Clearly, you guys love to post to the Flickr Group. And I love to see your work! But, I am quite behind given the number of photos posted in the last 2 months and a bit of a freak amount of work in my day job in April.

This month, your challenge is… well, no challenge! For May, it’s a free for all! Post up to 3 photos of food shots you want to show. Anything you want!

However, I’m going to skip commenting this month. If you really want me to comment, please tag the photo “STWFeedbackPlease” and I’ll be sure to take a look and give you some feedback.

I’m also asking for help in future months. If you have an idea for a challenge, shoot me a piece of email and let me hear your suggestions! Or post ideas on the Future Theme Ideas thread. If you think you have time to help give feedback, let me know too. Of course everyone is welcome and encouraged to leave feedback on the photos in the group. The more we all get involved, the better.

It sounds all so simple doesn’t it… March’s theme of Eggs. Much simpler, I suppose than last month’s self portraits with food. There were some great entries, but I wish that we had seen a bit more of everyone! I know there are times when I have to be my own model, so being able to nail focus while you work with a remote or a timer is a great skill to develop! Even if you didn’t submit anything, I encourage everyone to keep working on it!

Anyway, back to the eggs. I’ve been wanting to do a month focused on eggs for a while, but held off the start of spring which is unbelievably just around the corner. Whole eggs in the shell I think are one of the most gorgeous things to photograph. Out of the shell though, it becomes a whole new ball game… a little air on an egg and it quickly congeals, so you have to shoot fast. It’s up to you how you want to shoot the eggs this month… in the shell or out, cooked or raw, fowl or fish. But try to get creative with it. What can you do that makes your egg shots new and fresh?

The usual rules and are up on the Flickr group… the things like be constructive, take the photos during the month if possible, 3 photos per person and the last day will be around March 31st give or take a few days.

Wow. You guys posted some great beverage photos in January! Cheers to you!

Here were a few of my favorites:

These all felt really personal to me, filled with some story that I wanted to know more about. Which leads me, conveniently of course, to this month’s theme. I want to see you, you story makers. This month, it’s time to move out from behind the camera and try your hand at food-related self portraits. Now, ideally, I’d love to see you faces, eating something. But, I’ll give credit for hands or other g-rated body parts, assuming it’s actually you and there is food (or drink).

Taking self portraits isn’t easy, and it is even harder when you are trying to eat at the same time. It’s definitely time to get familiar with the timer mechanism on your camera if you aren’t using a remote shutter release.

To kick you off, here’s one of me. I took this photo planted on a tiny stool right next to a window on a Seattle cloudy day. There was a bounce sitting on a chair on my other side. The camera was set just above eye height so I had to look up a little.

Feel free to touch-up! I certainly didn’t leave the big tea-sized bags under my eyes. Also, if you liked Mariah Mccormick’s Fresh Actions that I pointed to last time I talked about photographing people, you might try Itty Bitty Actions by the amazing photographer of Jinky Art

The usual rules and are up on the Flickr group… the things like be constructive, take the photos during the month if possible, 3 photos per person and the last day will be around Feb 29th give or take a few days.

Let’s ring in the new year with a challenges on drinks, shall we? Styling and shooting beverages is often even more tricky than shooting food… there is less going on with the subject, and when something does happen, it doesn’t usually happen for very long! Not to mention, we are trained to expect a glass to have a perfect layer of condensation or a cup to have spiraling swirls of steam.

This month, please post your drink shots… they can be cocktails, wine, milk, pop, coffee, tea or water… just make sure the beverage is the main subject, and not just hanging out in the background. In addition, please use the description to explain what you did with the shots, particularly for lighting or styling, so we can all learn.

I’ll also start up a discussion for tips and tricks for styling beverages… things like canned air is great at reviving the head on a beer.

The usual rules and are up on the Flickr group… the things like be constructive, take the photos during the month if possible, 3 photos per person and the last day will be around January 31st give or take a few days.

I do love a good double meaning. So, for this month’s challenge, the theme is Reflection. Initially, I wanted this to encourage you to think back over the past year and think about what you’ve learned, and show it in your photos. But, as I started typing the title, it occurred to me that reflections in photography are a wonderfully challenging topic on their own. So, take your pick & reflect!

The usual rules and are up on the Flickr group… the things like be constructive, take the photos during the month if possible, 3 photos per person and the last day will be around December 30th give or take a few days.

OK. Last month’s challenge was hard. Really hard. But, hopefully, we learned a thing or two about plating.

Now, we are onto November, (well into it, actually. Sorry I’m so late with the theme this go around…) and my thoughts are of feasting and sharing meals with family and friends. So this month, let’s see your shots that mean sharing to you. Maybe it’s a whole roasted turkey, that is clearly the centerpiece of a big meal. Maybe it’s people sitting around the table breaking bread together. Maybe it’s a neatly gift-wrapped stack of cookies. Whatever sharing food means to you, let’s see it!

The usual rules and are up on the Flickr group… the things like be constructive, take the photos during the month if possible, 3 photos per person and the last day will be around November 30th give or take a few days.

I had two different ideas for this month’s challenge. But an article on plating in today’s Seattle Times pre-empted them both, and inspired me to create this month’s Plate it Up! theme. The article is about transforming a boring plating into something that has more appeal. Despite the title of the piece, which implies that it will be mainly about garnishing, the tips include do’s and don’ts about how to layout the food, how to think about color, and (a little) on saucing. It’s a short read, but a good one to kick off the challenge. Go read it now, so the rest of this post makes sense.

Back so soon? Did you read it? Good.

First off, I’m curious as to what you thought of the example photo. Did the after photo look better to you? And if so, how much better?

