Anatomy of a food shoot

Pre-production.
Work on a shoot begins long before we take the camera out of it's case. A successful shoot starts with good planning. We'll sit down with you (and your client) and talk about what you want to accomplish with the images, how you expect to use them and what you would like the images to look like. We'll go over the shot list, talk about props, locations and timing. Often one of the most difficult questions to answer for clients is one of visual style. We like to say there two schools of thought on food photography, both relate to magazines. The first is the 'Real Simple' school - minimal propping and accessorizing, broad soft light. The second is the 'Southern Living' ideal - heavy propping, dramatic lighting. And of course there's the whole spectrum between. Often it's helpful for clients to show us examples of things that they like. They can print samples off the internet or tear sheets out of a magazine. With the information we gather during pre-production we can start planning the day(s) of the shoot and make sure everything is in place.

Shooting.
With the big questions answered in pre-production, the shoot is a snap. Ok, well maybe not a snap but it's easy. Ok, well maybe not easy, but the point is, we've developed a plan during pre-production and now we're ready to put that plan into action. In addition to the client and the photographer there can be a handful of other people on site during a shoot. They include -

• Food Stylist.
  The food stylist is the person responsible for making the food physically look appealing. The photographer handles the lighting, the composition and the final technical details but the food stylist handles the food. Most food stylists are multi-talented and have a whole kit of tricks and tools to make the food look it's best.
• Food Styling Assistant.
  Usually on the crew for larger productions. My food stylist is great but he can only be in one place at a time.
• Prop Stylist.
  A prop stylist is responsible for acquiring the props and other decorative items and placing them onto the set as needed.
• Photographers Assistant.
  The photo assistant helps me adjust lighting, moves items onto and off of the set, and if there's no digital technician on the job will help operate the computer.
• Digital Technician.
  On larger jobs we will bring in a digital technician to operate the computer during the shoot. Since everything we shoot is digital, a trained tech is invaluable in running the software and managing the huge amounts of data that can accumulate during the course of the day.
• Photo Intern.
  During the summer months and sometimes year round we like to have an intern in house. Interns here are like interns everywhere. They basically get to hang around, watch the world go by and learn from the experience of everyone on the team.

Of course not every job needs the full crew. Sometimes it's just the photographer, food stylist and the assistant. Whatever the needs, we'll have it covered.

Typically the food stylist will prepare what's called a dummy. This is simply a stand-in plate of food that closely represents what the final or 'hero' item will look like. We'll use the dummy to set composition, lighting and accessories on the set while the stylist is hard at work preparing the hero. After we're happy with the light and the shot and the stylist is happy with the hero we'll swap them out and begin final tweaks. Another reason we use a stand-in is that food often has a very small window in which you must shoot before it begins to look dull and well, old. We'll make sure were almost there with the stand-in, that way once the hero comes out we can make final adjustments and then capture the winner.

Each winning shot takes time and patience to pull together. We will generally shoot test shots throughout the process in order to check lighting, composition and styling. (To see a frame by frame breakdown of a recent shoot click here.) As a result there is often a lot of down time for the client during a shoot. If we're on location or in the studio it's often a good idea to bring your cell phone and laptop with you as there can be a lot of down-time for the clients while we work on the technical details of the image. Generally at the end of the day the client can leave with low resolution raw images. With those in hand the graphic design process can get started.

Post-Production
Every recipe needs that last little item to finish it off. Every outfit needs that accessory to tie it all together. Every image needs a little tweak to bring it to it's best. Most jobs require some help after the shoot to make everything come together. Sometimes it's simple adjustments. Other times it's a team collaboration between digital artists, the photographer and the clients. It's here that we'll also prepare the file for final output. More on that topic in our File Type and Color Management Tutorial.

We hope that this little primer has helped you understand our process a bit better. As we've said, every job is different. Your job may pan our differently than what's been described here but rest assured, we will make it work.