Last Friday I attended Sneh Roy from Cook Republic and Emma Duckworth‘s workshop – The Visual Art of Gathering Food and People. I was really drawn to this workshop because I love everything that a beautiful table and the gathering of people represents and a day of hanging out with and learning from some very talented creatives, photographing exquisite cakes for the sheer fun of it was exactly what I had been needing. I have been a huge fan of Sneh and Emma’s work for a while now and watching how they work and their process was such an amazing experience.
Seeing Sneh’s kitchen in real life was also definitely a highlight. It is an amazing space with perfect light and it has me completely re-thinking the kitchen design in our new house. I made sure Corey came in to see it when he picked me up. And the props, oh my the props – Sneh could have enough props to stock Chapel Street Bazaar by herself!!
There were cheese platters, layered cakes by the amazing Sally from Simmer and Boyle and a lush lunch table where we gathered and shared plates of Zucchini Burrata Spring Salad with Green Pesto and Deconstructed Taco Bowls with Roasted Corn, Smoky Chicken, Lime and Beans.
Sneh taught us about manual camera settings, white balance, focus, framing and composition while Emma showed us how to use layers, textures and colour palettes to create visual interest. Then because it was the most perfect thing to do with all the flowers we had styled the table with, we made flower crowns.
We finished the day off practicing composition techniques with mini meringues, taking food portraits and devouring cake. Perfection.
Looks amazing.
So much pretty 🙂
Hey Renee!! oh it was – so much prettiness. So fun to photograph. x
Looks totally amazing and a big party really! How fun. Did you have any ‘aha’ moments or what was the one takeaway that was priceless that you learned?
Her kitchen is divine, and even more amazing that it looks more incredible in real life!
It’s funny you mention Chapel St Bazaar. It is a 15 min walk from my house and I go there all the time. I probably take it for granted. If you ever have something you are after, I can keep an eye out for you!
Hey Rach are you back in Ausland? How was your wedding? You looked sensational!! I think what I learned most was about taking risks and trying new things with regards to composition and how you really need to be thinking outside the box when it comes to food photography these days. I’m looking forward to mixing it up as I realized how same same my composition can be. It was also great talking lenses with Sneh as I am starting to feel slightly restricted with my current gear and having some advice on what to choose next and actually trying it out was great. I have a mum’s group that I’m part of and the other 3 in the group are photographers too, but none are food photographers so it was awesome to chat about what really works well for specific food shots. 100mm macro is next on my shopping list. Thanks for the offer, but I think I’m going to have to come down for a visit with an empty suitcase 🙂 coffee date for sure!!
Spectacular Jo! The only problem is I felt like I could almost dive into the images, but not quite! Simply gorgeous. Well done 🙂 x
Thanks Kelly. Have you left Byron yet? Can’t wait to see more of your adventures!!
FREAKING AMAZING!!!!! You lucky girl. Don’t know what I like better the kitchen (dear LORD!), the prop section (DREAM!) or just those cakes (So WANt ONE!). And that shot of the meringues. You nailed the styling and lighting on that one girl. So impressed. any top tips yu took away from the day?
Oh and thanks for sharing and making us all super jealous 🙂
Thanks Kim. I loved Sneh’s Instagram composition techniques and hearing that 90% of her Insta photos are taken with her iPhone!! I love her feed its beautiful. Also I learnt I’m pretty bad at making flower crowns – I think I was just way more into chatting with everyone while we were making them.
LOL. I also just read your answer to a question above.
see I’ve got the 35mm, which I love and have been thinking about the 100macro but worried it’s going to ook naff on my crop frame camera. What are your thoughts? Anyways, thanks again 🙂
All the beautiful shots! Lovely to meet you, so glad you had a wonderful day.
Thanks so much for the delicious and BEAUTIFUL cakes Sally!! So lovely meeting you. xx
Beautiful work Jo 🙂