Secondly, here’s where you really come in… what would you do to the plate to make it even more appealing? Show us with this month’s post. No, you don’t have to plate the same dishes… but do try to combine different dishes onto one plate, and make the most of them. This is something I tend to avoid doing… and one of the things I’ve noticed about most cooking magazines and cookbooks… the photo shows just one cooked item, not an item, plated, as you probably would if you were actually serving at home or in a restaurant. I know one reason that they do this is that if they don’t give the recipes for everything on the plate, they get letters asking about it (even if it’s just a salad!) Another reason? It’s hard to make it look good.

But, that’s what you are going to do this month. Plate up multiple (at least 2, but 3 is better) dishes onto a plate. Think about avoiding monotony… but also keeping it simple. Like hairstyles, a little flare is good, a bouffant isn’t.

The usual rules and are up on the Flickr group… the things like be constructive, take the photos during the month if possible, 3 photos per person and the last day will be around October 31st, give or take a few days.

Technorati Tags: Food, Food Styling, Meme, Photography

With my recent move, it’s not surprising that I’ve been thinking about spaces to shoot almost nonstop over the past few weeks. I have a new small studio dedicated to my photography, as well as a small area off the kitchen with lovely morning light. Both are going to be great… once I get used them and learn their unique lighting ins and outs. Right now, I’m kind of pulling my hair out trying to relearn how to shoot after a few weeks “off”, finding out if I can live with the wall colors or need to repaint, and coming up with a new natural light diffusion system.

So, in the spirit of celebrating the places that you shoot, let’s back up and get some context. Your shots should still be food still lifes, but back up a bit and incorporate some of the more interesting characteristics of where you shoot. Maybe the edge of a window, or the kitchen sink. Give your food some room!

The usual rules and are up on the Flickr group… the things like be constructive, take the photos during the month if possible, 3 photos per person and the last day will be around September 30th, give or take a few days.

Technorati Tags: Food, Food Styling, Meme, Photography, prop styling

Thank you all so much for all the great critiques, and for hanging in their with me for two months of the same thing. I love how adding a self critique really kicks off the conversation, and makes it clear that we are all here to learn and get better. I hope you all got as much out of it as I did. I’d encourage you to keep adding the self-critiques to your photos, even though we are moving on to a new theme. Taking the time to think about what you like and what you don’t is critical in the learning process.

But, it is a new month, and I am itching to do something new. Or, in this case, a couple of something news. This month our theme will be diptychs, two photos juxtaposed together to make something entirely new. Diptychs are a great way to add context to your photos, set a mood, and really tell a story. And, if a photo tells a thousand words, two photos can tell much, much more. Plus, diptychs let you avoid choosing which photo you like best, something I always struggle with.

I started thinking a lot about diptychs after my meeting with Heidi in June. We spent time looking at my portfolio, and talking about ways to improve it. I’ve always liked the stream of photos, but Heidi helped me see it in a different way. That the many of the photos don’t flow nicely into one another, and that can be jolting. By showing fewer photos on the page (something I’m working on updating now), and thinking carefully about what goes with what, I can set the tone of my work and create a much greater impact.

The photos don’t have to be of the same dish or the same scene. But, there should be something that ties them together. Maybe it’s a color, maybe a thought to communicate. For inspiration, check out some of the amazing photo combinations by these photographers:

Matt Photographs - click on the Food menu item under Portfolio
Beth Galton - Click on the Food link
John Granen - This one isn’t food, but it is absolutely luscious
Sara Remington

The usual rules and are up on the Flickr group… the things like be constructive, take the photos during the month if possible, 3 photos per person and the last day will be around August 31st, give or take a few days.

Technorati Tags: Food, Food Styling, Photography

I’m quite a bit late getting started on this month’s challenge, but I’m also incredibly inspired. I’ve just returned from Boston, from the International Food Styling & Photography conference, three jam-packed days of inspiration, education and socialization. My head is still so incredibly full, that I need to digest everything for a while before the post to figure out how to convey even a little bit back to you. But, I will be there soon!

In the meantime, one of the things that we spent time doing is thinking about what makes a great photo, which got me to thinking about this month’s theme. The whole point of this group is for feedback, sometimes positive and sometimes critical… but always feedback to help us improve, getting from photos that “aren’t terrible” to “pretty good” to “OMG. WOW. THAT IS AMAZING!!!!! GET IN MY TUMMY!”

So, this month, it’s up to you to pick photos you think are really representative of your work… something that when you see it, really captures who you are as a stylist or a photographer. A shot that you’d place in your portfolio, not because it’s perfect, but because it is so you. THEN, lead the way with a self critique in the description of the photo. Once you’ve done that, over the course of the challenge, pick at LEAST one other photo (not yours) to give a full critique for every photo you post. Don’t be shy, but don’t be nasty either.

Here are some things to think about in your critiques. How is the composition? The color? The white balance? The exposure? Are there little things that should be cropped out, or are there things that got cropped that shouldn’t have been? How is the lighting? How about the content? Does the food look inviting, mouthwatering, alive? Is there movement in the photo? Does the photo inspire you? Shock you?

Since I’m starting late, I’d like to take a bit of extra time with this theme, so you can post 3 photos in June and 3 in July. Also, take your time. Spread out your shots. I’d love to see people take the feedback from their photos in June, and make adjustments to their techniques in July to show what they’ve learned.

The usual rules and are up on the Flickr group… the things like be constructive, take the photos during the month if possible, 3 photos per person per month and the last day will be around July 31st, give or take a few days.

If you posted photos in the May theme and I haven’t left feedback yet, don’t worry…I’ll get there eventually!

Technorati Tags: Food, Food Styling, Meme, Photography