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food envy
'I play with my dinner every day': Clare Wilkinson on life as a professional food stylist
Think your Instagram shots don’t look like the recipe? You’re probably right. Here’s why.
EVER TAKEN A photo of your food and wondered why it looks more like the dog’s dinner than the recipe you followed? Or even the packaging you just took it out of?
Well, that’s because a food stylist and photographer have worked behind the scenes to ensure the end product in the recipe and packaging photos look as appealing as possible!
The reality is there is a business and skill around making food look good, so don’t feel bad that when you snap your food it looks dull.
Clare Wilkinson is an Irish food stylist and photographer who excels in this business. Just look at her Instagram account to see the proof!
“I’ve had a big love for food all my life,” Clare says. “I grew up on a farm where we grew a lot of our own vegetables and had chickens, so I was always surrounded by fresh produce. My granny lived with us too; she was great at baking and I would help her a lot, which was really just an excuse to lick the spoon!
“It wasn’t until I turned 30 though that I decided to leave my career in social care and head down to Ballymaloe Cookery School. I was so scared at the time about making that leap, but I haven’t looked back since.
“My two hobbies in life were always cooking and photography, but it just took me a while to figure out I could combine the two and make a career out of them. I love being creative and eating, so it really is my dream job!
“Food is part of daily life and sometimes things just happen naturally that I can capture on camera, so I’ll make sure my cameras are always nearby to capture them. Whether that’s making a birthday cake for someone or picking fresh vegetables from the garden food inspires me all the time.
“When you work for yourself you need to have a bit of a social media plan, otherwise things can get on top of you. There are apps that can help you organise your posts, so after editing my photos, I upload them to an app called Planoly.
“This helps me to design my page layout; I can move pictures around and plan what looks best beside each other. I can also write all my captions on it, so its all ready to go for when I want to post them. I find doing it this way means I can sit down and do it all in one go, then I can put my phone away and don’t have to be stuck on it as much.
“What makes a good food shot in my opinion is that, for starters, it has to look delicious! Like any photography or piece of art, it needs to have good composition; your eye needs to flow through the picture, and colors need to complement each other.
“Using natural light and great produce help and there is no need to overcomplicate things. I know we were always told not to play with our food, but that’s exactly what I do every day. Having fun with it is important!”
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