Several weeks ago, Annabelle Breakey, one of my favorite photographers, tweeted:

I’m a photographer and the market place is really crazy-
how best to share work and inspire?? go forward? thoughts anyone?

How could I resist? I asked if she’d consider a virtual interview to share here. Wonderfully, she said yes! First, you should pop over and check out her beautiful work… especially how she plays with light. It’s magical. She definitely inspires me!

All the photos below are Annabelle’s (used with permission) Hope you enjoy the interview:

SLW: On your portfolio, I loved this quote “I like pretty light on pretty stuff.” What makes pretty light in your eyes? Where do you lie on natural versus studio lighting?

AB: I get more comments on that statement, and it seems like such an obvious thing to say. For me, with photography, making images is really the study of the quality of light, color, mood, emotion, and texture on people, places and things. Why not have the subjects be pretty or made pretty by how I photograph a subject? Shaping light and all of its complexities: color balance, contrast, direction, or volume on a subject is all done to make a statement or to create feeling. This study has been a life long passion for me.

As for natural vs. studio… it doesn’t matter. I think sodium vapor street lights make beautiful images. Just look at what Todd Hido does at night in suburban landscapes. He truly makes the ordinary extraordinary.

SLW: What are your 5 best tips for making a successful shot?

AB:
1) Have a plan
2) Have the best help possible if you don’t have a plan
3) Know your tools
4) Have the best help possible if you don’t know your tools
5) Sounds silly but, bring joy to the set

SLW: What camera equipment do you usually shoot with? Are you all digital now? Any gear that you couldn’t live without?

AB: I have been fully digital since 1995. I bought my first computer in 1992 and have been using Photoshop ever since. My preference is a 4×5 with a PhaseOne digital back for still life. Also, I use a Canon 5D for people, lifestyle. I don’t think I can live with out my loupe, level, a jillion cf cards, batteries, an almost grey card, copious amounts of hard drive space and all those extra cords.

SLW: Speaking of magazines, your work for Sunset Magazine (one of my favorites) is always stunning. The avocado piece from one of the recent issues really blew me away. Tell me a bit about working with them.

AB: I love Sunset Magazine. They have a really wonderful approach to working with talent. My studio, location and style of work has really clicked with them lately. However, the magazine is constantly evolving. The creative department is always trying new things and pushing the quality of all the sections: more interesting homes, more clever gardens, and super tasty and different recipes. They are one of my biggest inspirations that me push me to test, test, test which keeps me on my toes. They are so connected with what is happening with photography, even if I am on some creative tangent, they always are patient and look at the crazy testing I’ve done lately and give healthy feedback. This is why I am so inspired by the team there. Oh! and the food in the Avocado Story was gorgeously styled by Karen Shinto. She rocks.

SLW: You get to work with some amazing food and prop stylists. Who are some of your favorites to work with? Do you ever do you own food or prop styling?

AB: I work with the most amazing and talented people out there. I have a very long list of people- too long for this article. Go to my site http://www.annabellebreakey.com/ and look at the info on each image. It’s all there. Prop my own shots?! Why? When it can be SO much better with a pro. I only do my own propping if I’m really in the mood or there is zero budget. On more simple and conceptual shots, I often do the props, as it is usually a journey of discovering light. For food and commercial projects, I prefer to have a team, make creative decisions and then we all come together to make images. I prefer to spend my time studying photography, light and the concepts behind images. Let the styling pros do their thing! I have So much respect for them, and their craft.

SLW: How about other photographers? Who really inspires you?

AB: This list gets longer and longer every day. Even if I started to name names, I would feel terrible because I couldn’t include all of them. I just have to start with my peers just in SF. There is so much amazing talent in my own back yard. Then it explodes, globally – Just look at who PDN reports on. I never cease to be inspired. I look at all aspects of photography in all genres. I take it all in and mush it around. This can be a problem.

SLW: Do you read any food blogs? If so, what are some of your favorites?

AB: Fabulous food blogs? There are too many to count! I like yours, of course. Ok- for a ‘today’ scenario… There are a few food blogs that are on my google home page in betwixt the news and photo blogs… right now… (I am already feeling guilty about those not listed… and I admit, I am following a fair number of interesting folks on twitter… fyi: photo_ab):

http://blog.gorgeousgrub.com/
http://www.breakawaycook.com/blog/
http://www.tylerflorence.com/blog/
http://cherryonacake.blogspot.com

SLW: How about cooking? Do you cook at home? What are your favorite things to make?

AB:Cook? Why cook!?! I have the most amazing stylists in the world cooking in my kitchen and leaving left-overs. If I’m going to make anything, it’s either a latte or homemade chicken stock for the stylists – just because I really like roast chicken. I also make ice – or rather – my freezer does.

Thanks Annabelle for sharing little about yourself with us!

A few weeks ago, I got a lovely piece of mail from a food stylist that I hadn’t known before. Actually, I had known him from his amazingly beautiful stylings in magazines like Sunset among countless others. In fact, you have most likely seen Randy Mon’s work before too without knowing it. Such seems to be the life of food stylists, staying hidden behind the scenes. After my jaw nearly dropped to the floor after seeing even the first shot on his portfolio of the most luscious looking radishes and herbs I’ve ever seen in my life, I quickly popped off a response to him to see if I could coax him to take a few (or more) minutes to share a little about himself with me and you guys. Amazingly, he generously obliged and not only sent me along a fantastic interview with wonderful insights into how he works… but also a lovely handful of photos showing his excellent work.

