A Full Commercial Food Photo Shoot: From Concept to Shooting to Editing
In this 35-minute video, I go through my entire process of shooting for my commercial portfolio. During the COVID-19 lockdown, I have had more time to focus on my book, which will hopefully help get me back out there when everything opens up again.
During the shoot I use a Canon 5DS R, Carl Zeiss Milvus, and a mixture of the Broncolor Hazylight 2 and Bowens Soft Light modifier attached to a wide spill kill. In between shots, I go through the lighting set up, camera settings, and the rationale behind them while showing some insights into how the stylists work on a still shoot.
After the shoot, I discuss my digital data management workflow, which is thankfully going to change soon. I then take my images into Capture One and Photoshop to talk through my editing procedures while showing how I edited the below image.
Working as a commercial photographer is a very competitive job, but getting your foot in the door is far harder than getting new clients once you are known. One of the biggest reasons that photographers do not get into the field is that their portfolios are too vague. Even if you shoot portraits, that would be too broad a genre to be noticed.
Hopefully, this video offers both an insight and some practical advice on how to start to get your work noticed. Failing that, I have a cute cat in my studio.
About the author: Scott Choucino is a professional food and portrait photographer. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. You can find more of Choucino’s work on his website and Instagram.
