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Shoot: Oyster Roast

Lesson 15 from: Food Photography

Penny De Los Santos

Shoot: Oyster Roast

Lesson 15 from: Food Photography

Penny De Los Santos

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Lesson Info

15. Shoot: Oyster Roast

Lesson Info

Shoot: Oyster Roast

Hi guys, we're back. You guys need to be having fun back there. (people chuckling) Okay, so we're doing this oyster bake and we're just tryin' to recreate an environment that I would have on an assignment. So I need you guys to be a little forgiving because there's a camera. There's several cameras and there's a lot of people with cables and cords. So it's not exactly how it would be, but it's close. And the idea that I want you to (chuckles) take away from here is just how I'm using my tool to photograph this moment and these moments in what I'm doing. So just kinda watch me, I'm gonna try to tell you what I'm thinking and we can talk about it more. I've never done anything like this, so bear with me. I wanna keep my mind in this game, my head in this game. But we're gonna have fun. This is like amazingly beautiful. My friend John Rally put together this incredible oyster bake. Roast, sorry. I'm from Texas. We call it an oyster roast. Sorry, oyster roast. I'm from Texas, what can ...

you do? But, oh well. Okay, so I'm gonna go ahead and start making pictures. John, go ahead. You guys just do what you're gonna do. And anything you do, just do it and know right away that you're never ever ever in my way. So go in front of the camera and just do whatever it is you're gonna do. (grill sizzling) (camera clicking) (people laughing) So I'm thinkin' about just tryin' to get this moment. I love the color in their hats. (people laughing) Oh, those are gorgeous. Can I get a ladder? Nevermind, I don't need it. I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. Those are from Dave's garden. Those are beautiful, wow. Super. Those were picked this morning. Beautiful. Tell me when you're gonna turn some bread, so I just wanna get that motion. (people laughing and chattering) Oh, you're fine. Go, John. (people muttering) (camera clicking) (grill sizzling) See what I did with that? Nice. (people laughing and chattering) Hold on, my camera's locking. I don't know why. Maybe it's goin' faster than the tether. (grill sizzling) Man, I love your hat. You guys are right outta central casting. We're gonna start flipping some (speaks faintly). (groans) Okay. (camera clicking) Looks great. You guys are doin' awesome. This looks really good. (people laughing) (shovels clanking) Sorry. Make it work. (shovel grinding) I love her boots. That's what I'm tryin' to get, so it's not working. Put those up on there, so somebody doesn't step on it. So you guys are workin' the grill normally. You're not doing anything different for me, right? Okay, cool. Absolutely not. Just workin' the grill. Love the asparagus. And you'll tell me when you're gonna pull those oysters off? What we're gonna do is get the bread and the sausages on the table. Awesome, okay. And then bring them out. Cool. We gotta rub garlic on the bread. Okay. I'm gonna start pullin' some bread for you, John. Okay. I'ma then do another. (camera clicking) Pointing it (speaks faintly). What do you think they should be set on? So I'm walkin' around this scene and I'm just looking for pictures. John, great. That's awesome. That's great. Little slower for me, John. Just 'cause I'm getting a delay on my camera. (camera clicking) That's great. Some more for me? That's great, that's great. (camera clicking) Turn it vertically for me, John. Just like this and then rub it. Yeah. It's got enough on it. Well, do it just for me for the camera. That's great. Keep goin', John. I want you to rub it like you normally. That's fine. That's good. Ready. Those are ready? Can I make a beauty of that? Is this hot? (people laughing) You got tongs I can borrow? Right here. Perfect, thank you. Look how thick it is. (laughs) (people laughing) Okay, so basically I'm just tryin' to get this food and prep. This idea that food is being prepared for this big party that's happening. And sometimes if someone's doing a motion, I will stop it. Not stop it, stop it. But I'll have 'em slow down and I think that's totally okay. 