If you follow me on Instagram, then you’ll remember a week ago I spoke about writing a few posts regarding my passion for food photography, creative blocks and the need to keep switching things up. Yes, I get easily bored. And there is nothing worse to me than when things get stagnant—and that goes for all things in life.
It just so happens photography is my biggest passion outside of family and food. With that it plays a key role here. The other reasons for these upcoming postings about photography and creative blocks—I get a lot questions about the photography here.
My advice is pretty pragmatic—practice, practice, practice. Sure I could tell you to learn your settings, know your camera, but I’m not good at taking that advice. It’s a patience thing. I’m much more hands-on and prefer to experiment first then research later to pinpoint what works from there and apply it going forward.
As with any passion, I think that’s about right. Okay, at least it is for me. I push myself to grow and to be able to shoot in different styles and lighting. I’m not saying this is the best. There are many great works from people I admire that use the same palette, style and lighting and it’s great. It’s their signature.
My way may be one that doesn’t showcase a distinct style, but it feeds my passion. And that’s what should matter most to you if you are diving into photography and wanting to take it to the next level—find what feeds your passion and the rest will follow.
So how is this post suppose to help you guys who have photography questions? I can’t say it will. But I get enough emails that I thought I should write a post, so here’s what works for me:
- If photography is your passion, develop it. That means practice a lot, you need to actually do it, so this means shooting outside of just what you do for your blog.
- Know your influences, but find your voice and carve out your distinct style.
- Know your learning style. Don’t be like me and take the advice of someone else that is counterintuitive to your learning style – and this doesn’t mean being close-minded. Here’s what I mean – I took the advice of someone and read books, watched videos to learn and I spent so much time reading and watching, I wasn’t actually doing. This tripped me up to the point of handicapping my learning curve. If you are methodical, then by all means learn the technical aspects, read manuals, watch You Tube videos, etc. If you are anything like me, just go for it, then work backwards to pick apart and find the technical aspects you need to know. Whatever your learning style is—know it and you’ll find yourself more comfortable working towards where you want to be..
- Connect and ask questions. Sure you might not get an answer from everyone you query about what they do, but surprisingly, many people are very sharing. I certainly am, I have no big secrets. Full disclosure-if you have emailed me in the past and I haven’t answered, it’s from sheer oversight—I have way too many emails, some may have slipped through the cracks.
Of course, I can’t hit everything in one post, so tune-in next week (Part 2 | Let’s Talk Composition is here) where I drill down deeper about my process and share some points of inspiration (the latter being something I mentioned a while back in a one of the Weekend Editions that fell off the radar once I became pregnant—and soon to be revived). And of course, I’ll have some new pictures. The ones appearing in this post might be familiar to many of you, but they are ones I can say, I still like—and that isn’t the case for many photos I’ve shot. From there, I do a post about how I work through a creative block.
And most importantly, if you have any questions you want addressed from settings, lighting, styling or anything, leave a comment and I’ll answer them individually as a reply or if it’s a common theme, I will address it in a post.
***Food Photography Tips for Bloggers: Part 2 | Let’s Talk Composition can be found here.**
A stunning selection of images here, and I agree, I have found that practice is the most important thing. I am now shooting in new locations to try and push myself to adapt to new lighting situations. Love your work.
Sam x
This post is so helpful – I’m a complete photography novice. Your advice on just getting out there and practicing, shooting outside of your blog and having the courage to ask questions has given me a new boost of enthusiasm! Thank you!
PS Your photos are always beautiful 🙂
Oh goodness – it’s so refreshing to see someone encouraging exploration of many different styles. It feels like a lot of the advice out there is “find your style and never deviate from it” and, I mean, my style in all things changes day to day. I’m a do-er, too, so I totally get what you’re saying here. Looking forward to the following posts!
HJ
Naomi you inspire me in so many ways! The food blogging community is better because of you. Xoxo
Fabulous advice… I agree with all of your points. No one started off being amazing photographers. It’s something that develops over time. You learn the techniques, you learn the technology, and then you use that to create your own style.
Great post, Naomi.
You’re inspiring, Naomi. I am always saying I will practice more or work harder on my images, but then life always gets in the way. Photography is….a chore, if I really be honest. I’d rather be in the garden or kitchen. Still, I hope to improve. Thanks for the nudge to keep striving to be better.
Your photography is always gorgeous!
You have the best style!! Love your gorgeous photograph. Great post! xo
I am such a hands on, learn from experience kind of person. I love your advice and cannot wait for more post. So excited! Oh and that photo of the drinks spilled? GORGEOUS!
