The Sweet Food of the Gods

Photograph from Vegan Yum Yum

In the beginning of every photographer's journey, they must figure out what kind of photographer and sense of identity will they hold?  When I was still trying to figure out myself in the photography sense during my junior year in college, I had always known that there were two kinds of photography that I would never get into.  Food and sports.  Now both of these I love very much, specifically the first but photographing them?  Not so much.  I believe that there are certain types of people out there that can just understand how to make food look tasty on film.  And as for sports, I can't help myself but watch and observe a game, anyway game for that matter, instead of capturing the action packed moments. 

This used to frustrate me a lot.  Knowing and not being able to achieve a certain level of competence because all my food shots looked unappetizing.  Once, I even went to my school's studios for a whole Saturday, trying to figure out lighting and food prodding and arranging to achieve a decent food shot.  I ended that day with my mind buzzing and some wilted looking vegetables. It's always been hard for me, and maybe anyone else, to try and better oneself with practice and not see any hard earned results.  And I can hardly say I'm being modest.  When critique day came and we hung our work side by side for others to see, the level of experience and understanding dropped when my photograph appeared to others.  Ughh.  Food Photography!

But when I do happen upon some great looking food shots, I truly am impressed and respect the photographer and food stylist for their patience and ability to shoot food.  Their sense of composition and theme come out successfully with good food shots.  Natural looking light plays a big role and proper color balance gives food that appetizing appeal.  One food photographer, Bananagranola, on flickr, has such a great eye for detail.  Her work continually impresses and stirs the appetite.  Check out her work and you'll see her painstaking effort for detail.

Another great portfolio is from food photographer Michael Ray.

And a great blog article on food photography set-ups is at Vegan Yum Yum.

Bon Appétit!

Photograph by Michael Ray

Photograph by Bananagranola

Photograph by Bananagranola