If there’s one thing our generation is known for, it’s keeping up with loved ones on social media and trying out best to make our social content stand out. Here at Food Before Love, there’s nothing we love more than a good #YumCam shot from our followers. Sometimes, the perfect food photograph can be hard to pull off. So, we spoke to Livelle Mobley, a food stylist and photographer based in Atlanta, and he shared his tips for achieving great food photography.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself, what you do and how you got into photography.
I started my path in photography around 2011, mainly shooting street shots for fashion blogs. My decision to try photography came about when I was between jobs and wanted to try my hand at Graphic Design. I use to get so frustrated that I couldn’t easily find the types of images I was looking for while creating mock ads that I decided to go out and start shooting my own. For the last couple of years, I’ve been living on and off abroad in various places such as Sydney, Melbourne, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. In those places is where I started to hone my skills, mainly shooting children and portraits.
2. Why the decision to specialize in food photography?
I became fond of creating and showcasing food because it was one of the few things that I was able to design in entirety alone, from the ideation stage to the final edit. I was in control of all the steps throughout the process. I felt relaxed in the kitchen alone, it was soothing to me.
Creating food gave me the opportunity to play around with ingredients not only for taste and smell but for design purposes as well. I’d go back and forth visualizing color pallets, thinking of what would work best. I started to gain notoriety amongst my peers in Australia when I decided to use my previous photography skills to document my creations. While in Melbourne I met some friends who put a bug in my ear to take my food photography serious as a career since I didn’t want to be a chef. I was opposed at first due to the over-saturated market of photographers in general but I thought to myself “why not give it a try?”
I’m an advocate of volunteering your time to others in the communities that you live and frequent. Being that food styling and photography is a skilled service meant that I’d have a creative outlet to be able to help others in need without losing much but time in the process. So, I thought it was a win-win situation. I could make money creatively and professionally but also be able to offer pro bono assistance helping a budding entrepreneur get off the ground or a struggling mom and pop spot generate new business.
3. What thing do you keep in mind when shooting food, why are these things important?
The main thing I think about is the quality of the light I have available. Which direction is it coming from? How much light do I have to use? What color is the light emitting? Understanding light is so important to image quality, due to the fact that poor lighting can make images look dull and flat.
4. What are some tips you have for amateur photogs who are looking to make their Instagram food photos pop?
Edit lightly.
Add texture and layers with props.
Build a color palette/theme to stick to.
Use natural side or backlighting.
Shoot as you build.
5. What advice do you have for readers looking to pick up the camera and become a full-time photographer?
Be patient and practice every chance that you get. Don’t think about if it’s going to be useful to your portfolio or not, shoot whenever you have free time. Learn to be content with where you are currently as a photographer, especially if you are trying your best. Know that you can be better, but don’t let it eat at your morale, the spark just hasn’t come yet. Also, get into a habit of archiving photos that catch your eye. Go back at a later date and analyze what you like and don’t like about those photos. This will help you carve out your own style.
