Photography Class with Sears Grilling {Pt. 5} #SoFabU #GrillingIsHappiness

This was the toughest week thus far in the Sears Grilling Photography class - the lesson was all about photographing plated food. Whereas I thought I knew a thing or two about taking pictures of food, I really didn't know anything and still have a lot to learn.

The toughest part for me this week was definitely learning how to use props in my photographs. I tend to just take pictures of a finished product, not plated, and call it a day. So this was a bit of a challenge, but a fun one. For the main subject of this weeks photographs I used basic BBQ food; hot dogs, chicken thighs and hamburgers. The idea was to see how awesome I could make these BBQ staples look by using props (which includes other food).

Another part of this week's lesson was how to make the actual food appear more appetizing. It is amazing the secrets that go into professional food photography. Most of the secrets will end up making the food inedible, but it's about the appearance - not the taste. For example, using fabric softener on pancakes will stop them from absorbing syrup and spray deodorant will give fruit a shine. Delicious stuff like that, very informative to say the least.

And last but not least was instruction on lighting. No flashes were permitted this week while taking photos, we were to use all natural light. A few handy tips were given on how to enhance natural light inside your home for taking photographs. One way is to cover a window with wax paper, thus creating one big light, and also the use of mirrors to create a direct light towards the main subject. This part of the lesson was a lot of fun to play around with. The picture above and below are the same hamburgers, the one above was taken inside and the one below was taken outside. A little change of lighting can create a big difference!

Our class has only 2 weeks left and I can't wait to find out what our next lesson includes! This has been an awesome opportunity and a great reason to be grilling almost every night!! Thank you for reading. :)

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Sears #CBias #GrillingIsHappiness. All photos and opinions are my own.