“I see meals as a celebration,” reveals meals photographer Emma Dunham

I used to be fairly depressing as a portrait photographer. I’d backed myself right into a nook and out of the blue discovered that I was working each weekend and I was lacking my youngsters rising up. I began to resent having folks within the studio and I didn’t cost my value. I bought a bit cross with myself that I’d constructed this enterprise that I didn’t love. And it was embarrassing that I bought myself to that time. 

In lockdown, I used to be a part of the Grasp Photographers’ Affiliation and our chairman stated: “You’ve bought to choose up your cameras each week, otherwise you’re going to lose your confidence.” I can by no means thank him sufficient. Every week he gave us two phrases and we’d must go away and {photograph} what these two phrases imply to us, and the whole lot I photographed was meals.

That was when the images bug bought me and issues began turning round. The next yr I bought shortlisted within the Pink Girl Meals Images Awards. I bought this orange with cloves caught in it, and I referred to as it ‘Cloveid’, and that bought shortlisted, so I assumed, ‘Okay, I’m getting someplace’. I labored closely on LinkedIn, began a shopper base and other people have been reserving me. 

Sure, it was. Additionally, it made me really feel I used to be worthy of placing myself on the market. After which the next yr, I got here second within the Pink Girl competitors with ‘Medusa’. 

They have been child leeks and spring onions, so each. On the portrait aspect, I labored with a theatrical make-up artist, so every year we all the time put one thing collectively that’s off-the-cuff, just a bit bit totally different. The lady in ‘Medusa’ was solely 13, and she or he was having a stunning time, and once I edited it and lifted the options I did say to the theatrical make-up artists, “Please inform her mum, I’m sorry.” She appeared actually grown up. She cherished it at 13, however I wasn’t positive what her mum was going to assume! 

No, I believe I’m simply very infantile! I see meals as a celebration, a pleasure. It’s one thing to be adored, versus one thing that we simply eat. It’s not simply gas. Not too long ago, I did some zombie eggs for Halloween. 

I hard-boiled some eggs, peeled them and minimize them so we might see the ‘eyes’ for the yolk and I then switched on a smoke machine and it appears like they’re floating. I had a beautiful time creating the picture. It didn’t make me any cash, but it surely will get me numerous feedback! 

I’ve recurring shoppers. I’m nonetheless getting new shoppers, however not as many, as a result of once we first got here by means of lockdown, I wished to show images. I arrange my 5-Day Worthwhile Meals Images Problem, the place folks can come and study meals images with me – without cost! Then, those that are eager can come into my meals images academy, so I spend a lot of time coaching, presenting, taking care of folks within the academy. 

It’s a industrial platform and the vast majority of my shoppers come from LinkedIn. I don’t promote for my shoppers now however they nonetheless come to me. 

I had one a few weeks in the past: she stated she’d been following me for 3 years. She had a chat with me and booked an annual bundle. I stated, “That is my day price, and that is my annual bundle.” They’re my two costs and she or he stated, “Okay, I’ll take the annual bundle.” As a result of I can do this now, I can put myself on the market as a premium meals photographer to draw the those that I actually need to work with. 

If it’s one thing like ‘Medusa’, once I’m working with the theatrical make-up artist, we sit down, we now have a chat. We’re each as artistic as one another, which might be each good and dangerous as a result of we go to the moon and again with the whole lot that we do. Generally, we now have a mannequin in thoughts and that helps. We’ve performed ‘Medusa’, we’ve performed a lion with noodles and a watermelon punk.  

Not too long ago my husband introduced me again these fish-shaped waffles with chocolate unfold in them and stated, ‘I discovered these! They’re actually totally different, it is advisable {photograph} them.’ How am I going to {photograph} fish-shaped waffles? How are we going to make these look any good? 

So, I googled ‘fish-shaped waffles’ and the photographs have been all horrible. There was no inspiration on the market, there was nothing. So, I went to the candy store; it’s an old style candy store close to us with all of the little bottles and jars. They know me fairly properly now as a result of I all the time go in with random requests. I stated, “Have you ever bought fish and chip white chocolate sweets?” They stated that they had and I stated, “Might I simply have the chips out of it please?” So, they actually picked all of the chips out of the fish and chips! 

I stated, “I’m ever so sorry if this causes you issues!” They stated, “No, it’s high quality.” So, I introduced again a bag of chips after which I put them in with some baking paper, I put my fish Nutella on a little bit baking board and bought a few little wood forks and newspaper to make it… a candy fish and chips. That was very troublesome to do and the shot I bought in the long run wasn’t in my head in any respect. It was like, I’ve simply bought to play with this and see what works whereas I’m swearing at my husband for bringing me one thing that I can’t {photograph}!  

The recurring shoppers belief me. When I’ve a spreadsheet, we checklist the whole lot they need photographed: what do they need it photographed on, what’s the backdrop, what angle, do they need forks in it, will there be napkins in it? Mainly, we now have an entire spreadsheet earlier than we begin and as soon as we’ve performed all of that, they let me create. So, it’s all about creativity inside a framework. 

I’m alone within the backside of the backyard. Simply earlier than lockdown we began to construct it, which was well timed. It was constructed to be a studio for headshots, so the whole lot is white-washed. I’ve bought all these stunning partitions and now I’ve bought two setups right here: I’ve bought one for pure mild, and one for synthetic mild. So, I all the time have two setups operating for a session within the studio. 