So, with that, here’s my virtual interview with Randy for you all to enjoy!

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I’ve been thinking a lot about the business end of photography these days. I’m in the midst of reading John Harrington’s Best Business Practices for Photographers, a book intended for professional photographers with well-established businesses, but still a good read for those just getting started. It goes into almost painful detail about licensing and rights for all different types of photography, and what and why you should charge. It’s filled with all kinds of real-world scenarios from Harrington’s own business and I’ve gotten so engrossed with it that I’ve found myself still reading it at 2am. But, perhaps I’m just weird that way.

Photo by Thomas Barwick

As luck would have it, I also got to spend a bit of time this morning with one of the local Seattle photographers whose work I’ve been drooling over for the last six months or so. Thomas Barwick’s work really struck me in the November issue of Seattle Magazine. All of his photos in the issue (as well as subsequent issues…) have been beautiful, but the one that really grabbed me was a photo of well worn hands all covered in dark soil holding out a selection of cranberry and string beans… brilliant pinky purple speckled pods hiding a few dappled beans. Simply gorgeous. So, being the goof that I am, I googled to see if he had a portfolio, and popped off a piece of mail asking if he’d indulge me in a little chat over coffee. It took a few months for him to find some time in what sounds like a very nutty schedule, but everything finally fell into place this week, and we chatted for a bit at El Diablo Coffee, in the Queen Anne area of Seattle.
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Dessert Parfait
Photo © Mike Jensen
Taste of the NFL cookbook, a fundraiser for hunger relief
Styling by Lisa Golden Schroeder

For quite some time now, Lisa Golden Schroeder, one of the food styling industry masters, and I have been trading phone calls and voice mails, trying to find some time in both of our busy schedules to chat about the business. The thing that separates Lisa from other stylists, a part from her obvious talents, is her commitment to the styling community and a strong belief that helping others in the field is good for everyone. In addition to talks and classes on food styling, Lisa runs Foodesigns.com, a website dedicated to issues and resources for food stylists and photographers as well as periodically publishing The Tweezer Timesâ„¢ with some of the most helpful styling tips you’ll find.
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If there was one thing (and there were many!) I learned from my experience meeting with MatthewA, it’s that I am not a particularly good interviewer. Particularly when I’m surrounded by food and cameras and dishes and linens and people making gorgeous images, I tend to just get lost in the moment and forget the fact that I’m supposed to be asking questions. So, when I scheduled a chat over coffee with Kelly Cline, one of Seattle’s up and coming food photographers, I knew I’d need to do a bit of advanced preparation in order to avoid just oooing and ahhing over her natural talent. Kelly and I had already shared several conversations over email, and her fun and energetic personality meant that I was going to have to work hard to keep our interview from turning into two hours of foodie girl talk. Especially since the LightSource interview that was recently podcast gave me so much insight into her work already. So, I planned out my questions, printed them out and even remembered to bring them with me! Of course, that didn’t stop us from sounding like teenage girls at the mere mention of truffle oil or one of our favorite food photographers. I still tended to get swept away in the conversation, so our time felt more like sitting down with a new friend than an interview. But, somehow through that, I did manage got get through all of my questions, and learned a ton about Kelly in the process.

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Tucked into a little neighborhood along the western edge of Route 66 is a place… a magical place. A place where memories of meals and moments are captured. It’s full of the nicest people you could meet, all working tirelessly to make picture perfect dishes. And I got to join it for a couple of days. As you can imagine, I was pretty much in heaven. Continue reading →

I admit it. I’ve been holding out on you. I saw the very excellent interview with Matt on I Speak Film days ago, and devoured it, without adding a link here instantly as I should have done. But, you see, there was a reason, and I suppose now is as good as a time to tell you as any.

I’m starting a new series of posts in which I interview people in the industry. It’s something that I have been planning all along, but first had to get a lot of the basics done. And, while I still have a lot how-tos to go, a couple of months ago I started scheming about who I’d want to interview first. And Matt, that man of many exclamation points, immediately came to mind. Between his ebullient personality and his phenomenal aesthetic sense, I couldn’t imagine a better way to kick it off. So after a couple of email exchanges and playing schedule Tetris, we agreed upon a time to meet. Which just happens to be next week. Yes, a week after the big I Speak Film interview went live. The good news is that it means I don’t have to ask a lot of the same old boring questions. The bad news is I have to come up with a lot of really interesting ones. And, while I’m certainly not at all afraid of running out of topics, I thought I’d open up the interview to you folks too!

So, if you haven’t yet, pop on over and read through the interview and drool over his photos for a bit. Then, come back here, and let me know what other questions you have for Matt… I’ll do my best to get them answered for you!

Technorati Tags: Food, Food Styling, Photography

Hey There! Well, if you are reading today, there’s at least a good chance that you stumbled here from Matt Bites and his brilliant food styling & photography tips… so posting that you should go and make them your bible is probably redundant and might accidentally put you into an endless loop of clicking.

But, for those reader’s who haven’t yet found Matt, do yourself a favor. Stop reading me right now, and go read Matt. Don’t worry. I’ll wait. I promise I’ll be here when you get back. Go! And, don’t just read his most recent post on food photography. Go read his entire blog. It’s wonderful… both in writing and in photos. Donna Hay would be so lucky to get Matt working on her side. Plus, he’s a really, really nice guy.

Thanks Matt for the links today!

Technorati Tags: Food, Food Styling, Photography, Tips