Food and I don’t share much of a bond. We meet and greet each other strictly on need basis. But when I saw an opportunity to learn some tips and tricks around photography I grabbed the opportunity with both the hands even though it was all food centric. I have to mention Travel Correspondents/ Bloggers Group here because they gave me this opportunity. I won a contest within this group and the entry to this workshop was my reward for winning the contest.
The venue for the workshop was Lodhi The Garden Restraunt and I was all geared up for an action pack Saturday. Amid all the excitement and fervor the Ola guys played a huge spoil sport and I ended up being late by half an hour. When I reached Deeba mam had already started but in no time I realized that I didn’t miss much. As much as I am naive in terms of food I was excited to learn some tips and tricks around photography. So here is the list of my takeaways from the food styling workshop conducted by Darter Photography.
- Learn to play with whatever you have: This is probably the first and the most important thing that I learnt in the workshop. You will always find someone with a better camera and a better lens but that should not stop you from running your creative horses with whatever gear you have. So learn to capture the best shot with whatever camera or lens that you have.
- Develop your own style: You might see someone doing a phenomenal job with a certain kind of style but never ever copy that style blindly. It is okay to take inspiration from them but always strive to create something of your own and unique.
- Let your photo be its own storyteller: Always try to weave certain story around your pictures. Try to build the setup in a way that it showcases some emotions, depicts some story and compels you to think about it even after going out of sight.
- Light is the most important aspect: The instrumental role of light in photography goes without saying. Try to play with light and its intensity. Click your subject from all possible angle with variations in light intensity. This will help you in understanding how you can tweak around with the mood of your photos.
- Click and practice as much as you can: This is possibly the mantra which fits everywhere and we all know that nothing good has ever come out without practice so practice is the key. We don’t live in an era where we have to keep a tab on the number of photos we are clicking. We have the luxury of space in gbs now. So utilize this benediction of technology and click some pictures everyday. This will help you in building and understanding your own niche and style.
- Learn from others: No matter how skilled and how proficient you become there will always be a scope of amelioration. You can never be done with learning new things. Try to learn from other’s experiences. It is easier to grasp tips and tricks when it comes from someone than reading it from a manual.
- Ask questions: The best way to learn any new thing is to practice it as much as you can and ask more and more questions. If you keep asking questions you will keep finding better answers.
- Be Humble and Receptive: You could be an expert in your job but if you are not humble with your feet on the ground then you will never progress. And if you are not receptive to criticism and new ideas then your knowledge base will always be stagnant. There are better ways of doing everything, you should always be receptive for new point of view.
I can go on and on and speak all the good things about this workshop. It was a great session and I am really thankful to Travel Correspondents/ Bloggers Group and Darter Photography for bestowing me with this opportunity. I would also like to take a moment and thank Desi Traveler and Tarun Gaur for bearing with my stupid questions throughout the session. Last but not the least the star of the show Deeba Rajpal mam for teaching us the intricacies around food styling and tips and tricks around photography.
If this is something that interests you and you would like to attend the next food styling workshop please drop in your requests as comments and I will make sure it reaches to the right person.
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