From Garden to Wall

I’ve been anticipating writing this post for quite some time and am so happy to be able to finally share it with you. My eagerness stems from two of my passions coming together in this project, namely food & photography. Moreover, I got to work with a talented friend and have the lasting efforts on my kitchen wall, which now bring me joy to see each day! And now a sneak peak to sustain you through this longer than normal post:

My first Foodography session with Darryl Bueckert was truly a 101 workshop. Have you ever wanted to know what all those “buttons” on your camera are for? For a long time, I’d gotten by on taking photos just using the Auto settings, but there had been plenty of moments throughout our travels where my excellent eye for a great photo just wasn’t good enough to pull it off. I needed the knowledge of what the camera itself could really do. Previously, in such dire situations, where what was in my mind’s eye wasn’t coming through on the camera’s playback screen, I would hand the camera over to my husband and voila, appropriate buttons were pushed, selections were made and the camera would be back into my hands for a better go of it. Though I think my husband is the best “button” of all, he just isn’t always around! And really, I wasn’t okay with not learning how to do some of these things on my own. I love photography and want my skill set to grow. So, who do you call? Ghost Busters…err, I mean, Darryl Bueckert! This is one of the photos from this first session together which, if you’d like, you can read more about on our post.

The course syllabus for Foodography 101 included:

• A review of camera buttons
• Discussions on light, exposure and creative effects in terms of the inverse relationship between shutter speed, aperture and ISO (this is also known as the exposure triangle)
• Depth of field
• Perspective in term of lens choice
• Specific considerations when it comes to food photography such as lighting & plating/staging
• Differences between my SLR and point & shoot camera
• Apple’s Aperture Application, specifically importing photos, basic adjustments, creating organized Smart Albums, applying changes from one photo to others by using the stamping feature and the ranking of photos.

Yes, I was a little glassy eyed at the end of it all, but thankfully I’d taken notes to work through a bit more methodically later.

For our second Foodography session, Darryl and I planned to work on raw food photos for my kitchen wall. Previously, I had some newbie food photos up there, but it was time for change! As I worked to select foods and choose the look I wanted to create, Darryl came with the knowledge of how to pull it off. I was really drawn to a raw, natural look with simple ingredients that I loved. Nothing too pretty. No bows, buttons, rainbows or glitter. Foodography 201 was all about using off camera lighting (external flash) versus the natural lighting we worked with during our first session. I also learned a lot by watching how Darryl moved the props & flashes about, as well as himself with the camera, to create the perspectives, style and professional look we both desired. Here are the three photos I selected from our photo shoot to showcase in frames on our breakfast nook wall:

With so many excellent photos to choose from, it took me quite awhile to narrow it down to only three! Darryl did some fantastic editing to even further hone in on the look I was going for. It really takes a skilled person to hear the heart of what clients want, even when clients, such as myself, don’t have the professional vocabulary to describe it. Take a look at more of these fantastic shots from our session!

And now, what you’ve been waiting for! Here is what it was all for (aside from the great learning of course), our rejuvenated space:

I know, wow right?! So gorgeous. If you have an interest in doing similar sessions or maybe even something completely different, you’ve got to check out Darryl’s site. You can also read more about this session on his post. Thanks again to both Darryl, for such a collaborative learning experience, and his wife Jodi, whose Simply Inspired Home surely did inspire our great work on this day. A final few shots for your enjoyment: