9 No-Cost Ways to Improve Your Styling and Photography This Month

Improving your styling and photography isn’t always about the technical - the tools, the gear, the settings. Once you know the basics, it becomes more about your ability to:  1) apply your own perspective to the scene you capture, 2) study in a way that gives you new ideas, 3) review your work in a way that allows you to grow, and 4) let go of past beliefs that were taught to you along the way. 

Here are some easy things you can do to build your skill and style. All but one is completely free. 

Print your work:  Take your eyes away from a screen and view your work in print. What do you notice with it in hand that you didn’t on the screen? Do you love it? If not, what would you change? You can print with a printer at home* or send off for 4-by-6-inch prints with an online service for as little as 30 cents each. 

Choose your perspective:  What type of photo excites you the most when you see it? A filled-frame flatlay? A minimal shot with lots of negative space? A scene that tells a full story? A tight macro shot? If it’s all of the above, choose the one you are most excited about at this very moment. Put blinders on and create only work like that for a while. See where it takes you. 

Identify what only you have access to:  Each of us has something we bring to our photos that is unique to us. Start by looking around you, at your environment. I have window grids that bring in beautiful afternoon light, but I have no comforting snowy scenes or intriguing city streets in view from my windows. We often focus on what we don’t have that prevents us from creating a photo we like by someone else. Focus on what you do have to create a photo unlike any other. 

Get rid of old props you don’t use: They clutter your space and sometimes cause you to feel guilty that you purchased them but don’t use them. Donate the items and move on. Sit with some extra space for a while or save up and buy new pieces that truly fit your style right now. 

Study in analog instead of digital:  Have you always taken online courses or watched YouTube videos to build your skills? Grab a photography book and start learning. You may find that something clicks for you learning in that format that didn’t happen with other methods of study. 

Review in analog instead of digital:  If you always study other photos on Instagram or Pinterest, turn off the screen and grab a book. Head to the library, flip through cookbooks, floral design books, interior design books, and travel books with photos. There is so much content out there. And if you worry that the books are old and not on trend, just wait. Like fashion, photo styles will circle back. They always do. 

Go to the portfolio:  If studying the work of others inspires you, leave the social media profiles. Go to an artist’s portfolio website. Most have so much more work that is more beautifully displayed than what is allowed in a tiny grid. Detail, light, props, and angles - these are more visible on a website portfolio. Explore the artist’s categories of work -  their personal, editorial, and commercial work. It will open the narrow view you may have of them and show that you can create more than one thing. 

Choose one other art form that complements your photography work:  Let something else fuel your creativity aside from photographs. Grow herbs or succulents to use in your photos, learn how to naturally dye linens, paint or draw, macrame, crochet, try paper quilling, or junk journal. These things give your brain a creative break while building your eye for textures and colors that you can bring back to your styling. You might also end up with a unique prop to use in your photos. 

Let go of someone else’s style and settings:  Did you learn from someone that you should always do it one way? An ISO setting, an aperture setting, a styling technique? Have you ever tried changing it? There are certainly correct and incorrect ways to operate a camera, but photography is art. There are often many ways to do one thing. See if you can push the limits to those only this way beliefs that were pushed on you. 

Choosing just one of these to test out for a few weeks will change things. And I’d love to know how, so swing back to let me know. Until then, any other things you’ve done that have helped you improve your styling and photography?

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*I use HP printers and love their Instant Ink Membership where I pay a low monthly price based on the number of pages printed and they ship me ink whenever I run out at no additional cost. That’s my referral link so if you decide to try it, we both get a month free. 

I also use Red River Paper for all my printing. My favorite is the Polar Matte photo printing paper. (I’m an affiliate so I earn a small amount from sales through my links.) 

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Six Books That Changed My Styling and Photography

Few books on my shelf fail to inspire me, but as I look back on my style and the path of my work, I can see the impact some very specific books have had on the photos I create. There is no doubt that these books made me a better stylist and photographer.

I find it’s important to look everywhere for inspiration, especially outside of where we most expect to find it. These books are not how-to guides for photography and only about half are even related to food photography. Seeing them, reading them, and understanding their perspective provides me with something that I bring back to my work day after day. 

Those things slowly evolved into my eye and my photos. This is truly what it takes to create your own art. Maybe they will inspire you as well, or at the very least inspire you to go searching for your own list.

(Some books in the list are links back to my Bookshop.org shop where a purchase will support independent bookstores and earn me a very small affiliate commission.)

What I Eat: Around the World in 80 Diets by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio.

This was the first photography book on my shelf and my first introduction to documentary photography. It remains the most impactful 15 years later. My background in nutrition is what launched my interest in food and food culture. That interest is what motivates my work in food styling and photography with an emphasis in where food comes from. This book still encourages me to capture a different perspective. On the dietary and nutrition side of things, while I didn’t know it then, it laid the foundation for my belief that there is no one right way to eat. 

