Sharing something a little different today, let me know what you think about posts like this. I thought it might be interesting to talk about what goes into shooting a recipe, how I setup a shot and edit my photos.
Luckily I had some help, thank you Ann (@PlantCrush) for collaborating with me on these Harry Potter recipes! We had a couple unsuccessful attempts on our original ideas for this collab, but we found a way to make it work!
Below are shots from our most recent recipe for Butterbeer Macaroons. The full recipe can be found over on Ann’s website.
I prefer keeping my setup very simple. It works best for my budget and I’m content with the outcome, for now. Usually I lay down a sheet of paper, typically saved from my Vitacost orders and crumble it up for added texture. More recently I started standing up a white backdrop made from styrofoam insulation that came in a old package. It’s not the most glamorous setup, but I can’t complain. It gets the job done, that’s for sure.
During this shoot we set everything up and took test photos before adding our food. To get a better feel for the lighting, adjust props as needed and brainstorm what we wanted from each photo. This helps visualize without having to move your food constantly, which we didn’t want to do since it had a drizzled topping that could quickly become very messy.
Once everything was set, I took out the macaroons and Ann drizzled over the butterbeer sauce. I set my camera to shoot continuous to see if anything looked interesting. Obviously a tripod would be recommended, I didn’t use one so it’s a little shaky. We ended up getting a neat sequence of photos I compiled into an animated .GIF!
After the drizzle came the crushed pecans. I decided to keep snapping as Ann sprinkled those on top. We both really liked this photo, that wasn’t planned.
I like to keep my photos very clean and minimal. I don’t rely on heavy edits, so I try to make sure I love the photo in camera before transferring it to my computer. Relying on editing is something I did in the past, it was too much work and still resulted in an odd looking photo. That’s why I spend more time with lighting and setup to save time editing and posting later on.
Usually I tweak the crop, evenly align the photo if the horizon is off and bump the levels to even out any lighting issues. You’re bound to come across uneven lighting, especially when using natural light – it happens.
(left: I snapped a photo of Ann taking her photos. right: This was the photo Ann took, which was previewed in the left photo – photoception!)
I loved being able to share this behind the scenes with all of you. I’m not able to shoot these on my own, so thank you Ann for all your help! We had a blast making and eating these. Be sure to check out the full recipe over on her page, here.
I’m currently working on a “food photography tips & tricks on a budget” post. Please leave me any comments or questions you have regarding it – I would love to get feedback on what you want to see included!
looks soo delicious
Thank you!
YAAASSS to everything in this post! hahaha.
Thanks again for welcoming me to your home for another amazing collab!! All the photos turned out beautifully and I love your gif so much–so badass! 🙂 I had so much fun with you and I can’t wait to do it again.
😀 You’re truly the sweetest! You’re always welcome back here, anytime girl <3
Great post. I love watching your creative process. I’m with you, simple and clean are best. And, by the way, the macaroons look delicious. Thanks. D
Thanks so much, Dena. I’m so glad you agree. I appreciate your kind words!
I am very interested in the behind the scenes! I am a new blogger trying to learn the ropes. Your blog is one of my favorites!
I’ll definitely plan to share more in the future! Thanks so much, Amy!
What program do you like to use for post-processing/editing?
Usually I use iPhoto, sometimes I’ll use Photoshop or even Pic Monkey (to add font)!
HARRY POTTER DESSERTS OH MY OH MY
YES!!!!
I love this Harry Potter collab so much! Thanks for sharing the ‘behind the scenes’ process, I love this type of content and it’s been so fun watching it unfold on both your blogs. 🙂
Thanks so much, Kat! I would love to share more posts like this, we had so much fun collaborating together! I hope to do more projects like this in the near future.
I really enjoyed this post! We always see the final outcome in everyone’s blog posts so it’s nice to get behind the scenes. I love your set-up! I have to laugh because I use leftover Vitacost packaging in many of my photos – love that brown paper. I like your idea for the white backdrop – very budget-friendly and right up my alley! I can’t get over how awesome this collaboration was. Those macaroons look amazing, i’ll have to check out the recipe!
Well thank you very much! I’ve been wanting to do more content like this, it’s fun exploring different styles of work to post here. Is that packaging not perfect?! Haha, my husband thinks I’m silly for saving every last bit of it – but it’s so perfect for photos and packing up breakables. I can’t seem to let it go to waste! Thank you so much, you’re always so kind to me. You make my day brighter! I hope you love the macaroons, they’re seriously the easiest dessert EVER!