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I have always looked at photographs of vibrant food and drink in glossy magazines and wondered how they get these shots. As a curious photographer and journalist I decided to visit my friend who was on a shoot to have a look behind the scenes of a photoshoot where the subject is food.
Keith the photographer was trying to capture the essence of a summer meal. He wanted to capture the hands and food passing each other, reaching across the table to reflect community. I asked what the shoot was for and Keith told me this was for summer parties happening in Leeds over the summer period. The shoot was for local church Hope City and the materials would help reach people through social media.
The shoot looked like fun but the heat was definitely overwhelming for the team in a hot room in the city centre. The team had to move quickly and constantly to stop the items of food from melting and decaying in the harsh sunshine. The table needed to be moved into different lights to achieve contrasting angles. It was great to see the team's effort involved in a shoot like this. Every step had to be planned but allowed the photographer to be creative with his shots. It's definitely not an easy shoot and there wasn't much time to chat between shots. I managed to grab Keith for a quick chat and he gave me 3 quick tips to succeed with food photography.
1. Communication is key. Talk with your team and share your creative thoughts; this helps them pre-think and always be ready to move for the next shots
2. Be time efficient. Most of your time will be in the preparation so make time for prep and always budget for extra items of food and decoration because things easily go wrong!
3. Have fun; go with the flow of the shoot and laugh with your team. It always helps and relaxes everybody meaning you will work better as a group. Photography is a lot of fun and you are allowed to enjoy your work
I had so much fun spending time with the team and immersing myself in the photoshoot. I was even offered a hand model role however I politely declined as my camera doesn’t need a paint job. This day really opened my eyes as to how these kind of shoots work . I appreciated the effort and planning which is required.