Most individuals that I work for often need me to go to them as a result of they need their very own place within the background, however some folks will come right here. I’ve bought a jam-maker for the time being who’s dropped off all her jams and chutneys to be photographed. As a result of I do plenty of coaching as properly, I video in right here for the opposite photographers. I adore it, I’ve bought three children, a husband and 4 cats. I might reside down right here! 

I’ve bought one Elinchrom 250W mild with an Elinchrom 120cm Octabox on it. I solely use that one mild, aside from a little bit child Elinchrom D-Lite that has a snood on the entrance. So, I all the time side-light with only one mild supply, and that can both be with the 120cm Octabox on it, or will probably be the daylight. Each setups are mirroring one another right here, with the sunshine coming in from the left. The little mild is used if I have to put some rim-light on a set of pancakes or waffles, so if I’m dropping the perimeters of the meals, I’ll use the snood in a tiny a part of the picture to place the perimeters again in.

Properly, I all the time bounce the sunshine again in, so I’ve bought white card and silver card. I’ve nonetheless bought gold and silver reflectors from my days as a portrait photographer, and I take advantage of these and little sq. mirrors. Again in January, I forgot to take my bounce mild with me to a restaurant, so I needed to run to Waitrose and purchase a roll of foil and wrap it spherical their menu. I actually bounced the sunshine again in with a roll of foil.

I take advantage of three lenses. All my lenses are primes. Something with meals images must be sharp, so not having that zoom choice actually helps with there being no shake. I use a 50mm, an 85mm and a macro 105mm. I don’t want the rest. I began with a 50mm as a result of I bought it in my portrait days. When my first shopper paid me, I purchased the macro 105mm and I used to be stunned with having the ability to see each hair on the strawberries. Then I noticed I used to be lacking one thing and acquired the 85mm. I might say my 85mm is on my digital camera greater than the rest. 

It depends upon how a lot I need blurred within the background and whether or not it’s an entire desk of meals, or whether or not I’ve bought a cake and I need the remainder of the background blurred, so it depends upon the meals. The opposite bit of kit I really want for meals images is a tripod. If folks attempt to shoot meals with out utilizing a tripod, they simply can’t get that sharpness within the dish. I’ve bought a regular tripod and I’ve bought one with a growth arm, so I’ll shoot on a tripod even once I’m doing a flat lay. 

No, I’m nonetheless old skool. I’ve bought no purpose to improve for the time being. Nothing’s not working. I’ve bought two Nikon D810 our bodies they usually do the job. They get me by means of in competitions, they get the whole lot. I can’t fault them. Once they don’t work, that’s once I’ll improve. 

Sure. I can’t keep in mind my first one. I used to be very younger. I do know I bought a Kodak for a birthday after which I used to be given a Nikon. I can’t keep in mind what kind, however one thing from the Nineteen Seventies, an SLR. I did my very own pictures and cherished placing a black-and-white movie into my SLR and going out capturing. Generally, I put movie into it to see if I can nonetheless thread a movie at velocity, however I discover it so irritating as a result of I all the time go to look behind it! 

I might say that’s a part of being a photographer. If somebody reveals me one thing they need to {photograph}, compositionally I will probably be pondering, ‘Am I going to place one thing centrally? Am I going to offset it? Do I need the background blurred?’ So, straightaway I can undergo a means of ‘what’s this going to appear to be?’ I’d then have to maneuver a fork 15 occasions as a result of your fork simply isn’t in the precise place, however the huge image of the shot is in my head. I know from expertise the place the whole lot goes to go. It’s simply the little annoying issues that take up time!One other instance was a picture I entered for Panorama Photographer of the 12 months, which wasn’t utterly monochrome as I had left in some orange for the autumn leaves. It’s principally about deciding what’s going to make this scene look the most effective. Is it full color? Or, if the colors are boring and you’re taking it out and enhance another issues, like readability to emphasise the textures and shapes, then that’s what I’ll do to make it higher.

There isn’t, however the summer season will get fairly busy as a result of everybody’s doing Christmas. That’s when the large corporations contact me. They get all their shoots performed by the tip of summer season. So, plenty of my summer season holidays I have my Christmas props out, which is unusual. The great thing about meals is that folks in eating places change their menu with the season, which is why I’ve an annual bundle of 4 shoots in a yr, as a result of folks generally have 4 menus they usually need to know they’ve bought it coated. It’s nice from a recurring income viewpoint, that they’re going to be altering their photographs extra ceaselessly than in the event that they want a brand new headshot or are bringing their household in to {photograph}. 

I give away so many commerce secrets and techniques in my coaching but when they’re already a photographer, they should be open to beginning up an entire new database, ranging from scratch in a brand new style and doing a number of shoots without cost. It’s a must to construct your portfolio, and also you’ve bought to be prepared do a number of issues without cost. Then, whenever you’ve bought a stupendous portfolio, you can begin charging what you’re value.  

Anybody can low cost. Anybody can do any low cost, and everybody might be on the backside of the tree altogether discounting with one another, and I believe it’s simpler simply to go and sit up on a department and say, “I’m unapologetically up right here.” It was Stella Artois about 20 or 30 years in the past that was ‘reassuringly costly’, and I all the time use that for instance. If nobody was up there, we wouldn’t have the Hilton versus the Premier Inn, we wouldn’t have an A Lange & Söhne watch versus a Casio, we simply wouldn’t have this selection; and it’s attempting to get folks to grasp that we will do this too in images, we don’t must be determined. To this point, so good, I believe! I’ve all the time charged a excessive value. You may’t be charging £200 or £300 for a day as knowledgeable: you possibly can’t survive on that quantity for a day on your job.