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Why use a food stylist?
The short
answer is it makes the work better.
I know lighting. I know composition. I know lenses and file types
and filters. I don't know cooking, I don't know food chemistry.
That's where the food stylist comes in. It's the stylist's forte
to know how to cook the food (or not) in the manner that will produce
the look you're aiming for. It's a combination of experience, talent
and education that makes this possible. Food stylists are a great
combination of master chef and visual artist. Most stylists have
degrees in culinary arts and years of experience in the food service
industry. They've learned the craft of food styling from apprenticeships
as well as the occasional workshop or class at school. A few come
at it from the other direction and were artists, film makers or
photographers who got into food styling from that side.
Often we're approached by a restauranteur or small chain restaurant that's looking to do some photography for marketing purposes. Maybe they need shots for their menu, their website or other such uses. Invariably the talk turns to pricing and after finding out what they need I'll send over an estimate. Since I like to keep my clients in the loop on exactly how they're spending their money I itemize my estimates. This will occasionally lead to the questioning of line items on the estimate and I'm happy to answer any questions. Many clients will question the need for the food stylist stating, "Our chef can prepare the food, we don't need a stylist." Sometimes they're right. Usually not. The chef's job is to prepare food that tastes out of this world. Our job is to prepare food that looks out of this world. How food is prepared for photography is nothing like how food is prepared for customers.