Home Made by Yvette van Boven with Photography by Oof Verschuren.

All of her cookbooks inspire me, because I have all but one. But this was the first one I added to my collection many years ago. Seeing the photos by Oof Verschuren in this book was striking to me during a time when everything in food photography appeared very much the same. They were truly original and encouraged me to insert my own little differences into my photos. They almost serve as a sign of permission that you can do your own thing.

Bountiful: Recipes inspired by our garden by Todd Porter and Diane Cu.

This book inspired me to start capturing what is outside with what is in. It helped that I took a workshop with Todd and Diane about the time this book was published. The book has also taught me to create my own scenes when what I want to photograph isn’t right there for me to capture. 

Wabi-Sabi Welcome by Julie Porter Adams.

This book met me right where I was when I found it several years ago. I wanted, and still want, simplicity. It educated me on the concept of wabi-sabi and allowed me to incorporate more of that - negative space, natural elements - into my photos. 

In the Mood for Colour by Hans Blomquist.

All of his books are worthy of your shelf, but this one in particular helped me appreciate original color. I’m typically drawn to neutrals and muted tones in my work, but when I flip though this book I’m encouraged to add pops of color where they work. It has also shown me that color can be present without being loud or demanding. It can be rich and intriguing. 

The Multi-Hyphen Life by Emma Gannon.

No, there isn’t a photo in this book, but it did something for me that no other book has. That is to embrace the fact that I do many things. I am a stylist-photographer-writer. I consult, direct, style props, develop recipes, create photos, capture photos, and write words that go with it all. After years of feeling like this made me less than because I wasn’t focused on one thing or served one narrow role as part of a photography team, I finally embrace it and know it makes me so much better at my work. I don’t have to do it all, but can, and often do, do it all. 

If you are on a search for more books to add to your reading list, always feel free to check out my page on Bookshop.org where I keep updated lists of all my favorites. 

Five Prompts for Fall Photography and Styling

As the seasons change, so does what I’m inspired to create. My styling and photography shifts to deeper colors, darker shadows, and stronger contrast. 

I find myself experimenting more with flames, warm drinks, and scenes that feel cozier than those that came to me in the muted, lighter summer. 

If you are feeling the same, here are five prompts to use for pulling together some creative photos yourself during this new season.

Make food the supporting star not the hero.

The prompt: If you often photograph food, consider taking your focus away from it. Create a scene that includes food, or hints at it, but make your hero something else - a stack of books, a candle, a dinnerware set, glassware. 

Tips:  Move the food to the foreground or the edges. Catch just a hint of a mug or the handle. Shoot at a shallow depth of field so that it stays out of focus in the scene. Or pull back and create a full scene with a food or drink as simply a part of a bigger set.

Incorporate prints.

The prompt: I love neutrals and solids as much as the next person, but fall is an ideal time to ease into prints for linens and tablecloths. Plaids and prints with browns, grays, blues, specks, and stripes help develop your eye for what works with the subject without stealing too much attention from it. 

Tip: Start by using prints as a surface versus trying to get the placement just right with a linen. If prints make you uncomfortable, focus on tight shots that capture only a bit of the surface. 

Create a fall-inspired diptych.

The prompt: Pick your favorite printed fabric or linen, one that gives you all the autumn vibes, and take a photo of it. Search your archives for a styled photo that pairs well with colors in the fabric, or create a new one. Set them up as a side-by-side in your editing software or Canva for a pleasing visual to share. 

Tip: I love using plaid for this exercise. It has so many colors and shades of those colors to match up with a styled scene. Pairing my photos helps me identify connections in color and mood that I can apply to future work I create. 

Take a prop shot.

The prompt:  Gather props - plates, trays, linens, utensils, cups - with the moodiest vibes you have going in your collection. Style and capture in at least three ways - overhead scene, tight detail, 45-degree angle.  

Tip: Working with still options outside of food sharpens skills at controlling light and styling placement. Plus creating moody prop photos is just a whole lot of fun!

Hit the streets.

The prompt: Whether it is a trail in the woods, the sidewalk in your neighborhood, or the median in a public parking lot, pick the peak week for color change in your area and head out with the camera. Create at least three fall-inspired photos with a unique perspective, a different angle or focus than you would first turn to.

(Timing for my fall photos was sometimes not until early December when I lived in California’s Central Valley. Even if you don’t get a lot of color change, things are changing. When we lived on the coast near the ocean, colors didn’t change, but skies, greenery, and sunsets did.)

Tip: Experiment with a shallow depth of field, especially with leaves and colors. Photograph through branches, squat down and photograph up. Think of ways to photograph that you never have before.

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It’s baking season! Be sure you grab my creative guide with 10 Ways to Photograph Banana Bread.