Episode 009: Capturing Stunning Food Photos with Elena Szeliga

Guest Details

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BIO: Elena is a food photographer, stylist and blogger at Happy Kitchen.Rocks. Over the past five years, Elena’s felt very blessed to be able to share her passion for food photography with others. Check out Elena’s online food photography course, where she shares her knowledge and experience, from camera settings to styling tricks, to help others take great food photos.

Takeaways

• Started on the kitchen counter with just the lights on overhead but Elena bought a new camera and gradually improved. 

• Elena is a food blogger who has hosted local food photography and styling workshops. To be able to share her passion with a larger audience, she created an online course.

• Elena’s desire was to create an informative course that was not too long and taught important topics. She knew visual learning was the most effective. Video was going to be the most helpful tool in teaching the participants. She wanted it to be affordable and worth the price – a great investment for people to grow. She’s excited to share It’s launching this September. 

• The course is meant for both beginner and advanced photographers who struggle to find their style.

• Elena shares some teasers from her course with us, like: how to find your own personal style, how to dress up ugly food and how to apply color theory to your food photos.

• Her course covers the following topics: camera gear, settings, natural light, props, composition and styling. There are demos that show exactly how to use the settings on your camera, how to manipulate natural light, how to select and place props in order to get the look and feel you are aiming for.

• Learn to share vegan and vegetarian food so it’s more attractive to encourage others to try it so they can live a healthier lifestyle.

• If you want your photos to appeal to emotions, use props to help you achieve that. Be careful not to overdo it. Learning how to use the light is so important and the settings your camera has help you achieve great shots. 

• Find your photography style: Practice! Then look at others’ pictures, and notice what pictures you like the most and why, what sticks out, so you can hone in on that.

• At the end of the day, what you like is what your style is. 

• Color theory is such an important and underused tool. 

• On the topic of ugly food – you can use a variety of props to take away from the ugliness to help make it a little more appealing. Tips are: use garnish; a spoonful of sour cream; add crumbles to the top; add an extra layer of salt and pepper; all these can all help.

• Launching a digital product is a good way to diversify blogging income. If you see a need for a specific resource food bloggers are wanting, fill the gap!

• Follow your passion and make it your job because everyone has something they are really good at. 

Resources Mentioned

• Click for more information on Elena’s course

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