Food Photography and Styling Workshop

No matter what stage you are at in life or how much you think you may know… learning never stops! Wanting to improve my food photography skills, I recently had the opportunity to take a Food Photography and Styling Workshop in Dubai! The workshop was hosted by Sally Prosser from My Custard Pie and conducted by Professional Food Stylist and Photographer Meeta K. Wolff. With the days program in hand I knew we were in for some theory and practical sessions, plus a visit to Atlantis Hotel on The Palm… but what I didn’t know was the sheer amount of wonderful fresh and mouth-watering delicious food we would have over the two-day workshop!

Once all the introductions were made from the group (lovely bunch), we had a delicious Scandinavian themed breakfast/brunch laid out for us. A wonderful choice of smoked salmon, open-faced sandwiches, cold-cut meats, cheese, fruit and more, all prepared by Chef Russell from Lafayette Gourmet, so beautifully presented!  Naturally we all wanted to take some photographs before eating! This was a good opportunity for taking some photographs without my tripod as I rely heavily on it when taking food photographs for my blog! The beautiful Miele Gallery showroom/cooking and test kitchen had lots of natural light streaming in through the floor to ceiling windows, a perfect setting for food photography! Not very technically minded I was so glad that one of the participants Catherine showed me how to make a collage of photographs, otherwise I hate to think how long this post might have been! Thanks Catherine 🙂

Of course it was not all about eating and moving us on… Meeta ran us through very important elements of camera settings that can make a huge difference to the overall look of food photography, as well as sound advice on getting to know the capabilities of your camera! Theory and practical exercises saw us through until late afternoon… then it was off to the Atlantis, The Palm to visit some of their restaurants… with a surprise in store for us!

Meeting the charming Giorgio Locatelli himself at the Ronda Locatelli was a wonderful surprise, paired with a tasting of the first of the seasons white truffle menu! Giorgio sat with us, sharing some of his passion for sustainable food and memories from his childhood truffle buying trips! The wonderful heady aroma of the white truffle with its exquisite taste and the simple dishes (softly scramble eggs, cheese pizza and risotto, all with shavings of truffle) prepared for us to sample… definitely was a memorable foodies moment!

At the Asia Republic restaurant we sampled an array of delicious food from their menu, Pad Thai, Laska, Duck, Char Siew Bao and Gyzoa were some of what we tasted!  Afterwards a little fresh air and some respite from eating was definitely needed, so we spent some time in the Nobu garden!

Lastly the day concluded with dinner at the Saffron Restaurant with some relaxed conversation and more delicious food! Something sweet after all the wonderful savoury food was definitely needed!

Theory, practical exercises, taking lots photographs, eating and sampling a wide array of food… I fell into bed, exhausted and full… but very much looking forward to the second day of the workshop… another blog post!

Some other posts and photographs from the Food and Styling Workshop participants, not everyone has a blog so I will link-up where possible and include other posts when available!

Meeta K. Wolff from What’s for Lunch Honey (Photographer and Food Stylist conducting the workshop)

Minna from Naked Plate

Shy from Cooking with Shy

Catherine from Cat In The Dunes

Antone Photography on flicker