Food photography is a bit of a dark art. In this video, I go behind the scenes on a test shoot with a food stylist at my food photography studio in the UK. Looking at the styling, lighting, and process that creates a day’s work.
Contrary to popular belief, we don’t pour motor oil over pancakes, use glue for cheese, or use shaving foam. However, tooth picks, glycerine, and steamers are very much common practice.
In this video, I cover the entire shoot, from the planning through to the delivery. In this instance, it was a test shoot with Elle Jane (go follow her, she is awesome), but the process is exactly the same as if we had a client in. At this time of year, I try and get a few test shoots in to update my website and portfolio for the new year, as a lot of the commercial work I do either isn’t really all that groundbreaking, or I am not allowed to share it due to certain brands contracts.
During this shoot, we attempted a burger exploding through paper, a pop art shot, and a few dirty pub grub style images. Using a mix of professional modifiers and DIY reflectors and set builds, we managed to ring off about six shots throughout the day, my favorite of which being the pop art hot dog and chips shot on blue with a hard, direct light mixed with a wraparound.