"How many students have we got today?" I asked Joe Piliero, the director of the School of Artisan Food as we were setting up our first Introduction to Food Photography course a couple of weeks ago. "Fourteen" he answered and I was delighted. Just enough students to work in four groups on our projects for the day but not too many to overwhelm me.
The School of Artisan Food is situated on the beautiful Welbeck Estate, Nottinghamshire and is ideal for sourcing interesting food made on the estate and a wonderful location for photography with a historic backdrop of mellow sandstone, interesting outbuildings and fabulous props from the onsite artisan bakery. Plus the whole ethosof the school is about celebrating food and the people who make it, their craftsmanship, integrity and commitment to providing the consumer with a first rate product.
After I had given an introductory lecture on the basics of photography, styling food and building sets, the rest of the day involved a ‘hands on’ practical course. I gave a small project to each group of students to complete based around photographing bread, charcuterie, cheese, patisserie and chocolates.
We constructed simple photographic sets using reclaimed floorboards, slate, shiny granite and anything else we could lay our hands on.
We all practiced styling food, choosing props and creating a set to photograph. There was lots of chatting and learning as we went along. The students there question after questions at me and were keen to find out as much as they could. They were a well motivated and talented group.
Joe, a keen and very good photographer himself, had identified a number of locations around the grounds of the school for students to experience working with different lighting conditions.
The old abattoir was a series of whitewashed rooms lit by beautifully soft day light. The reception area to the school had an interesting European butcher’s bloc, ideal for students to set up some shots on. Then there was the courtyard with it’s interesting benches, tables and backdrop of old sandstone walls. It was a dull overcast day so the light was gentle and cool, ideal for shooting food.
Our students were fun, engaging and impressive. They were all keen to take part and Rachel from www.wellwornwhisk.co.uk, already a good photographer came along to learn more about varying her photography and styling her recipes.
John Cowlings, a chocolatier amazed me when opted for the ‘chocolate brief’but said he had brought his own to photograph from his shop
Cacoa Elora. He carefully took the lid from a beautiful box and showed me his perfect creations. Interesting pale metallic colours which immediately made me want to point a lens at them.
Jodie, a dentist, turned medic and baker of amazing cakes and keen photographer has been struggling with her camera. She came along to learn how to take better photos for her blog. You can read more about her experience on the course here
Sarah Hazeldine an excellent wedding photographer wanted some experience of working with food.
Sergei Petrazhitski a digital media specialist and already a competent photographer wanted to up his skill level and learn to photograph food.
So it was a great day of learning and teaching. I probably learnt as much about teaching photography as the students did learning about taking photos of food.
I am back at the School of Artisan Food on 6th June and if you fancy coming along you can find more details here.