'Cause remember, you're communicating an idea. I am feeling a lot of adrenaline right now, so I'm a little nervous. So you know, and I'm tryin' to figure out the best way to see this and so that's comin' into play too. But that's what's happening. This is finished. Can we keep this kinda pseudo-warm, so they can sort of enjoy it while I'm waiting for my camera to come back? (Becky speaking faintly) Okay. So that's what's happening. I'm just tryin' to catch this in a really good way. I would love ideally to get a sense of place, but it's not really lending itself to that with this awning and there's too many variables. It's just not really that pretty right now, but I'm still trying. So I'm moving up and down and changing my perspective. I went in the back and kicked over a bunch of shovels, but I'm just looking. I'm exploring the scene. And so I'm just kind of like going around and around and around. I never really had to describe what I do so much, so I hope I'm not repeating myself. So basically, I started shooting this thinking immediately I wanted to catch the emotion of what they were doing. I started thinking details. And sometimes for me, details feel like really great intro shots just for me to start shooting. So I'm walking into this pretty cold, so a detailed shot can just kinda get me warmed-up. We had a question from the audience. Yes, please. They're wondering how much when you come into an environment do you move things around and change them for your photo. It varies. If I'm shooting the food-- Can you repeat the question? I don't think they heard me. So the question is how much do I move the food around when I'm shooting in an environment? And that varies entirely. If someone's doing an action, I'll pause them so that I can get it. And sometimes I won't because it looks good enough, but I think it's totally appropriate in this case. I'm not telling a news story, I'm shooting a feature about what someone's doing. So my job is to illustrate that as best as I can and I need to pause them or slow them down to do that, I'll do that. In fact, I would love to try to get a little bit of that, John. Can you pause and can you hold? I know it might not be completely perfect when I get it, but that's great stuff and I wanna photograph it. So can you just gimme like two seconds? Okay, I'm good now. I can go with the camera. All right, so I'm gonna shoot some more. I hope I answered your question and John, I'll let you continue with what you were doing and then I'll photograph that asparagus. That's great. (camera clicking) 'Kay, so I'm getting a detail here. That's great. I love all that bread there. Yeah, that's great. That's great. (camera clicking) (people laughing) Can I borrow the asparagus again? Thank you. So I'm gonna shoot the food really quickly. Just this is down and dirty, man. It's down and dirty. It's a little hot. (camera clicking) Don't move that bowl, John. Whatever you're doin'. When you're done, you can put 'em in there. But just don't take it to the table just yet. That's fine. (people laughing) Cool. So I might be working this bread to death, but I wanna make sure I get it. So that's the easiest part for me is just working every photograph until I have it, until I feel like I have it. And then you know what I wanna get for sure? Before we leave, I wanna get a portrait of you three 'cause you guys are incredible. So what's happening next? You're about to take all the food over? Yup. Okay. The sausages and the bread are ready to go to the table. Okay. When that's at the table, then we're going to put the oysters on the platters. Shovel 'em out and put 'em on platters. And you're about to pull that off? Yeah. Okay, can you hold for a second? Just tell me what happens when you pull it off. Plume of smoke? Steam, steam. Steam? Steam. Okay, just lemme get ready here. We'll get these on the table before we do that. Okay. Do you want this before I take it over? Yeah John, whatever you're naturally gonna do, I'm following your lead on this. (people chattering) I need a ladder. Yeah. You'll be happy this isn't garlic bread. None for you, Becky. Yup, I got my bread here. Even though you fellas tryin' to eat it. Ooh, I didn't know. Beautiful. Now why are there fish scales on the breads? It's special bread. (people chattering) So Lorna, your mistress is a fork and a knife. (chuckles) They look like it. Set it down, thank you. Hamster. (laughs) Thank you. Henry? Thank you. (people muttering) Can I get the ladder? I need someone to hold my back. Oh goodness. Is it hot? This looks good, yo. Thank you, Henry. I'm moving. I'm goin' over here. I'm comin' right in between you guys. Can I scoot in? Oh my gosh. Don't do anything differently. Just act as normal as you possibly can. I just want you guys to eat around me. Can you do that? Yup. Okay, cool. Can I give you some beans over there? Ooh okay. Yeah, that's it. Do you want one of these? Thank you. (camera clicking) (people muttering) That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. Is there garlic in the sausages? Oh, I just screwed that up. (people laughing) Frankie, can you pass the sausage? No. No? Thank you though. (people muttering) (camera clicking) What do you need? One of the ginormous asparagus. Ginormous asparagus. Oh yeah. Lorna, can you pass me a ginormous asparagus please? (people muttering) All right Maya, what do you wanna taste first? Can you move that paper towel? Thank you. Mmm, good. More beans. Does anybody want a beverage? (people chuckling) Sure, we'll take one down here. All right, Maya. You want a bite of this? I'm thirsty. You're