Inspiration for Food Photography

I thought I would share this image of Pasta Making Ingredients today for two reasons.  First, I like to take images of things deconstructed, and second my husband recently made a fantastic pasta sauce so tomatoes are on the brain!

In my photography I enjoy taking classic American foods, and looking at them in a different way.  In the world of stock photography almost everything has been done before, however certain subjects will always be in high demand.  I consider everyday food scenarios one of these subjects.

There are two main inspirations for an image such as this one.  The first is on a day where I have a goal to shoot a certain number of stock images, but do not have any props on hand.  I will often take a plastic bin and go into my kitchen or around my home collecting objects for inspiration.  Once I get them back into the studio I go right to work creating images as ideas come my way.  When I work in this manner I try to collect objects on a similar theme so I can create multiple images with the same objects.  I keep a large prop collection in the studio to assist in this process.

Another way that I draw inspiration for food photography is going to the grocery store.  This is a project for a slow day at work where I can have time to shop without any distractions.  With time comes creativity, and having the right mindset going into a prop shopping trip is essential to my outcome.  I will start at the beginning of the store and scan visually until something catches my eye.  When I find an interesting object I take some time to think about what I will do with that object and collect anything else I will need to create the shot.  I often go back and forth several times in the store before leaving with just a few objects for my next photo shoot.

In my world inspiration is everywhere, even in the pasta sauce.  It is just a matter of knowing how to find it, and putting it into action to create a useful photograph.