Second Day – Savory
On the second day of the food capture workshop at Sunday Suppers with Aran Goyoaga the food featured was savory.
The day was set up the same as the sweets workshop and about 80% of the class were new students. Only a handful of us who traveled far stayed for both days of the workshop. The introduction part was the same as the day before so I spend a few minutes photographing the studio more.
Gluten Free Beet Pasta
This was one of my favorite parts of the workshop. The pasta making gave us a chance to practice capturing action shots. This recipe is a variation of her gluten-free squid ink pasta. The squid ink was replaced with pureed steamed beets.
This is my favorite shot from the whole workshop. I was able to get the right angle to hide the big dinning table in the back and capture Sammy blissfully making pasta like she was the only one in the room.
Roasted Squash
After our session in with the beet pasta, some roasted squash was taken out of the oven ready to be photographed. The sun was very harsh and bright to get the right shadows so a makeshift shade was made to angle the light correctly. One of the important takeaways from the workshop was knowing how to manipulate light so that your post production editing will only be minimal. Always try to get the perfect shot from the camera if you can.
Lunch Break
After getting to photograph squash and learning more about light Sammy and her Sunday Suppers team made us an exquisite lunch. It was so simple yet complex mix of flavors and textures. My food is most defiantly very inspired by Sunday Suppers cookbook Simple Fare.
Mushroom Tartine
The last part of the day was my favorite part. We watched Aran cook some mushrooms with herbs and make the most beautiful tartines I’ve seen.
We watched her compose a shot so effortlessly, editing props and food within seconds. We then took turns to take our own photos and see how different our eyes were when picking angles and camera settings.
Constructive Feedback
At the end of the day I was able to show some of my previous photos to Aran and get constructive feedback. I learned that you need to pull the eye in one area so was not to bombard it with information. You want the person looking at it to stop and take in the beauty and take action just by looking at your photograph. It may be saving it on Pinterest, liking it on Instagram or tearing out that page from a magazine to save it to make for later.
What I took away from the weekend is that style is subjective and it’s hard to teach. I believe you either have that eye or your don’t. It should not be forced as it will show in your photography / styling. Was it worth it going to the workshop? For me yes. It validated to me that what I was doing on my own wasn’t so far off to what a seasoned stylist is doing.
I have found what I want to contribute and that’s to create emotion from beautifully simple food photography.
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