Pinch of Yum Photography Workshop

When I first heard about Pinch of Yum’s photography workshops, I knew I wanted to go. About a year went by and I hadn’t heard of any new dates but somehow it came up again. I told my husband Steven that when they released new dates, I didn’t care how much it was, I was going to go at any cost.

Luckily about a month after that the dates were announced and by some miracle, I was able to get in (barely, but I did!). I was so excited to attend with my blog friend Liz from The Clean Eating Couple. Last week we attended the workshop and as crazy as it may sound, by the end of the two day workshop, my photos were already monumentally improved.

On the left was the?first?photo, the right is the last I took.

As a food blogger, the main thing I am constantly working on improving is my food photography and styling. I’ve spoken to a lot of food bloggers and this seems to be a thing we all struggle with, or at the very least, we struggle to be confident in the photos that we take.

After we moved into our new house, I finally started to feel like I had a groove with my photos and started developing a style I liked. But I knew that my style was still very simple and I wanted to challenge myself to continue to experiment with different types of styling, using food props and different lighting to create mood.

The workshop was broken into four sections, DSLR Camera Mastery, Lighting, Styling, and Editing taught by Lindsay, the food blogger from Pinch of Yum. Honestly I had my doubts about learning a lot in the first and last sections because I know my camera really well and I’ve used Lightroom for years. But I totally learned something in every section! We had practice sessions between every section and in each of those my photos instantly improved.

The lessons that Lindsay gave were definitely helpful in terms of improving my photography every time I started shooting, but I also think just having the uninterrupted, no pressure time to practice really helped in growing too.

Usually when I’m shooting I don’t have time to try things or do something risky, which is why I think I usually stick with my normal, simple style. Having time to experiment, try different things, even mess up a few shots was so helpful. And of course having Liz and Lindsay right there to give feedback didn’t hurt either!

If you ever get the chance to attend a POY workshop, DO IT. But also if you have a chance to attend any other hands on photography workshop, also do it! It is well worth the time and money spent.

Going into the workshop, I was convinced that my lack of confidence/ability to style photos was based on not knowing how to use my props, or not having the right props. If you?re a food blogger, you can probably relate to that!?

I had an in-depth conversation with Lindsay (okay, fan girl moment, it?s SO cool to be able to say that) about styling and she helped me realize that it is not just prop OR food styling that contributes to your styling of photos. It?s a combination of how you use your camera, the composition, the lighting, the props/style AND editing.?

The entire workshop (can you believe we only spent 12 hours total?!) was packed full of so much information. It was amazing to hear Lindsay?s process for things like shooting, editing, even planning for shoots. So many nuggets of wisdom that I am so excited to apply to the blog.?

Apart from the knowledge I gained, I think just being there, getting to practice AND learning helped me gain so much confidence in my own style as a food photographer.?

Lindsay, any time you and the POY team want to put on an advanced photography workshop, save me a seat!?