thirsty? We're all eating like we're ravenous. Then you do it. (camera clicking) I need my breakfast. (people muttering) You guys are awesome. You guys are doin' amazing. I know this is freakin' weird. It's weirding me out, okay? I'm like havin' an anxiety attack. (people muttering) All right, you give me. You can call her down here too if you want her. She's just shooting. Lemme know when you want her. Okay. All right, can you guys pause for a second? I want you to eat, but you're gonna have to eat a little bit more. So just be aware because I'm gonna pull a photographer out here and I'm gonna help her walk through this and you guys are doin' a great job. I mean like a really, really good job. Okay, I think they got the idea. Okay. Okay, so basically I just wanted you to see how I just moved. I'm just moving my body. Moving, moving, moving. We got a photographer out here and she's gonna shoot and I'm gonna be that voice behind her kinda just coaching her through the moments. Let's see how this goes, okay? So let's do it. Hey, Shauna. Yup. Let's talk about it. Okay awesome, awesome. Okay. We're ready. Okay, pause for a second. All right, so I want you to think about the portraits, details, scenes, if you can. It's difficult and moments and just try to be grounded. This is an insane situation. Gotcha. And I'm gonna be here with you, so I want you to think as if we're makin' the pictures together. Yup, gotcha. If that helps any. It does, of course. Okay and I'm gonna just maybe kinda just steer you as we're talking. Do. They're gonna tether you really quickly. I'm just gonna forget that part. I don't want you to worry about your pictures being seen because this is about your process in scene. This isn't about those photographs. This is about the exercise in which you're making the photographs, okay? Mm-hmm. So just focus on that, okay? I will. 'Cause we don't even have to look at these pictures. I want you to just be here, just be here and we can talk about it. So if you wanna pause and be like, "How can I shoot this better?" We'll talk about it and I'll help you. I'll help you reflect light into it. We can take time to get your exposure. I don't expect you to be like balls to the wall here, okay? I saw one exposure of yours earlier, so (chuckles) I'm confident already. I know. Okay, so that's that. We'll see how it works. Might have your lens cap here. It says PC, so it thinks it's connected to the computer. (Penny sighing) But can I shoot with it that way? That was kinda amazing. Did you see that scene with the table and all the hands come in? And I don't know if you could see that, but that was like a really nice moment. And I kinda didn't wanna put my camera down, but I did. Okay, are you ready? Well, they're not ready yet. Okay. What model is it? Nikon D100. Yeah, let's take a question. So I'm gonna take a question from you guys. Okay, let's do it. Susan's relay. We got some fancy relay system here. Susan, what do you got for me? D100's not gonna work tethered. Yeah, it's an old camera. Do you wanna just shoot or do you wanna get someone else's camera? "Do you normally coach your subjects?" Never. Oh, the people that I'm... Yes and no. I mean it's an exchange, remember? I'm on an assignment. I'm here to communicate an idea. So if somethin's not going right, I need to just be like, "Hey, can you move that a little bit left?" Or I'll move it and I think that's totally appropriate and fair game. You're illustrating a story. You're illustrating a story, you're illustrating a story. If you make a portrait, it's okay to pull someone away and make their portrait. It's a give and take. Sometimes I won't do it, sometimes I will. But I'm not orchestrating moments, I'm not posing moments. The details and stuff, sure. I'll pull stuff away. I mean, my job is to illustrate the story. Illustrate the story. But be true to how I photograph and that is organic and I try to get those moments as originally as I can. Okay, so Shauna has officially started shooting. I'm liking that she's goin' for it, so I'm just gonna kind of watch her. You guys can watch her with me. She is not tethered. She's not tethered. I got another one. When you're shooting a table, what are you looking for? They're askin' like are you focusing on the center of the table, the front of the table, the back of the table? What are the things you're looking for? I'm looking for something really beautiful. I'm looking for really beautiful detail. I'm always looking for something that feels delicious, yummy, enticing. And then I'm also just looking for any movement or motion. There was this moment where they were kinda all three behind the grill and that felt like there was something happening there and so I'm responding to that. I'm reacting to my instincts. That's exactly what I'm doing. I think a lot about what my gut is reacting to and that's I'll respond to. So that's how I'd answer that question. Got another question for