My Food Lens

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. Is it possible to lose your passion for food photography?  Do you ever feel like you’re always doing so much, always working but it’s never enough? You don’t feel like picking up your camera. The thought of it makes you feel tired. You feel like you don’t have it in you anymore.  You’ve lost your creativity, your passion, your fire, your desire.  Whe...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. You’re scrolling the internet and find your photo used where you didn’t approve. You delivered photos to a client. They didn’t like them, so they didn’t pay you.  You already edited the photos & delivered,  but the client asked for more edits. You completed a photoshoot and then the client did not want the photos.  You agreed on 10 photos but now...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. You’re pitching to a client. You'd love to work with them. You offer your beautiful photography and tell them how the photos will elevate their products.  But then… another photographer reaches out to them and says the exact same thing!  They offer their beautiful photography and promise to make the products look like a million bucks. When you o...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. I remember taking out a bar of chocolate from the fridge. Placing it on a blue backdrop. Chocolate, ha! It's got so much oomph.  I thought, “how hard could it be to shoot?"  So, I adjusted  the light.. And took a shot. Ahem.. It looked like..like.. a pile of brown.  Ok never mind. I’m not a quitter.. So, I got some chocolate chips, a bit of...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. Have you ever seen a food photo and said, “Ooh! I need to make that recipe.” or maybe…  “Ooh! I need to eat at that restaurant.” or even… “Ooh, I have got to buy that cupcake.” When does a photo have that effect on you?  The answer? When you can visualize yourself in it - whether that’s visualizing a recipe that makes you drool, a photo that reminds...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. You are leading a bold, brave life  You are dodging the curveballs life throws at you. You are fighting the world to follow your passion. You are showing up no matter how you feel. You are working hard to get closer to your dreams. You ARE leading a bold and brave life, my friend.  I hope you realise that cuz sometimes it takes another person to make...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. In October of 2020  when I sat at my desk watching the sunrise & declared to my husband that I wanted to start a podcast, I  had no idea how it would go.  I had no idea that it would take me 10 months to create the podcast.  I had no idea how emotional it would be to record my first episode.  I had no idea how motivated I’d feel to record episode...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. You’re walking down the aisle of a grocery store. You turn to pick up a bag of flour from the shelf & spot a cookie box.  You shriek because the photo on that cookie box is yours!  You shot that picture for that cookie brand.  Woah!  Now, You’re driving back home. You take a turn and suddenly shriek again. The burger photo on that large billboard...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. Ever seen kids in candyland? Their eyes begin to sparkle and they turn into mini zombies hypnotized by the sweets on the shelves. You ask them to pick one and they just can’t. With so many delicious options out there, they want everything - a lil chocolate, some gummies and oooh that caramel toffee.  The sugar love takes over and they just want it al...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. It's a beautiful sunny afternoon. You’re in your kitchen & suddenly notice the gorgeous sun filtering through the window, falling on the basket of vegetables. That light is so striking that you’re mesmerized & drop everything you’re doing, go get your camera and take photos all afternoon capturing the light in all its glory. Such is your...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. When you introduce yourself as a food blogger, the first few thoughts that come to people’s minds are,  “It must be a hobby.” “They’re probably not working full-time.” “Do they make any money from it?” “What do they REALLY do for a living?”  “What a convenient & easy life.” Food blogging was always considered a side-hustle, hobby, an extra, up un...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. Can a dark & moody photo have white props?  Can a dark photo also be bright? Is a moody photo always dark?  What does dark & moody photography really mean? As food photographers we are visual storytellers and the most powerful way to tell a story is by creating a mood. Mood is the key to evoke emotions & make a viewer feel like they’re pr...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. Have you ever watched “Everybody Loves Raymond” ? In this comedy series, Raymond is the guy who wants to please everybody.  All he wants to do is to make everyone happy. He wants to be Mr. Popular and will do anything to look like an angel.  Well,  we have a “Raymond” in food photography too. Wanna know who?  It is side light - one of the types of li...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. The world is not the same anymore. Covid has changed everyone in its own way. And the one impact it has had on me is the longing for social interactions. The longing for family meals together  the longing for laughs with a room full of friends  and the longing to meet other photographers & like-minded creators.  What if we could be in a room full...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. You’re very excited to photograph that chocolate cake. You set up the camera and start shooting. You set aside an hour .. but now it’s already been 2 hours. The kids are ready to pounce on it. The ganache is beginning to dry up. ..and you’re tired. Plus you’re wondering why it took so long, why it took more time than anticipated? Are you missing some...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. When I was learning how to drive, reversing & parking was the most difficult part. My driving instructor was this fierce but awesome teacher who taught me how to drive with confidence. When he was teaching me how to reverse & park the car, his instructions were – Don’t rush Stop for a minute Turn around Look at all the parking lots Decide whi...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. Do you like watching food videos? I do Do you shoot food videos? I don’t Why don’t you shoot food videos? Duh.. I’m a photographer  It seems complicated Videos don’t interest me I don’t have the right gear But what if it wasn’t that difficult at all.. As food photographers our job is to make food look delicious and while there is a charm in freezing...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. Do you like flat lay photography?  Aren't flatlays amazing? I just love how we can create beautiful visual stories & powerful compositions in an overhead shot. But do you find it just a tad bit harder to nail the lighting in that angle? How to bring depth to the composition? How to make the food pop a little more? Sometimes it’s too dark and...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. “I want to find my style” When we begin our creative journey we want to get better at our craft but also find our unique style, our unique voice. We buy courses. We read blogs. We follow photographers on social media who share tips to find our style. We work so darn hard at creating our own distinct style, sometimes for years before it emerges and th...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. “I would love to work with clients, I just don’t know where to find them.” “Who do I reach out to?  “Ok, I just reached out to one brand, who’s next?”  Whenever we think of being able to pursue food photography professionally, the idea of finding clients overwhelms us. Where to start, who to approach, how to select – so many questions come up . And e...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. What if you could be on TV? And that too, doing what you love. No, kidding. You totally could! You could either be featuring your favorite recipe or shakin’ up a cocktail on the big screen.  For us food content creators, blog, magazines, newspaper, or social media is as far as we think about taking our creative recipes or photography. But TV is a pla...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. You’re ready to take your next picture. You’re looking at food photos and find that one photo that fills you up with inspiration. But the first thought that crosses your mind is, “How do I make my photo look different?”  When we use another artist’s work as inspiration, we either create something similar to their work or struggle so hard to make ours...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. The idea of storytelling in food photography is so deeply ingrained in us that every photo we create  starts with the question “what's the story?” Will you believe that the first time I heard about storytelling in food photography, I just shrugged. I had no idea what it meant, leave alone bringing it to my work.  I thought creating food stories...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. If I told you, “you’re a perfectionist” How would you feel?  Would you take it as a compliment?  Would you feel like your work must be really high quality to be called a perfectionist?  But tell me, as a perfectionist, do you also feel like no one can match your standards, sometimes not even yourself?  I was there too. In fact, my husband still calls...

Love the episode? Send me a text & tell me. If I asked, are you successful, what would your answer be?  How do you define success? In fact, as Creatives, how do we measure success?  Success looks different for each one of us.  It might look like a magazine feature. It might be receiving an award. It might look like working with Ottolenghi. It might look like more followers on social media.  As...