Photo Fun - 5 Do it Yourself Photo Shoot Tips or Bash in as Box Gets a Facial

Starting a new business is like going back to school. Everyday there is a new lesson for you to learn and more homework than you have time to do. One of the things Dina and I noticed as soon as the website launched was that the photos weren't quite right and we didn't have enough photos. Off to class we went eager to learn how to take better photos. When we first started, we actually forgot to take any photos! When we took photos they looked staged, empty, and/or poorly lit.

Next, we tried to take photos the morning of the party. (If only we had a video camera! There were some funny scenes when we lifted the tripod to take the photo because we didn't know how to adjust it!) We spent too much time arranging things for the photos and then rearranging for the party. This effort left us stressed out and didn't provide many usable photos. Our "A-ha" moment came when Dina found the food photography blog by Christina Peters. Christina's blog helped give us the confidence to do our own photo shoot. Dina used the guidance in the "Best Equipment Software for Food Photos" blog post to purchase a few light bulbs, lights, and camera umbrellas. A relatively small cost for equipment that we can use again, rather than a one-time fee for a professional. We took one day to re-shoot all the items in each Bash box. We focused on the individual items in the box, rather than on the food or setting. We also checked the photos, for each box, before moving on to the next one. We also tried to limit cropping and color corrections needed in Photoshop. It took a lot longer than we had planned, but we came away with some great photos, and ideas for more relaxing photos hoot next time. We think the new photos look great and are a step-up from the originals. Hopefully you do too! Our Top 5 Do-It-Yourself Photo Shoot Take-Aways:

1) Get the right equipment! (We really needed to the lights and umbrellas.)

2) Have the right lighting. (See #1. Some of our natural light photos came out great but most didn't. It was better to control the light for consistency.)

3) Give yourself more time than you need to take the photos. (We had three people working - Dina and I staged the photos and Dina's husband, Leon, set-up the shot. We scheduled 4 hours and it took 6 hours! It probably could have taken longer, but we were tired.)

4) Have big lengths of material for the photo backdrops. (This allows the focus to be on the element. We improvised with table cloths, scarves, and a cashmere wrap from Dina's closet!)

5) Be flexible and creative. (When you don't have the perfect element or you run out of something improvise. Let's just say you couldn't really drink the cocktails in the cocktail bash photos.

Thankfully we learned a lesson! We will make the photo shoot its own activity on a different day than the test party. We will also include all the tools and tips we learned from first photo shoot and from Christina's Food Photography blog. We hope you enjoy the new look and find our photo shoot tips helpful. Let us know if there are other photos you'd like to see on the website. Cheers,

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