me? Yeah, so why don't you talk us through this morning? It was raining. Yeah. And we had these tents that had this nice dark blue cover that killed all of our light and it was actually like this really great videography moment where you just came and made it work. We were deciding if we wanted to go inside, if we wanted to stay outside. Just walk us through what you were planning on, what happened and how you made it rock. We separated the tents so that light could come through better. And then once I got out here, I realized this is just cool-looking. That table is amazing and I just had to embrace what it was and say, "This is gonna be good. "This is gonna be great." And you know what? The food looks beautiful and there's like a beautiful moment over there, so it's inevitable that there's gonna be a photograph there. So maybe it's one, maybe it's two photographs, but there's something there. You know what? Why don't I continue to shoot while they figure Shauna's out? That sounds like a great idea. Is that okay? Let's do that. Let's get your camera. They're not gonna tether me. Okay. So you're gonna shoot. You're gonna shoot tether? Are you ready? Yup. All right, so Kathleen's gonna shoot. Kathleen's gonna shoot. I just want one photographer out here at a time 'cause I think there's too much going on. Okay, that's fine. Yup. That's good. We might go to an action. No. Okay. We're gonna figure it out. Okay guys, bear with us 'cause this is really, really crazy. Okay, you ready to do this? Yeah. All right, I'm gonna give you your prep talk. We'll take our time 'cause there's a lotta stuff happening, but we're not gonna worry about it. 'Cause this is about learning the process of a scene, okay? So that's what you and I are doing. This is an exercise for us, 'kay? These people have come to help us learn this, okay? I'll just focus on you. All in the name of great food, okay? So we can stop and we can talk about how to do it better, but I'm here with you. I'm not gonna do anything else but watch you, okay? So they're about to pull the oysters off. You're an experienced shooter, so you can do this. No pressure. (chuckles) No, I mean we're not even gonna look at your pictures, okay? Maybe they will, I don't know. But that's not the point here. I know, I know. I'm just kiddin'. I mean you're exercising your eye and you're leaping, okay? Okay. You're taking those leaps. So they're gonna pull the oysters off and I want you to just react to it the way you normally would and I'll just kinda be here with you and we can talk about it if you're feelin' like how can I get this better? I'm not likin' what I'm getting. And I might say, "Hey, try this and try that." Just to let you know what's coming, when we pull the sacs off. So John's kind of explaining what's gonna happen next. He's gonna pull the sacs off on the oysters. A lotta steam. A ton of steam is gonna come up. Okay, so you gotta react to that steam. (speaks faintly) my exposure first? Yeah, check your exposure and we can take our time on this, okay? Okay. So they're gonna shovel the oyster on platters. Damn, I wish I was shooting this. Thanks for the explanation. I appreciate it. Shovel the oyster on platters and they're gonna take 'em to this table. You wish you were shooting it, okay. Don't worry. No, you're fine. You're shooting for me, okay? Don't make me more nervous. It's the ultimate sacrifice. All right. Okay, here we go. (claps) Doin' good, doin' good. (camera clicking) That's really nice. There's that beautiful steam comin' up. Wow, those are huge. (people muttering) That's great. Good. Good, change your perspective and move around. Remember to change your perspective and move around. All right. (grill sizzling) (shovel scraping) They're gonna be doin' this several times, so you don't have to worry about it. (camera clicking) That's great. Looks good, looks good. So again, get in front of the action. Like she's got a great hat. She's gonna move again. Get in front of her. You wanna get in front of her over here. Over here, on the other side? Right here. All right. That's the shot right there. Right there. Don't worry about the monitors. Could be interesting, just look it. I want you to change. So would you be focusing more on trying to get her face? Yeah, I'd be getting her face. And then there's this great movement here. See John and her, that color is awesome. So just think about that. This might obscure your view, so just be aware of it. That's kinda cool there. Some more steam. Those are gonna come off. Okay, great. (camera clicking) Get in front of her. Get right here, right here. Get right in there. Yeah, there you go. Really great motion. You getting the detail and her stature. Just think about these things. (camera clicking) (grill sizzling) (shovel scraping) Really great. Really great, okay. So I would start prepping for that goin' to the table. I would just head over to the table. Okay. You guys are doin' great. Okay, so get ready 'cause this guy's coming with that and you wanna get in front of his action. Okay, don't trip. Flat side up. (people chattering) That's cool. You're doin' the best. So get in front of the action. You gotta get in front. Get in front of the action. Come over here, follow me. Follow me. Get in there, get in there with them. There you go. There you go. (people muttering) (camera clicking) All right, so can I get it? Since I have 650, should I be like up and on top of it? 