Tour of a Modern Food Photography Studio
Lesson 2 from: FAST CLASS: Getting Started in Professional Food PhotographySteve Hansen
Tour of a Modern Food Photography Studio
Lesson 2 from: FAST CLASS: Getting Started in Professional Food PhotographySteve Hansen
Lessons
Class Introduction: Getting Started in Professional Food Photography
05:57 2Tour of a Modern Food Photography Studio
04:37 3Prop Styling with Malina Lopez
06:03 4Food Styling with Steve & Malina
03:28 5Working with a Digital Technician
05:19 6Food Photography Gear
24:29 7Why Use Natural Light?
08:01 8Natural Light Food Shoot Prep
30:23Food Photo Tools & Tricks
02:30 10Capturing Food in Natural Light
06:54 11Natural Light Shoot Final Touches
19:50 12Shooting For a Client
07:24 13LED Lighting Overview
08:51 14Prep for Oven Shoot with LED Lights
10:36 15Food Photography Print Marketing
04:49 16Food Photography Portfolio Tips
09:14 17Pricing and Negotiating for Food Photography
12:13 18Final Food Photo Career Advice
03:01Lesson Info
Tour of a Modern Food Photography Studio
We're gonna talk about my team and the studio itself. So let's get into it, and we just finished this. I don't know if I should even be saying this, but we have not shot in this studio before, This is a brand new studio. And I spent the whole week trying to figure out where everything was. I was going through silverware, I'm like crazy, I couldn't even find anything. But we're excited to have the space because it represents who we are as a studio and what we like to shoot. And it makes for really seamless shoots, having everything at arms length like this. I am the chief f-stop decider, that is me (laughs) Your studio space is a reflection of who you are and who you want to be as a photographer. Now, there's certain disciplines in photography where you don't need a studio. I mean, you just don't. And I wouldn't ask you to take on that responsibility 'cause it's an expense that you have to pass on to your clients. So it comes at a later time when you're ready. You'll know when you're re...
ady, it'll drive you crazy. There'll be, you know... 'Cause I had a shared studio space that was absolutely fantastic and there was tons of really great photographers within that studio. But there was a point where I just felt like I was getting really busy and there just wasn't enough. I had to set up and break down my sets every time I shot, completely. Here, I can just kind of let it be and go with it, and it makes things a lot more fun and seamless. So this is my first studio. I started in San Francisco when I was a private chef kind of assisting photographers and working my way up and baking a lot of mistakes. And then my first home studio was in Portland. This is a picture of that studio, and this is where I was doing a lot of my splashes and crashes work that we're going to cover in another class. The ceilings were even lower than this. These aren't the highest ceilings, but they work well, but this is it. This is my living room, just gutted. And there was catch up on the ceiling I had to scrap. It was out of control, but it worked for that time. I didn't shoot every week so it helped to be able to kind of just have a little space with nice window light that you can work on. So working from home as an option. That's really where a lot of photographers start out or just, they build into their home and make the studio their home, which is really cool. Having herbs and a garden and calming environment that is kind of a thrill and fun and relaxing is a really good way to go, but that can be expensive. I mean, you need to commit to it. You can't have a... You can't have your kids running through a set with cereal bowls and kind of... So there is, you know... You'll know if it's right for you or not right for you. This is our studio, we had to redo all the floors. We had to repaint everything. This is the old Rainier brewery, and I don't know if we mentioned that in the intro but this is a historical building. There's a lot of quirks about this building, but everybody in the area knows it, it's right off of I-5. It's near the airport, which means clients don't have to track all the way across Seattle during rush hour to get to and from the airport, which is a huge, crucial component. There's some photographers that are North Seattle or all the way in Ballard with some fantastic studios, but it is a Trek to get from the airport to that location. And I hear it all the time from clients when I was on Queen Anne, "Oh, I had to sit" I mean, Mercer's always a breeze, this never occurs in Mercer, but you go anyway, that's getting very local. (laughs) But you guys know what I'm talking about. But yeah, this is the phases that we went through and we're continuing to add on to this there's props that are gonna be moved in from the storage unit. There's just little things here and there. And knowing what you want in a studio only comes from experience. Where you want your tech station to be, what kind of props go with the photography that you're known for? I don't have the... So the props are very like a lot of dark woods, a lot of robust linens with bold colors. I'm gonna introduce you to Molina Lopez. You wanna come out? Big round of applause to Molina Lopez. (audience clapping) Hi. She's me food stylist slash prop stylist. I work with her a lot, because we have a lot of shoots where I'll have a big hand in kind of putting the finishing touches on a set and she will do a lot of the hero selection and a lot of work on set as well. As far as selecting props, selecting what's gonna go on the set, styling and all kind of work. We have a good relationship where I can kind of finish things here and there on set in a heartbeat, because I see through the lens really well. And I have enough food sign background, hopefully not to mess everything up that she just did. That's key, you do not wanna (laughs)
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase