photo: © 2009 Danno

I continually get asked by those learning food photography how to shoot better in restaurants with low lighting, or at home in natural light, and without spending wads of cash on equipment. That is exactly what these workshop are all about: simple and affordable solutions that will improve your photographs. We’ll be doing a bit of talking but mostly shooting, so be sure to bring your gear. Not a food blogger, but love shooting your kitchen creations and want to learn new techniques? You’re more than welcome too!

The Details:

• • Guaranteed 1-on-1 time for every student
• • I will teach you step-by-step how to set-up your shots using some specific food & beverage examples, focussing on using your camera’s manual settings
• • I will be sending out some refresher notes before-hand, and some workshop notes for you to take away from the session
• • All you are required to bring is your camera, it’s manual and a tripod
• • I don’t accept more than 10 people to a workshop to ensure that I can give each of you dedicated 1-on-1 time.
• • The last 2 workshops filled up & sold out quite quickly, and payment is required to hold your spot. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions!
• • Click here to read info/see pics from previous workshops
• • To register for either/both workshops, please email Jackie and I will send you the PayPal details

The Workshops:

• Food Photography+Food Styling 101: A Workshop for Food Bloggers & Other Creative Types
Taught by myself and my food stylist Angie Martin, we’ll show you how to not only photograph your dishes, but techniques on how to cook for the camera. We’ll debunk myths about using glue, paint & other toxic materials in food photography (hint hint: we prefer the natural way of doing things, though a touch of glue can do wonders!)
Saturday March 27th, 1pm
Venue: Jackie’s studio - 336 East 1st Ave Vancouver
$65 (gst included)
• Food Photography 101: A Workshop for Food Bloggers & Other Creative Types
The focus here will be of course on the technical side of food photography as we’ve done in the past, but also because of all the feedback and questions I’ve received on this topic I’ll spend a large part of the workshop on composition (where does that darn fork go?!).
Saturday April 3rd, 1pm
Venue: The Refinery
$45 (gst included)

January found me teaching another Food Photography 101 workshop to another group of great local food bloggers. This one was held at Irashai Grill (follow Irashai on twitter here)with the help of their fabulous PR and social media maven Danielle, and of course we had to stay for lunch after which was delicious, as always!

I love all the food bloggers I’ve met through these workshops - they’re all so curious and eager to learn; it’s so awesome! And check out their blogs:

Ethnic Eats and Degan Beley

Fine Lime Designs

Darryl Hodgins

Daily Unadventures in Cooking

The Reluctant Chef

Shermans Food Adventures

Community Kitchens website and blog

Gourmeted

Victoria’s Food Secrets Follow Victoria on Twitter Fan her Facebook Page

And what happens after the workshop always cracks me up: we sit down to eat in a few of the booths, but out come the cameras, putting their workshop knowledge to the test! You can also see some of the bloggers who posted their pics afterwards.

It’s always amazing to me how fast 2 hours goes by when I’m in a room full of foodies. Add cameras to the mix, and the little ‘ah ha!’ moments start coming out. I love it.

What I don’t love is the end of the 2 hours coming on so fast I don’t have time to take any video with my Flip…though some might argue what I did have time to catch was the best part: dessert!

We were lucky enough to be hosted at Campagnolo for the workshop, my local watering hole, and it just happened to be their 1 year anniversary that day. Happy Anniversary Campagnolo! Thanks again for everything! Most of us stayed after the workshop for lunch which included crispy ceci (fried chickpeas with mint & a touch of chili spice), and some delicious traditional Italian-style sandwiches.

Thank you also to all the fabulous foodies and food bloggers who attended (and be sure to check out their blogs!):

Eagranie from The Well Tempered Chocolatier

Shannon from Bakergirl Creations

Cassandra from Good Life Vancouver

Ben & Suanne from ChowTimes

Nolwenn from ABC Cooking

Liz from Bits n Bites

Oana from Ian and Oana *also see Oana’s post on the workshop here!

and last but not least - Brenda! (aka @mightyvanilla)

The next workshop is set for Saturday January 9th, 2010..details coming later this week, and email me if you’d like to reserve a spot! As of today there at 6 spots remaining.