'Cause you can't really get a wide view. Yeah, I would definitely get up. All right. Squeeze yourself. No no no, how wide do you need to get? Well I'm 650. Let's check it out. Check it out. All right. Here, I'm holdin' onto you. John? (camera clicking) (people muttering) Cute. Good, yeah. Do you feel like you're getting details? Yeah, I probably would've switched to a zoom lens, so I could've picked a wider angle 'cause I'm 650. That's okay. You know what? You can grow a lot from using a 650. I knew photographers who only used 650. I think that's great that you're only using that lens. So just think about details here. These guys are (vocalizes). And I also can't see my exposure. Cute. No. Look at the monitor over here. Do you wanna talk about it? Okay, talk to me. No, I was worried about my exposure 'cause I can't see the exposure when you're tethered. But no, it's good. It's good. Cute. That's cute. Okay, I'm gonna interrupt you. When you're ready, I'm gonna jump in, okay? All right, please do. Please give me pointers. Okay, I want you to come off the ladder and I want you to come right here. All right. 'Cause these guys look great. Yeah, actually this whole table looks great. 'Kay, there's several pictures. All right, now would you get low or would you be going high? I would go both. I'd go high and go low. All right, now if I change my aperture setting, I can't really see my exposure in this situation we're in right now. Well can you expose correctly on the meter inside? We're shooting film here. It's not even digital, so don't even worry about it. Just get a good exposure and you should be set, okay? Okay. Good. So I want you to think about a portrait. Portrait, yeah. So this woman looks just gorgeous right here. Think about the detail. (people chattering) You're doin' great. Hey Becky, can I bother you? I'm gonna have you do a portrait for us. Sure. 'Cause you're so fine. I got my good moves on. Can I just have you hold this? You've gotta lose this. How's my exposure? I can't come back. It's on the monitor. You're a little dark. A little dark, okay. You okay? Talk to me, talk to me. Just checkin' on my exposure. (camera clicking) So you just go ahead and keep eating, I'll get to you. So let's do. Here, wanna pause for a second and do the food again? Okay, I'm sorry. When you're ready. Okay. (chuckles) Let's shoot a beauty of these oysters. Okay. Can you get up high enough? Can you get-- I can sure try. Try to get something nice of these. Style it for you. (people chattering) (camera clicking) Tell me what you need more of. Yeah some more, some more. Talk to me. You can ask me any questions you wanna ask. Come into the side. What would you do with open space in a situation like this where you have not as much control over the style? I would get it to where you like it. I mean if you have to move some of these off, open 'em up, you know? Have somebody hold it, you know? Get somebody in there about to open it. (camera clicking) Maybe not my hand. Is that what you meant? Yes, perfect. You wanna get in there and you wanna move this stuff around and you also need to get a portrait. You gotta get a portrait, so work this situation for a second and then change your perspective. (camera clicking) Okay, let's move. Follow me. Are you ready? Best of luck. (Kathleen chuckling) Here you go. Squeeze in there right there. I want you to try and get the detail. Amanda. Yeah, that's great. Just do that motion again with the lemon. Just gonna get a detail. You aren't tight enough. I can't see what you're seeing. Oh that's beautiful. That's great. That's great, great. Excellent. Nice, beautiful. Okay. No pressure, Amanda. Have you got a detail? I don't know. What do you mean by detail? Like a tight shot of an action. I have a tight shot of oysters. I have tight shot, just a couple portraits. Oh yeah. Okay, that's a good one. Good. Oh yeah. Do you feel like you're seein' the scene? Do you feel like you are seeing the scene? You've seen it. Are you tellin' the story? I hope so. You're doin' great. (chuckles) I hope I am. I'm like a drill sergeant, man. What? I'm photo coaching. Photo coach. It's great. It's great. Keep talking, keep asking. That's great. I don't know, man. Steam. What else will be going through your minds? Huh? What else would be going through your mind? Okay for me, I'm worried about how you show this in context of this space. This is your hardest picture. How do you show this? It's rain. That's your hardest