I LOVE a beautiful food photo. The carefully placed garnish, the immaculate styling, all of it. However, I prefer to show the messy side of food. I like the dripping, the crumbs, the grease... yes, that too. I remember the first time I shot some messy food. It felt right to me but I was super concerned about how it would be perceived. But I shot the images and posted them on Instagram (I'll tell you about the response later). I do know how to shoot carefully crafted food images as you can see below.
These tomatoes were carefully selected. We wanted to show the slight variety in the colors and they were placed in the scene based on the color and size. I believe the image came out great!
I have been complimented on multiple occasions on how god this gravy looks! But then there's the following...
And then you have this. Carefully imperfect. Yes, the fries were still carefully placed and so was the ketchup believe it or not.
Sometimes Ice cream cones get dropped....
I was commissioned to shoot a full issue of "messy food" for Louisville Magazine!
I have learned to lean in to my instinct on how food should be shot. I have done lots of very pretty carefully styled images, but sometimes my gut says to show how messy it is! Every time I decide to trust myself and think outside the box, ideas flow and opportunities follow!
At the end of the day, I have learned to lean in to my unique instincts, because it might be exactly what someone is looking for.