Food Photography Goals Recap.
A few months ago I introduced you to set goals as part of your food photography journey in my post, Set One Year Food Photography Goals.
Quite simply, my one year photography goals is: I am commissioned weekly for innovative and challenging food photography projects.
In order to work towards this goal, I set three smaller goals to work on consistently throughout the year:
3 goals to get me to my one-year goal:
I am an expert in capturing visual stories of beverages.
I create beautiful and emotive images using artificial lighting.
My savory food styling produces drool-worthy images.
Since I did the post in December, things have been a little rocky in life with nearly half of my time being spent going back and forth between Canada and Australia to be with family due to the passing of a loved one.
Still, I聽have managed to shoot images within all of these three categories and I wanted to share my progress with you today to motivate you to be working on your goals.
What goals are you working on currently? I’d love to share in your progress. Post a link in the comments to motivate yourself and others!
My Savory Food Styling Produces Drool-worthy Images.
I’ve gotten too comfortable with sweet dishes and therefore created this unrealistic fear of the savory.
The more I put off styling and shooting savory dishes, the more the anxiety grows. I wanted to break that cycle and dive into the challenge that some savory dishes present.
This Green Minestrone is a fantastic Bon App茅tite recipe that has now made its way onto my regular meal list and was quite fun to style.
I Am An Expert In Capturing Visual Stories of Beverages.
I spent an afternoon just exploring some beverage shoots to see where they would take me. After a slow start, I got some momentum and confidence.
I was also a great exercise to think about how to present the elements to create interest in something that’s simply just聽liquid otherwise.
I Create Beautiful and Emotive Images Using Artificial Lighting.
My favourite goal by far!
This shot was part of my March column for Decor8 blog and was shot using mixed lighting.
For more, read the full column聽Edamame Avocado Hummus Toast with Pistachio Dukkah or聽read the behind the lens post Mixed Lighting: Avocado Toast.
What goals are you working on currently? I’d love to share in your progress. Post a link in the comments to motivate yourself and others!
Jo || The Luminous Kitchen
LOVE it! Especially how you’re keeping yourself accountable to your goals. Beautiful photos and savory is being sweet to you here for sure – that soup looks delish!
Rachel
That is the thing about goals, no one will keep you accountable but yourself and without action they never get any closer. I thought this might be a nice way for me to stay accountable and serve as a reminder for others to keep on truckin’. Soup is delish Jo. You would love it. Make it sometime!
Victor
WOW! These are absolutely stunning. I’m with you on this journey. Kudos
Rachel
Thanks Victor! What goals have you created for your photography lately?
Jessica
I can’t believe that last picture is artificial light that’s amazing. Love watching you on this journey!
Rachel
Great! I love that. Means that it looks natural which is totally what one tries to create with natural lighting. Hope this excites you to play around with natural lighting.
betty
You are amazing! Keep going and please keep us updated 馃檪
Rachel
Thanks Betty! Means a lot coming from you.
Sarah @ Wandercooks
Love it! Your images are looking fantastic, Rachel.
Love the cucumber beverage shots. The texture between the pattern on the glass and the slice of cucumber is AMAZING in that first shot.
Can’t wait to see how far you’ll go this year. 馃榾
Rachel
Thank you! They are cute aren’t they. Picked them up at a little vintage store. Happy with that find!
Cali
Gorgeousness Rachel! I’m just starting out, looking for more interesting backgrounds like this first shot. Would you mind sharing what it is/ where you found it? It looks like concrete or marble or something… I’m not sure if I should be looking for a real concrete slab or just a thin look-alike! Any suggestions would be totally awesome 馃檪
Rachel
Hey Cali! Yes, how important are backgrounds? If you haven’t tried my DIY Background you get for free when you sign up to my blog, it’s such a cheap and easy way to create texture that looks like concrete. You can make it with any colour, which is awesome! I got this background from Agonys Art on Etsy – https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/FoodBackgrounds. If you are doing this at home, you want something that is light and can be easily transported!
Cali
Yay thanks so much! 馃檪 馃檪 So stoked
Anna Dunleavy
This is so interesting! I’m a natural light photographer but would love to explore artificial lighting to add to my skills!
Rachel
Natural light is amazing for sure, but can be even more incredible with a little power from another source. Something to dabble into when you feel like a new challenge!
Shannon Deutrom
Love this! I also seem to have a fear of the savoury and will make this a goal of mine for the rest of the year.
I will work to become an expert at photographing and styling savoury dishes!!!!
Rachel
Way to go! Set those goals and start chipping away at them.
Jackie
Your beautiful food photography is very inspiring!! I love so many different kinds of photography it’s sometimes difficult for me to focus on one thing. I worked photographing food at local restaurants for a magazine for a couple years and then went to photographing for a catalog for a few years and now have come back around to food. I’ve been working on beefing up (haha food pun) my food portfolio and randomly found this post today. Thank you for your thoughts and advise. I printed off the 1,5,10 year goal sheet from the link you had on your original post and think it will help me move forward on my food photography goals.
Rachel
That is great to hear Jackie! Our goals change all the time so it is great to be in charge and taking steps to get there. I set goals all the time now, otherwise I get distracted by a whole bunch of stuff and never achieve the things I want to. Please keep in touch and let me know how you are going!
Judi Castille
This is so true. I have three very stressful years including running back and forth from Europe to England and the food blog for our syrup suffers from lack of posting. My challenge over the next few months is to complete backgrounds and work on a marinade and dressings projects. And also fruit shots with drizzling. I still haven’t found my style, the trend dark moody shots or what seems to happen with me, cleaner line, lighter, natural daylight shots. I swing from loving the dark shots with their messy crumbs, spilt flour, to the clean lines of coffee table art styled food. Perhaps you can do both in the end, so my challenge for the next few months is to try and find a style I am comfortable with for now. This is a great website and starting from this month I will be visiting weekly to make sure I keep on track.
Rachel
I think those sound like wonderful goals Judi, excited to se what you come up with!
Ang茅lica
Very useful post. I’m just starting out with food photography, I even have trouble choosing a goal to begin with. Any help would be appreciated to help me start my journey. Thanks
Rachel
Hey Angelica! So awesome to have you here! A goal I think every photographer should always have is to work on their portfolio. You can read this post I put together and start making that part of your goals. That will lead to things like getting more commissions or being able to reach out to more clients.