picture, so work on that photograph. Think about that photograph. It may not be possible, but you should be thinking about it. (people chattering) Lemme check my exposure. Right here. All right. Have you gotten low? Have you gotten low and waited? Have you waited, like these guys are actively eating? Don't worry about your pictures, just get in here. I mean, this is film. We don't have digital cameras. We're shootin' film. Do we need to worry about our dozen oysters from these tables? (people muttering) We can go to the next photographer if we have time. I love you, Garrett. I just don't want you to get hurt. Have you guys met a five year old that like oysters here? That's adorable. It's gonna be my first one too. (camera clicking) (people muttering) Are you feelin' good about this? Yeah, except the exposure situation with being tethered. Yeah. Just remember: this is about that active seeing. It's a lot of really beautiful, beautiful moments here. That's adorable. You've made it easy for me again. So I'm seeing this picture right here if you're done, just of their body language here. These two and then the cutlery. She's showing her how to shuck an oyster, (camera clicking) which is kinda sweet. (people chuckling) That's great. That's a great moment. That's what you want. There you go. Just wait, wait. Wait for that moment, just stay with it. Keep shooting. Hi guys, we were gonna go on a break here and move all the cameras over to the food truck that's waiting out front. But rather than going on a break, there are still a ton of things going on here and it's gonna be a little disorganized. We thought we might as well let you guys see it. So we're gonna leave one camera here and we're gonna let all the students come out here and just go crazy and shoot things while our crew is getting set up for Skillet out front. So enjoy and in about 15 minutes, hopefully we'll have you over at Skillet. But this is your break, so have fun. (people chattering) Do you see me on camera? Hell yeah. So we're just gonna let the students just shoot this. Cool, I think that's great. Get some good shots for you guys and you can shoot these guys. We'll get set up and we'll let you know when they're ready. Cool, where's my camera? You guys in case I don't see you, Penny, running around crazy. I have a shot anyway. Good, good. About 150 photographs. Awesome. Thank you so much. You guys are so great. You look great. I wanna get a portrait of these guys. Penny, I wanna get a picture of you with the three models here. Totally. Huh? Yeah. 'Kay, I don't know where my camera is. Hey John? Do you want us to leave your mic live so you can kinda keep talking to people? Sure, yeah yeah. Okay, so you're live right now. Can I get my camera back? Yeah. I really want my camera back. They take my phone away, they take my cameras. My god. I'm glad I'm not the only one who loses my camera. Hers was stolen. You guys. No, they just took it because I wasn't shooting. Thanks, you guys did a great job. We're still gonna shoot. Have you had an oyster? Not yet, but I'm dying to. Whoa, John. Take care. I'm okay. That was good recovery. Yeah, it wasn't camera mic. It didn't go down. So I'm gonna stay out here with you guys if you wanna talk about it some more. Whoa. Lemme know when you're done. I don't wanna get in your set. No, don't worry. (people muttering) Actually, can I get a portrait of you three together? I would love to do that. Yes. The three of you over here. Okay, can we come down here you three? Hey, John? Yeah. Oh cool, you're right by me. Right on this wall. Yeah, that's great. I'll have you in the middle. I love it. Come off the wall a little bit. That's great. Ooh, I love your body language. John, right there. That's great. Okay. Oh yeah, that's fantastic. That's freakin' amazing. Don't move. (camera clicking) Hold on. I love it, it's great. (camera clicking) Come in with your shoulder. Your left shoulder, yeah. Beautiful. Oh my god. Here we go, one, two, three. (camera clicking) Gorgeous. Thanks, guys. Thank you. So can someone take my picture with them? Yeah, gimme your camera. I feel like I need to be shucking. I know. I think you should be eating an oyster. I've never shucked an oyster. No, no. It's photography. You can hold it. No no, I'll be like we'll shuck together. (John chuckling) Well we're gonna teach you before you leave here. Okay. Okay, I'm good. I'm done. Thanks, guys. You guys are amazing. