Today is the first in a series of posts where I hope to showcase different photographers and their talents here on the blog! My goal is to make this a monthly or bi-monthly post, so if you are a photographer and want to get featured on the blog, shoot me a message! Lauren was my first victim subject, so enjoy learning a little about her!
Photo © Still+Life
When I met Lauren over two years ago, neither of us knew the photography journey we were about to embark on. I had decided that I needed to beef up my technical/creative skills and Lauren was trying to take better pictures so she would have something to put with the writing on her blog: Still+Life.
Little did Lauren know that she would discover her passion for telling a story on a plate through food photography!
Lauren tells the story of how she got her start in photogaphy: “Honestly, I haven’t had much luck with cameras: my first one I dropped in a creek, another one broke right before a spring break trip to Europe, and then when we were in the midst of moving to CA and my camera broke…
One would think that photography would be telling me not to pursue it!”
But Lauren kept at it. She credits her husband Neel with pushing her to pursue photography and eventually worked her way up from a Canon Powershot, to Canon Rebel, to her current full frame camera, a Canon 5D MkII.
Photo ©Still+Life
Currently Lauren’s interest is food photography and her Project 365, where she photographs anything that captures her fancy that day. “I really enjoy working on the Project365 because I think about photography in a way that I haven’t before: is today going to be a studio day or an outdoor photography day? I appreciate the way that it’s pushing me creatively.”
Bigger and Better Things
Photo ©Still+Life
On May 25, Lauren will co-teach her first food photography class at Virginia MOCA. “We are going to get people comfortable with telling a story using the food you photograph, and starting to use food as a still life medium.”
To someone who is NOT comfortable photographing food (like me!) Lauren says that a good place to start is to by using the recipe: break down the ingredients and figure out what story you want to tell.
Using the recipe for chicken tacos, it calls for tomatoes, avocados, olives, lettuce, etc. We have to figure out how to pull out the information in order to style your photo with props and garnishes and light. In the finished image, you are using all these components to tell a story.
Lauren shared with me that the goal of the food photography workshop is to show students the best way to highlight their food through photography using lighting and props. She wants participants to walk away confidant that they can evoke a story with the things they choose to incorporate into their image: whether it’s a dark, rustic backdrop or cheery picnic table scape, you need to determine components to tell a story with just one snapshot.
Want More Info on the AWESOME Class? Check Out the Flier:
Here Are Some Fun Facts About Lauren
5 Dream Photo Locations:
Greece (again)
Nantucket (again)
France
Farmers Market in Athens
French Laundry Restaurant (Napa Valley)
5 Things That Make Me Laugh
My hubby
My Son
My Dogs
@Cute Emergency on Twitter
5 Foods I Love
Figs
Anything Pork
Mussels
Scallops
Tomatoes
(after compiling this food list, Lauren told me that she needed to figure out a recipe utilizing all these ingredients. Yum!)
Judith, thanks so much for having me on your blog! Can you believe it’s been two years?! I’ve loved this journey with you as we’ve grown together, and I loved our cup of coffee (despite your harried start to it, poor kid!). Let’s do it again soon! XO