Ep #41: Food Photography Styling Tips

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We all know how tricky food photography can be. But we’ve also heard from fabulous food bloggers that have experienced increased traffic when they made a concentrated effort to improve their food photography. One example is Gerry Speirs of Foodness Gracious who improved his food photography to grow his traffic to over 100,000 page views per month. And Emily Paster of West of the Loop who credited improving her food photography to an increase in traffic. We’ve got some great podcast interviews on how to improve your food photography, but another big part of food photography is the styling. That’s why today we’re talking Food Photography Styling Tips with Tieghan Gerard. Listen on for more!

Tieghan Gerard is the next guest on the Chopped Podcast, talking about food photography styling tips!

If you have a great surface you don't have to have a lot in the photo...the food and a great surface behind it. — Tieghan Gerard, #choppedcon Click To Tweet

Food photography is one of those things that can look so easy on the surface. I mean, what’s really involved? You just point and shoot. Right? Ahh, to go back to the days when that seemed real.

But once we’ve tried our hand at it for awhile, we start to realize that food photography is a wonderfully complicated thing that is both art and science. You need a very technical understanding of your camera, how it works in different light, color, and more.

And then there’s the art of food photography. How do you style the plate? What kind of background do you use? Should you shoot that chocolate cake with a bright, white background? Or do you go for a dark, moody layout?

Those are the kinds of questions I took to food blogger Tieghan Gerard. She’s the fabulous blogger behind the site Half-baked Harvest. Tieghan creates iconic food photos that you’ve probably seen all over Pinterest.

Tieghan talks with me about her journey as a food blogger and the things she’s learned about food photography and styling over her three years as a blogger.

I like the things that are beat up and used. I really like surfaces with a lot of character and textures. — Tieghan Gerard #choppedcon Click To Tweet

More than anything, the goal with food photography and styling is to have fun with it. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself living in your head, overthinking every last detail about every last thing you’re doing. The people who are best in their field — whether photographers, artists, writers, actors, or athletes — will tell you finding ways to stay relaxed (and out of your head) is a tried and true method for achieving your best.

We’ve had a number of food bloggers on the show who’ve shared some of their favorite food photography styling tips. You can go through and listen to these podcasts again or even read their accompanying posts. But I also put together a handy guide so you can have some food photography styling tips all in one place.

Our goal at ChoppedCon is that the episodes and interviews e’ve shared that focus on food photography (see the links below) along with this Food Styling Tips Guide will help you take your food blog and photography to the next level.

But one tip that can’t be denied, whatever art form you’re trying to master, is practice, practice, practice! That requires some courage and ownership. But you can do it!

Oh, and I talked with Tieghan about about some general  blogging and social media strategies too. Tieghan shares about her favorite social media and other blogging tips. Learn about Food Styling Tips with Tieghan Gerard today!

Featured Content – Food Photography Styling Tips with Tieghan Gerard

Here are some of the highlights of my discussion with Tieghan, where we discuss:

  • How Tieghan started her blog Half Baked Harvest
  • How Tieghan’s family contributes to her blog — as taste testers, prop collectors, and general support
  • Tieghan talks about the meandering approach to finding her true path after high school
  • Tieghan shares about her favorite social medial platforms
  • Tieghan talks about how she gets (and creates) some of her favorite props
  • Backgrounds can be a source of angst for food bloggers. Tieghan talks about how she gets hers
  • Tieghan talks about how she publishes 6 posts a week on her site
  • We talk a little about ways to find inspiration for food photography

Show Notes

This episode includes references to some resources you might find interesting. Here they are:

Announcements

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Posted in Food Blog Resources, Food Blogging, Podcast