Basic Food Photography Class at 50 Feasts Food Photography School

I just spent the best weekend studying basic food photography. And yes I shot and co-styled this picture.

50 Feasts is a new food photography school room run by Mylene Chung. I loved the casual setting of the class. All six students sat in a couch and chairs in the living room and watched the presentation on tv. It was a quick paced presentation that was never boring.

Mylene thought of everything even providing us with notebooks and pens for note taking.

What I really appreciated in this class was 80% of it was actual hands on picture taking. That’s the fastest and surest way of learning and remembering everything. Our first lesson was about harnessing natural lighting to your advantage. We had to shoot several subjects using side and back lighting. We also learnt to shoot from different angles.

Time went by so fast and we had to stop for lunch. I expected fast food and was surprised with a home cooked meal by  Dwight, the other half of 50 Feasts and PhotoKitchen.  That’s roast pork at the back and crispy pork skin in front. On the second day we were served Dwight’s creation of cheesy pumpkin pasta and herb lemon chicken. I wish I could have eaten Dwight’s food since everything looked so good. But being on a diet I brought my own Cohen meals.

We learned how to shoot and style food in vertical and horizontal formats.

One of the most important things I learned in this class is how to shoot in manual mode and how to use my tripod. I have a love-hate relationship with my tripod. As a result I almost never use it. Now I will bring it out of my drawer and use it more.

We all took pictures of the same subjects and Mylene would go around and let us know how we can improve the picture by adjusting exposure, white balance and the angle among other things.

At the end of the day we viewed everyone’s pictures and took turn giving critiques on them. It was fascinating how everyone’s pictures came out so different. This was also one of my favorite parts of the class. Seeing the other pictures really taught me a lot. My classmates were really, really talented!

On Sunday, the second day,  Mylene told us we had to style our own pictures by choosing from the props she laid out on the table.

My partner in this class was Paul, the hubby of Frannywanny. I must say Paul and I make a good team. Don’t you think so? Our first assignment was bagels. We came up with this styling. What do you think of it?

I was quite happy with our efforts until I saw the imaginative prop stylings of my classmates. I still loved our efforts though.

Our second assignment was to use mini pancakes and style them into an appetizing breakfast lay-out.

I really, really love prop styling. It was fun putting things together. We started with a plate and slowly piled up the other components until we came up with this. We had to keep looking at our camera screen to see how the arrangement looked. Seeing things with your eyes and looking at them through the camera are really different.

The last assignment for the day was shooting fake ice cream. It looked so real doesn’t it?

At the end of the 2 day class we were given a certificate of completion and this mini book (designed by Dwight) summarizing everything we learned. To give you a perspective on how small and cute it was, the handout was on top of my iMac. This picture was taken by my iPhone 4s. Isn’t the camera fab?

Whether you’re a blogger, food lover, amateur photographer or wannabe food stylist/photographer I suggest you take this class. All you need is a dslr camera and a burning desire to learn and I guarantee you will enjoy this class and learn things that will put you on your way to a new career. Watch out for new competition, Mylene!! 😀

Mylene and Dwight, thank you for opening a food photography school in Manila and thank you for giving me this opportunity to learn. I hope my blog and future pictures do justice to what you’ve taught me.

Click here to see the other pictures taken by my classmates.

Note: I used my ‘little’ Panasonic GF3 micro 4/3 camera which isn’t really a ‘real’ dslr camera and I was able to take these pictures. Not bad if I may say so.

For class schedules click here. My previous entry on 50 Feasts here.

Disclosure: I took this class gratis.

50 Feasts on Facebook and website.

50 Feasts & PhotoKitchen
Unit 19 Lumier Realty Building
285 P Guevarra St, San Juan City
Metro Manila, Philippines

telephone: 723-7630, 985-4808
cellphone: 0917-853-6215
email: contact@50feasts.com

Office hours:
11:00am to 5:00pm
Wednesday to Sunday