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. I'm salty Seattle. Yeah, no I know you are. In the otherworld. Salty Seattle right here. Oyster wine behind me. That's the man. This is the woman. Oh, you guys are all out here. Awesome. Does anybody wanna ask me any questions about how to shoot this? Anything, anything? (people muttering) You know what, I love the table view from overhead. It was just moving. Is there another ladder out here? There's a short ladder. I can get you a taller one. That'd be great. (people muttering) Is my nose running? Yeah, exactly. (birds chirping) (people muttering) (camera clicking) So does your nose run and your feel smell? (people chuckling) (people chattering and laughing) (camera clicking) I think they have officially been born. I think the babies have hatched and they're doin' it. I feel stupid. (chuckles) (Penny sighing) (people muttering) I think what's happening for me is I'm kinda just taking this in. I don't know. This is pretty surreal. Actually I think there's a picture of all of them making a picture, so that's kind of what I'm considering right now. (people chuckling) Hey. We're on camera, aren't we? Yeah, we are. Well since we're on camera, we'll have a conversation. I thought that we could maybe do a question or something. You wanna do a question? Yeah. Yeah, I have Susan right here and she's ready to give questions. Cool, I'd love to do some questions. Let's do this. Susan, what you got? Susan asks, "Do you have (chuckles)..." This is such a ridiculous process. Talk about layering in photos. You talked about layering a lot. What are you looking for here? In this situation, well I'm tryin' to layer. It's a little difficult because we're under a tent, so the exposure's gonna be different from our background. But here I'm just tryin' to localize the details, the moments. I'm always tryin' to layer, so I'm thinkin' about my background and my foreground and then maybe I'm paying attention to what's happening around them. If I'm doin' a wide shot, I'm just aware of who's comin' in and out of the frame from either angle or either side. Makes sense. I gotcha, I gotcha. And she's givin' me another question. Okay, let's do it. So gimme two seconds of silence here. What else, Susan? "When everything's going so fast like this "and you're tryin' to conceptualize the whole shoot, "how do you organize your thoughts "in a way when everything's going so quickly?" That's like a huge challenge and so you try to calm yourself down. You're tryin' to react. It's hard. I mean, that's like a struggle. There was a lot of momentum and energy, especially when I feel like I started shooting. It was really startin' to come together. And so you just try to pause and remember that you need to be calm and take a deep breath and try not to react as much, but listen to your instincts. And also something I always try to tell myself is stay with the moment longer than you want to. So the tendency is to just shoot it and go, but I try to stay a little longer and let whatever's gonna happen play out a little bit more. Does that make sense? It makes perfect sense. I come from a film background and we have that same problem too where they get done saying what you need and you stop camera. And right after that, they have like this perfect moment. If we would've only kept it a second longer. So after doing that a while, yeah you learn to just let it roll for like 10 or 15 seconds more and you can get some really good magic in there. Just stay with it and you're quiet. This is a little bit of what we call a cluster-- F. Yes. In terms of a lot of photographers and I want them to have that experience. I don't know that this is really visual. That table is beautiful, so I just kinda want them to explore it. I think they're enjoying themselves. Yeah, I think they are ready to get their cameras on. They could not get outta there soon enough with their cameras in-hand and then run out the stairs into the valley when I told 'em. I don't think I even need to be here anymore. You can just go home. The eggs have hatched. These guys have freakin' popped. The kernels have popped. My babies have bloomed. They're flyin' from the nest. I need a moment. Let's take a moment. I think we need maybe five minutes, so that we can get this camera that I'm looking at right now out in front of Skillet. They're out there. They're actually gonna be cooking. They're gonna be cooking our lunch. So let's take a five minute break and move out there. Yup? Sounds good.

Ratings and Reviews

Michelle B
 

Penny is the best with Food photography and at telling a story with pictures. This was the very first class I ever saw on Creative Live and Penny was amazing! Her class is so informative to all the aspects of food photography, from styling, to plating to shooting and lighting. and how to tell a story. What she taught me will never go out of style and will inspire you too. Thank you Penny for this outstanding class!

joayne
 

Love, Love, Love Penny. What great energy. I will never look at food the same way. Her story and her vision really touched me. She was so generous in sharing her knowledge in such simple terms. One of my favorite classes!

a Creativelive Student
 

Totally love this course!! What a find especially for the price - such a wealth of information and what a great positive spirit!! Thanks Penny for sharing - keep up the excellent work!

Student Work

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