I’ve had a recipe column in Chickens Magazine for quite a few years now. Each recipe I share in this bi-monthly magazine is accompanied by food photography. These are some of the more recent recipe photos that I have styled and photographed for the print edition of the publication.
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With over 10 years spent being a food stylist and photographer, one tends to gather a lot of photos of the same subject. It’s fun to look back at all the different ways I’ve managed to style and photograph the same type of food - a soup, cookies, and bread, for example. And I find that sharing these photos is a good way to help spark ideas in others who feel stuck.
In my recent post Idea Generation: How to Brainstorm Ideas for Food and Product Photography, I shared that coming up with new ideas seems to be one of the biggest challenge many people face. (If you feel that way, be sure to read that post.)
This challenge is never greater than when you are tasked with styling and photographing multiple photos of a single subject at one time.
When I wrote and photographed my cookbook, Beer Bread, I was definitely feeling those creative blocks.
But it was also a lot of fun. The challenge lead to some ways of thinking that hadn’t come to me before.
These are some of my favorite five ways to photograph bread with photos from that book.
Inside the loaf.
No need to cut multiple slices. Just give us a peak inside that beautiful loaf.
Whole loaf in the pan.
A simple idea, that is often forgotten. Show the bread inside the pan and resist the need for a lot of propping around it. Use a surface you love and let the loaf shine all on its own.
Slices neatly stacked.
I love how these shots show the inside while also inviting you to reach over and grab a slice.
Slices scattered.
Give the photo the casual feel of a snack board and scatter the slices.
Whole loaf overhead.
When the bread is a pretty loaf, let it be. Give the scene some color and let the loaf stand on its own. Or…
Slices folded over.
A little bonus with a sixth idea, because this can really only be done with the right loaf. For large round loaves that allow for big, long slices that tend to flop over. Keep the slices tightly intact at the bottom and let them gently unfold out of the loaf.
I’ve always wanted to do a lot of different things. To learn about a lot of different things. To experience a lot of things. To create many different things.
It’s always been in conflict with the business advice I routinely receive that I should pick one thing and focus only on that. That is the key to success.
It has always felt like an unadventurous decision to me. A recipe for becoming bored with what you do, day in and day out.
I tried it. And as expected it didn’t work. And fortunately, around that same time, I started to run into more and more people who do a lot of different things.
What I realized is that I did need a base, a focus. But from there I could branch out - I could create different types of photography, offer different types of courses, do commissioned shoots, and sell prints.
It just all needed to relate back to my core mission for my business. Which is what I had to spend some time figuring out.
I created three words or phrases that reflect why I do the work that I do.
Freedom. Better system. Inspire pause.
Freedom relates to my time and the flexibility in my schedule. I can work three 10-hour days, seven 5-hour days. Work remotely while I travel. Overwork for 2 weeks to start the month so I can travel the following two weeks.
I’m not afraid of work and don’t strive to maintain a 20-hour work week or a month of vacation each year. I just enjoy being able to push hard when I want or need to, and pull back when I want or need to.
Better system relates to who I serve. I enjoy helping those who create a better system for the foods we consume and the goods we buy with the work that I do. Food and drink companies, agriculture boards and councils, and artisans are examples of those I enjoy working with most.
Inspire pause relates to what I create and what I teach. I have one goal for all of the photos I create, for them to inspire pause. For others to stop for even a split second and think - that’s beautiful, I want to learn more about that, I want to travel there, or even simply, I bet that tastes good. My goal with teaching is to show others how to inspire pause themselves.
With these three things at the core of my work, it allowed me to categorize the work that I do.
Commissioned work. Teaching. Affordable stock photography.
Commissioned photography. Whether it’s recipe shoots, product shoots, or for editorial and books, this type of work through my company Fake Food Free Productions sustains my business so that I can maintain that freedom. It also allows me to work with those creating a better system.
Courses and workshops. It turns out I’ve always been a teacher, even though I didn’t see myself as one. It started with teaching group exercise and personal training when I was in college. Then I created health curricula and lead trainer-the-trainer events as well as cooking workshops when I was working in public health. I didn’t realize how naturally it came to me until I started my CreatingYOU.® family of courses and workshops by teaching my Confused to Confident: Food and Product Photography for Food Makers, Growers, and Artisan Creators that helps small business owners create their own photos.
This work leads back to helping those who are creating a better system. It also allows me to focus on my creative work to inspire pause and to help others do the same.
Affordable stock photography. My third tier is something I created to help those who don’t fall into the first two categories. My Farm Fresh Photos monthly membership is intended to help those who can’t yet afford to hire someone like me for a commissioned shoot and who also don’t want to take their own photos. I get to stay creative and true to my inspire pause mission with my photos and help those creating a better system with affordable photos that they can use for digitally marketing their businesses.
Doing a lot of different things can definitely feel disorganized and overwhelming. But it’s settling in on the key things within your mission that’s important. Who do you serve or want to serve and why are you doing this work? Once you have that, outline the things you want to do in a way that ensures they push that mission forward.
When each thing you do leads back to your overall mission, then you know that each has value and the time you put towards each is worth it.
Essentially this how you give your work focus without feeling forced to do only on one thing.