Great tips!
Love the photos you chose here, and always appreciate your photography so much, Naomi. Thank you for sharing this post!
You’re such an inspiration when it comes to photography. I love that you don’t stick to one mood or style but at the same time, I ALWAYS know that it’s your photography when I see it across the web. I love all these tips and what a great post! Can’t wait for more 🙂
Such amazingly beautiful photographs! Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
I’m so excited for your posts on photography.
I do have a question. I have a hard time with white balance. About the only time I get it right is with back lighting. How can I fix this using side lighting?
Thanks 🙂
Your photos are gorgeous! I am a total novice, dealing with a lot of light! I live in Scottsdale and have lots of windows with light coming in, any suggestions. I tried the cloth enclosure, and didn’t like it. Thanks JJ
What a fantastic post! I loooooove all your photos, they’re truly beautiful and creative and so unique! Thanks for sharing, I can’t wait until you post more next week 🙂
Thank you, Naomi, for the fresh inspiration I was desperately needing these days. I’ve been stuck in a rut and dreading the days I was shooting food but now you’ve motivated me to start learning and improving again. I love photography but sometimes find all the aspects of it overwhelming – especially when things don’t go as planned no matter how well you prepared, lol.
I look forward to your next post. Thanks a million.
Loved reading this post and I find it kind of hilarious that it fell on the same day I had you in my photography inspiration list. 🙂 Can’t wait to ready more. Truly love your work.
truly stunning images – i’m excited to follow along with this series and hopefully (definitely learn a few things). i have a similar ‘experiment first and find the lesson later’ attitude to learning, so your advice is going to align with my learning style just perfectly 🙂
Oh Naomi, I am continually inspired and motivated by your gorgeous eye and for seeing things in a certain way. I look forward to every post to see what you have created. Thank you for sharing some of that process here.
I love your style, Naomi. They layouts, the lighting. It’s my favorite style of food photograpy and a style that I hope I can one day learn how to do. I’m pretty new to photography and each day, I feel like I learn something new. I look back at older photos and think “wow, I thought I was ok then but look how much I’ve progressed.” I still have a lot to learn and I was thikning about taking a photography course after I graduate with my bachelors degree in August.
What resources to you suggest to use in learning the darker, moodier photography that is used for many of your shots?
Great post, by the way. Thank you! 🙂
Yesssss. Constant practice & inspiration!! Wonderful post 🙂
I love every photo and you are so right about the practice!
Thanks for this post! I am very new to food photography and right now I basically just use what I have around the house, which is not really great. I am hoping to purchase/make my first backdrop this week, what would you suggest for a first one (meaning pretty multi purpose). I do have a cool looking cookie sheet and some white boards, but that is it.
I know, right? And thanks so much again for the shout out with such a fab group of bloggers.
Hi Julie – For me I learned, by studying the pictures I liked and then taking a photos of the same subject through out the day in the same spot to see how the light and shadows shifted. That has helped me established the time of the day for the shot I have in mind.
And don’t forget, you do need light in those darker shots–counterintiutive, but you do. From there you can manipulate the the contrast and the lighting in post processing.
Hi Joan,
My next suggestion would be to first try shooting at a different time of day. Or if you have windows all around try blocking out the light from some of the windows rather than diffusing it with a simple white board to minimize the amount of incoming light.
Hi Naomi,
Thank you so much for getting back with me. I will have to try your method.
Looking forward to reading more of your photography posts, if you decide to
do more. 🙂
Take care,
Julie
Debra – For some great multipurpose backgrounds, I generally paint dry wall in different colors either in one solid color then add a few brush strokes with with a shade lighter for texture. It’s really inexpensive. The other option is just to paint some wood planks. For the paint you can buy sample bottles at about $2.50 from Lowes or Home Depot. I usually buy it and water it down some for the wood boards for a more weathered look.
Hey girl – Are you talking about the whiteness of it, like it has a grey cast? If so, have you tried the white card method to set up your white balance on your camera.
Or some of that can be fixed in post processing, especially if you shoot in RAW.
Shoot me an email and I’ll go into more detail about a few post editing tricks.
You are a wonderful photographer.. No matter what light and genre!
Great taste and a great eye:)
I too love your work..Just yesterday I actually used a tripod to try taking blooms on a small table..I
nver liked using one..
