I’m just back from Chicago, from BlogHer, the conference for women bloggers. Bea, Jan and I all had such a great time with our panel on Food Photography (HappyKatie live blogged about it here, and StyleFool here. Thanks to both of you for such a great job transcribing). As someone who isn’t much of a fan of public speaking, I have to say, I had so much fun during this talk, and just wanted to say a big thanks to all the attendees for their great questions and attention. There was so much to cover… far more than was possible in the hour and a half we had, and every few minutes I think of another thing that I wish that I had said. But, I guess that just gives me more stuff to talk about here.

Once again, thanks to all the attendees and to BlogHer and it’s sponsors for asking me to attend.

PS: Bea has added a great summary of some of her key points on her blog… do take a look!

Leaving Boston on Monday evening, I felt like I had just spent 4 days pouring over my favorite foodie magazines… I was awe-struck, overly full of ideas, and antsy to start getting back into the kitchen and putting even just a little of what I had learned to use. My head still feels a bit like an over-stuffed sausage, but it seems time to start to give you a taste of what went on at the conference.

My personal adventure started a bit earlier than the conference because I am a spaz, and apparently can’t read a schedule. The conference started on Friday, and I knew that I really was not capable of sitting through an afternoon of talks after taking a red-eye flight, so I booked myself on the Wednesday night redeye instead, expecting to have the Thursday to recover before the workshops began. Silly me… the only thing happening on Friday was registration, something that I could have done half asleep. Thankfully, Bea and P were incredibly kind with my extra imposition, and I got to hang with Bea as she whipped up some of her famous tarts. All I can say is that as great as they look on her blog, they even taste better. Bea and I also got to go do some prop shopping, starting at a fabric store, where we both picked out several new and fabulous textures and colors for backdrops and linens. After my recent trip to LA, and a suitcase bulging with goods I got from Surfas, I knew that I’d better keep my finds to fabrics that would pack well.
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Boston University has recently announced a new conference for food photographers and stylists. Stylists John Carafoli and Lisa Golden Schroeder (fooddesigns.com) chair the Boston U Gastronomy Masters program, and have created this long weekend event to focus on the business of creating food images. A panel of international food stylists, photographers and design professionals will lead discussions on issues from food corporations to cookbooks. Speakers include:

* Darra Goldstein, editor-in-chief, Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture
* Shirley Corriher, author, Cookwise and Kitchen Secrets Revealed
* Harold McGee, food scientist and author, On Food and Cooking
* Romulo Yanes, food photographer for Gourmet magazine
* Cindy Lund, food styling manager at General Mills, Inc.
* Carol Peterson, noted food stylist for name brands including Pillsbury, Green Giant, Eggo, and Del Monte

The conference is June 1st through 4th 2007. Price is not yet listed on the site, but there phone numbers listed to register. For more information, see the Boston University special events page.
And for those that are interested in food writing as well, there is a one day talk on March 31st, with some fantastic names from the food-authoring biz:

* Ilene Bezahler, publisher and editor, Edible Boston
* Jane Black, food editor, Boston Magazine
* Doe Coover, literary agent, Doe Coover Agency
* Annie Copps, food editor, Yankee Magazine
* Richard Elia, publisher, Quarterly Review of Wines
* Darra Goldstein, editor-in-chief, Gastronomica:The Journal of Food and Culture
* Sheryl Julian, food editor, Boston Globe
* Christopher Kimball, editor, Cook’s Illustrated
* Rux Martin, cookbook editor
* Alex Prud’homme, co-author, My Life in France (with Julia Child)
* Nina Simonds, cookbook author

This talk is $125, and includes lunch.

Technorati Tags: Food, Food Styling, Photography, Tips

This year’s Photoshop World, in Las Vegas from September 7 through 9th, will have some sessions that could be interesting for budding food photographers. Joe Glyda is giving a live demonstration/talk on how to light for shooting food, and there are many other talks on lighting, still life and color correction. Plus, Scott Kelby is giving one of his awe-inspiring and motivational talks on how to squeeze the most out of Photoshop. I saw Scott give a talk at Photoshop World a year or so ago, and it’s truly inspirational.

Register by August 4th for early bird pricing, which saves you $100.

Technorati Tags: Photography, Photoshop, Tips