Food Photography

In my most recent post about CreativeLive, I told you that I'd signed up as an affiliate for them and got to select a free class to take and review. Despite there being hundreds of choices, there was one that stood out to me: Food Photography by Andrew Scrivani. I'm not a food blogger, per se, but I do blog about food semi-regularly. I'm a mediocre photographer, but I feel like I'm making good progress with my craft photography. And I'm getting better and better at photographing people. But my food photography is pretty terrible.

I was really excited to start Food Photography. It includes 39 lessons (!) that average around 30 minutes. From the beginning, I knew I'd chosen a great class. In addition to being a renowned food photographer, Andrew Scrivani is a former teacher who knows how to explain things clearly. His teaching style is relaxed and he moves at a good pace. I took two pages of detailed notes during the first five lessons. They were PACKED with helpful information, including specific tips and tricks that I could put to use immediately. 

Armed with new knowledge and a new camera (after using Trevor's camera for a few months while mine was on the fritz), I pondered what my first photo shoot should be. First and foremost, I wasn't going to attempt something that is time-sensitive, like an ice cream cone. Andrew recommends allowing as much as an hour to prop, style and shoot a single dish. With that in mind, it wouldn't be a great idea to cook dinner and then make the family wait an hour before eating either. I decided to photograph my favorite Subway sandwich (veggie with double cheese on a wheat roll).

I played with settings.

I played with angles.

And then I added props. 

I also played with shooting the same picture horizontally and vertically.

None of these photos are processed. While they are not works of art, I'm happy with the exercise and eager to continue on with Andrew's class. Expect another food photo shoot soon!