06 May Deborah Main: A Day with Miele “Food Photography Tips”

Hello all.  It’s kind of a cloudy day here today in Austin, Texas, but it was anything but that in New York City during #BlogTourNYC. In fact, we only had one night of rain, and it would be the one night I’m trying to catch a cab out to Brooklyn to hear my son play in his band.  Just FYI, there are no cabs in NYC in the rain!!

But on our first full day of BlogTour, after a chilly but lovely morning with Tess Casey floral design, then a delicious Italian lunch and DXV showroom (and this was only 1/2 way through the first day!) we were treated to the next 6 hours, from 3:00 – 9:00 p.m. to the modern showroom of one of our top sponsors, Miele, food photography, and the most spectacular gourmet meal in the world!

(Note: My trip to New York City for #BlogTourNYC, presented by Modenus, was paid for by our generous sponsors. Many thanks to DXV, Miele, BLANCO, Rutt Cabinetry, West Edge Design Fair and Prizer Hoods. Photography, other than my own, for this post is courtesy of Miele website and House of Brinson. All opinions expressed are my own, unless quoted.)

First up was an introduction by Julie McCrary, the public relations genius of WhiteGood.  Let me just say that Julie is SO amazing that to me she WAS Miele!!! She created a fantastic afternoon & evening for our group that was over the top.  That’s what this post is all about: photography tips and food!

For those of you not familiar with the Miele brand,  Miele is a leading premium appliance manufacturer out of Germany.  You may recognize their brand for vacuum cleaners, but they are widely regarded as the first to design and manufacture a built-in steam oven. Remember reading about BLANCO and their all in one sink? Well Miele’s most recent introduction is the “Combi-Steam Oven”, an “All-in-One Oven” and it is FABULOUS! More on that in a future post where we meet the grandson of the founder of Miele at The Architectural Digest Home Design Show and see all of their wonderful appliances including the launch of their brand new color.

Next up was a “Food Photography” workshop with the dynamic duo Susan and Will Brinson of House of Brinson, a lifestyle blog.  With a shared philosophy on food, photography, and entertaining, these two are the best of the best when it comes to product photography.  With Susan as the creative director and stylist (and the one who meticulously bakes all day to get the food product just right!) and William as the photographer, these two pack a punch and their work has been in a variety of publications like The New York Times Magazine, Pure Green Magazine, Martha Stewart Living, Food & Wine and Glamour.

Susan and Will Brinson of House of Brinson.

Our team was transfixed with learning all about food photography and creating the best photos for blogging.

I loved seeing all the technology because this is what my son does at Bespoke, one of New York’s best digital production studios.  His boss has been training him to be a Digital Tech where you correct on the computer the photos during the on-site photo shoot.  So this was really cool for me to see Will’s set up, as I imagined that this is what my son’s looks like during their fashion shoots.

Susan in action.  I think she told us she must of baked about 50 of these bundt cakes!! She is a perfectionist for sure and pays attention to every little detail. That’s why they’re photography work is in such demand!  Attention to detail is very important at Deborah Main Designs. Please check out our Pinterest board “Details Matter” and you’ll see what we mean.

Okay, this was the best I could do above…..I definitely need a lot more practice.

And this is the real deal, the fine photography work of William Brinson above.  The detail he gets in his food photography amazes me!! Please get the recipe and read all about the Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cakes right HERE.

Now for the ten photography tips you’ve all been waiting for.  William taught us how to shoot better photos for our blogs and with these tips you can too.  When you’re blogging you are the writer, the editor, stylist, creative director, photographer, just about everything, so knowing how to photograph what you’re blogging about makes for an overall optimal experience for your readers.

How do you get that same professional look like magazines?

• Canon 5D. William uses Canon.  Smaller cameras like the Canon G10 and G12 now also have manual features. You want a good camera that has manual features.
• Tripod.  A tripod is a must.  It creates an extra set of hands so that you can really style your shoot properly. It also helps in obtaining longer exposures as you can get a cable release or use timer mode.
• Level out your camera.  This is very important for quality photos and helps with interiors.  The camera should be chest high on a tripod to equal a perfect view.
• Curate your shots.  You don’t have to photograph a whole room.  Focusing on a smaller table and side chair might be enough.
• Use wide lens for tight spaces.  Shooting a corner is challenging to have it in focus.  You want to shoot a corner on a straight wall. This way, with the widest lens you can crop in order to get away from any distortion.
• Vertical is best.  Shooting vertical is always best with a wide angle lense.
• Odd numbers.  When grouping food items or home decor items together odd numbers are better for photos.
• Surfaces. Fabrics are extremely versatile. They also use white washed plywood or sheets of paper.
• Shoot the product where it is.  Angles are fine, because that’s where our eyes see the product from, but try instead to shoot the product at it’s level.  Like a lamp on a table.  Get at that level to shoot straight on. But angles are fine to help show a products depth of wall.
• Usage rights.   This is very important.  Start watermarking your photos cause once one of your photos is on your blog, it is out there for the public.  If you advertise on your blog be careful about usage rights. ALWAYS credit the original photographer of the photo.  ALWAYS!!!

Here are six additional tips I learned at the workshop about blogging and photography.

• Have a strong POV.  This means your blog has to have a Point of View, a style mantra per se.  Is it unexpected color?  Is it tranquil photos?  Think about what you want your point of view to be.  I know for Deborah Main Designs it is all about color and texture (Yay, that’s #2 tip!)  I’ll have to really evaluate my blog posts to see if the Pillow Goddess regularly communicates that POV. Feel free to comment below to let us know how we’re doing!
• Utilize color and texture.  Be sure to think about these and incorporate different ones into your photos as it adds so much richness to your photos.
• Create consistent photos.  Readers will enjoy your blog more if your photography has some consistency to it. Maybe all your photos are shot close in.  Maybe when you do product photography you shoot them all on fabric.
• Have a consistent writing style.  Write a mission statement for your blog so you know what you’re trying to achieve.  This way you can communicate it in your writing style.  The one thing I’ve consistently learned about writing style for blogs is BE YOURSELF and WRITE AS IF YOU’RE SPEAKING. So that’s my style!
• Think about your Brand.  All photos should look like your brand. They should have a quality to them that speaks of your mission statement with your brand. i.e. for House of Brinson, their brand is about contrasts: old/new and light/dark, and their photography reflects this on their blog.
• Have contrast.  Contrast creates depth of layers so whether you’re shooting on a table, or as Will did for the bunt cakes, on a metal drying rack, having textural contrast helps bring depth to your photography.

These three lovelies above are the “trio of daughters” of Veronika Miller of Modenus, who heads up all the BlogTours.  From left to right: Sarah, Flo and Celia.  Flo is Veronika’s right hand and she takes care of a lot of the details on blog tour. Thank you Flo!!  All I remember is she was always there with a smile ushering us into a beautiful dining experience or corralling us into a black car for the next leg of the tour.  The three are delightful!

Here’s a glimpse of what’s coming next as Julie checks with Chef Cedric Vongerichten to see if he’s ready for our hungry appetites!!

We at Deborah Main Designs hope you’ve learned a few things about photography that you can apply to your own photos and blog (if you write one). Either way, they’re great tips for taking any photo.  Now I bet you can’t wait to see what we ate that evening!!!  Till next time, please check out our sponsors websites Miele and House of Brinson. XOPG

Note: All photography and opinions my own.