WG MAGAZINE
What is the difference between styling food for a photo shoot and for television commercials? There is a very big difference between the two in fact the very first time I did a TV commercial I had a giggle about it that maybe we could even give it a separate name and call it as two separate professions. Photo shoots are all about the details of the food styled to one particular angle where food, composition and props tell the story the moment you look at the photo. For video shoots we style the food for 360 degrees and multiple compositions (usually top and side angles). There are a lot more preparation days involved and the shooting hours during a video shoot are usually much longer (sometimes can be up to 24 hours). The food should be prepped before the video shoot making sure we have many options to choose from. If it’s a recipe video shoot we need to have all the ingredients ready in their corresponding bowls or plates as well as the hero dish in different stages of the preparation. I like to have a good balance of photo and video shoots in my portfolio. How important is the props which you work with for the shoot? The props and backgrounds are the second hero after the main hero, the food of course. Props help to tell the story and highlight the beauty of the dish and are essential elements of a successful photo shoot. We, food stylists, usually have a large arsenal of props and backgrounds to choose from as each shoot and each shot should look different from the other.
BODY AND SOUL
You have styled some of the best food designs for some of the best hotels, restaurants, commercial food brands – how do you keep the food styling different? The beauty about my job is that it is never the same. Every single shoot is different from the other in terms of food, props, lighting, location, chef etc. The same dish can look in many different ways depending how it is styled, what plates and backgrounds it is put on and who is photographing it. The excitement never wears off before and during the shoot and variety is what keeps it interesting.
WG Summer 2020 -
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