Thanks for this. I needed the reminder to practice outside of what I shoot for work. My favorite way to learn is with a book in one hand (or video) and camera in the other. I don’t have a ton of patience so I like to try it right away! 🙂
Naomi, this is a great post. I’ve admired your photography for so long. It’s inspiring and it is so distinct. I can pick your photos out every time I see them. I love that. I still have so much to learn, but I’m like you in that I have to just jump in and just do it…figuring out the details later.
Your pictures have inspired me sooo much as a blogger! I think we would be friends since I am the same- I am a do-er I don’t want to be explained how thinks work, I wanna be shown or stumble upon it myself. I have started shooting differently. I shoot on the floor on a board (I need to work on getting more boards). But I have learned I needed more space and I needed to think about the background of the shot and the context just as much. Lighting is 100% most important. My question is do you shoot a different time of day to evoke a different feeling in your shoot? Do you do much post production work in Photoshop? Do you use photoshop? Lastly do you always shoot manual?
I’ve always had a love for photography, but I’ve never been very good at taking my own photographs. The learning curve has been quite an experience! I am always in awe of your food and photograph, and look forward to learning more from someone whose work I really admire 🙂
I have been following you for a while and always admired your food photos. For me it really helped to read about camera settings before playing with them. What I would like to see from a photographer like you is the actual step-by-steps, meaning actually seeing your camera, lens, tripod, and maybe when you post pics, underneath the pictures tell us what settings were used. I know that depending of light etc we all come up with different settings but I am still curious. Also I like using LR5 for my RAW pics but overall I am not as near as you in term of taking amazing pics. I am playing with my camera and enjoy it. I still want to push myself and would eventually achieve brilliant photos like yours. I am using a Rebel T4i with a 50mm 1.8 at the moment for my food photo. I place my camera on a tripod and does not seem to be able to shoot pics and include so many things in one photo like you do. Maybe I should shoot with a 40 mm. I own one but don’t usually use it for food photos. Also, would you tell us that buying a camera like the Canon Mark III would improve significantly the clarity, colors etc of the final pic or the most important is shooting RAW?
Have always loved your photography – it inspires me on so many levels. And I thoroughly agree – if it’s something you are passionate about – just dive in – I sure did lol! I can’t tell you anything technical whatsoever – I just adapt to my surroundings to find what works for that photo :)) Great post – loved it!! xx Melissa
I’d love to hear more about how you do your top down shots. On the floor with a tripod?
Love this post. I am always so inspired by your photography and your ability to maintain creativity through it. Looking forward to these posts big time!
This is great, Naomi! I can’t wait to see what you share as your work is in my top favorites as well. Have been inspired by your stuff many a time. You’re the best!
hi naomi! How do you end up cleaning spills and such on the boards? have you every tried using any other kind of vinyl backdrops?
What a wonderful post & thanks for sharing your sage wisdom. I loved the part about where you said that following the advice of one person/book/etc was actually going against your natural grain and that everyone has to learn the craft in the way that flows best for them – amen!
And yes to practicing. Tons 🙂 Pinned to my food photog board!
Thank you so much for this post!
What sort of post processing do you use? Do you have any tips for Photoshop or Lightroom usage?
any tips from you and I am all ears, you can make even a spill a work of art
I’m so excited you’re doing this series, thanks for sharing! I’m curious about what you use for backgrounds and most of all how you manipulate light. No matter what the composition, your lighting always grabs me first!
You are such a gifted photographer Naomi and I have always admired your pictures and composition. I agree – lots of practice and it’s a work in progress. I find my style is still changing and developing, but I’m having fun in the process. Look forward to more of these posts from you.
Naomi, thank you so much for being willing to share! I’ve been such an admirer of you photography for ages. Photography is something that inspires me and makes me incredibly frustrated at the same time, mostly because my vision doesn’t always line up with my skill set! At the same time I know that practice is everything! My question is how do you overcome very little light on any given day? I live in England and our days are mostly grey which make for somewhat dull photos.
Wow looks very delicious thanks :]
Love, love, love this, Naomi! I am right there with you when it comes to the boredom factor. But I always admire how creative you are with lighting and propping – a true master!
I have always adored your photography. It’s so inspiring to me! I really loved reading this post and I’m definitely looking forward to more in the future! 🙂
Hi Julia – I think anyone who is always looking to improve has that feeling of vision and skill set not aligning at times, but that’s what keeps us striving. 🙂
As for lighting on grey days, I actually prefer it. But having said that, if you are working with natural light there’s only so much you can do. My best advice is (if you are avoiding artificial lighting), invest in some big poster boards to bounce light around. And then of course there is always post processing can do some amazing things.
And stay tuned, I’m doing a few posts on post processing tricks that may help.
Hi Sophia – Yes, I shoot at different times throughout the day to get the mood I want and I also switch locations throughout my house to capture the lighting I want
I do use Photoshop for post production. Stay tuned, I’ll be doing a few a post on some easy post editing tricks.
As for your last question – stay tuned. I’m covering that in the next post. 🙂
Hi Nanette – to answer your questions above about the spills. Sometimes I use a marble board other times it’s just dry wall that I’ve painted. The sorbet shot of the tricolor spills with the straws was actually a happy accident that I captured because it struck me as really beautiful.
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer!!
I’m covering most of this in the next post next week, so stay tuned.
Hi Jeanette – I’m in the same boat-my style is in constant development, but I think anyone with a passion for learning or improvement is always in that state.
Shruti – Yes, it’s often times on the floor with a tripod. Once in awhile on a countertop or something more elevated depending on how I want the light to skim.
Rebekah – I use a lot of things for backgrounds ie. bake sheets, painted dry wall, painted wood planks and plywood, vintage metal tables to everyday items like parchment paper, wax paper, newspaper, fabrics and more.
As for lighting I will I rely on time of day more than anything to achieve the lighting and mood I’m targeting (more on this in an upcoming post)
Thank you sooooo much Naomi, it is so generous of you to offer such transparency with all of us! I appreciate all your help! It will come back to you 10 fold!
I think you have great style! I love when I come across your photos that are bright and light as much as the moody, dark, and destructive photos. Your pictures always tell a story, it’s inspiring!
You definitely have the ability to shoot different styles, but I can almost always pinpoint one of your shots if it’s on Pinterest, so you definitely have a “signature.” I love your work, so I’m excited to read more about your process!
I’m dying to know about all your different backdrops, where you get them, how many different ones you use, what they’re made of, etc. I’ve read your post(s) on sourcing props, but there wasn’t much mention of backgrounds.
I am SO inspired by your photography. I’m new to blogging (I launched my site at the beginning of March) but one thing that I have discovered is how sharing/giving this community of is. Thank you for your insights, suggestions, and inspiration.
So nice of you, thanks so much. I still think you are one of the best in food photography.
Thank you. Looking forward to more posts!
Hi Naomi,
Your blog is beautiful…great food and amazing pictures! I agree with the comment above…what I imagine my photos will look like never translates to the finished product. I guess practice does make perfect(I am a certified chef but a terrible photographer…still using my smartphone to post pictures!). My question is, I always start off using props and often come to your site for ideas on set up but, in the end, I end of shooting a close up of the food because I feel like I lose the context of what I want people to see…which is the finished product. Any suggestions??
Wowww I’m so surprised you mentioned learning style because for the longest time your style has been MY STYLE! But I never thought of it as “acceptable” to society, if you know what I mean…haha. It’s refreshing to hear that we just have to go with what works for us, instead of going by the book just bc it seems right. And I love the eclairs shot, and those ice cubes look awesome!
I love your photography Naomi. What type of camera and lens do you use for most of your food photos. I am constantly struggling with light, (joys of our Canadian winters), what type of lighting do you use for your photos.
thanks
Laureen
I’ve been an admirer of your photography for a long time now, so I’m super excited for this new series of posts that you’re starting. Your photos are a source of inspiration for my own photography, although I’ll admit that I’m still far from reaching your level! Can’t wait to see what secrets you share, but until then, I better get back to practicing!
Loving this series already, can’t wait for the rest. I’m wondering how (or if it’s possible) to find a balance between what will “do well” (as in- be popular on the web and result in high blog traffic) and what you want to do because it is an exploration of your creativity. Some if my favorite and most creative shots don’t do well on the web and I find myself feeling pressured to copy what I’ve done in the past that “did well”/went viral/was popular with my online audience. Any tips on finding a balance? How do you continue to develop and explore with the pressure that comes with growing a blog?
I have this same issue with white balance so I think I’ll just shoot you an email if you don’t mind!
naomi you are so BRUTALLY TALENTED in the photog/styling department! i love your advice – not get hung up on learning every detail but going out and shooting and learning as you go. that’s been my method as well – i get lost in too much tech talk but i love experimenting. it took me years to understand aperture. but i would still shoot anyway, adjusting as i went, bungling up and making mistakes… i feel so passionate about food, (CAKE!) styling and photo too – loved reading your post and of course seeing all your frigging GORGEOUS work all bundled up together! thanks for sharing! xo
Love the beginning of this series too! That blackberry pie has me tripping up.
Hi! I am so inspired by your photography! What type of camera do/did you use?
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