community through working together, being open and sharing
of putting the elements into action by looking at their subjects with new eyes
and by having been empowered and inspired to keep practicing, creating and learning on their own.

I wanted to provide an environment where everyone would be relaxed and open to sharing and growing.
I wanted to be an open book in every way.
No walls, no big secrets (there are none.)
Those were my goals.

Looking back over that checklist list, photos, emails and conversations afterwards, and my memory of the day, my favorite parts from the workshop would read like this:

FIRST & FOREMOST, the creative, intelligent, attentive, determined, collaborative woman who joined in, listened, watched, learned, and put into practice what they learned. Their warmth, smiles, participation, head nods and mere presence were inspiring as a group and (also) to me, far more than they are most likely aware.
The absolutely PERFECT setting for this workshop. Many thanks to Marti Heard, of 915 Monmouth Street, for generously letting us use her light filled, textured/weathered/colorful/eclectic/gorgeous studio as our setting. Honestly, I could not have asked for more. The mere atmosphere paired beautifully with the style of rustic, textural undertones of natural light food photography I lean towards and was teaching.
Renee Schuler and all the crew at eat well celebrations and feasts for catering the workshop with their fabulous spreads, big smiles and extra styled dishes to photograph.
My beautiful shutter sister, crazy talented photographer, and friend Peggy Joseph, who shared with us both her expertise and artful eye, and joined us for the hands on shooting all afternoon.

Below are some images from our day ~ from a few iphone and camera picts to images Peggy was sweet enough to document from the afternoon~while everyone was busy practicing and creating.

It was fun to see all the vessels, fabrics, surfaces, props, and food set out on the enormous antique wooden printer’s table. Lots and lots of choices to be made be everyone, a little later on.

The morning was spent going over all the elements involved in creating an image from both a technical and artistic point of view. We picked everything apart and looked at them individually to understand how, why, and when they worked into telling a story.

The afternoon was time to apply what we covered {with assignments.}
I was so impressed with how these women pushed themselves and explored so many of the concepts we discussed earlier. Taking time to carefully consider light, props, angles, compositions, etc.
It’s much easier to dive in, but to create an environment and voice to an image, takes discipline, patience, and thought.

Did I mention how beautiful the light was? Floor to ceiling front banks of windows across the whole front span of the studio mixed with to die for textures and color everywhere.

As everyone uploaded their images and started making selections and adjustments, I was so impressed to see the imagery and parts to their stories they had been working on. In the short time we were together, I could see a part of each of their personalities coming through in their stories/images…which, in my opinion, is the only element that makes each of our work unique.

I’ve also been excited to see how everyone ended up putting their ‘stories’ together ‘visually’ on their blogs, as we discussed the importance of laying the images out in a story form as well.

Vanessa of Nessy Designs was the first to get her post up. Here is a beautiful image and example of integrating imagery and text ~ you can see so many more of her images and thoughts from the workshop on her blog.

Thank you, again, Mary Ann, Judy, Karyn, Ileana, Amy, Jamie, Vanessa, and Jill for coming out, being open, sharing with all, and spending the day together learning!
xo Gina

*The studio at 915 Monmouth houses 5 fabulously creative women ~Marti’s Floral Design, five dot design, CINCY EVENT PLANNING, jmm Photography, and CINCI MAKEUP AND the studio is regularly offered as an event space.
I can not recommend it enough.
Please contact Marti Heard at martisfloraldesign@gmail.com for more information.