For Millennials and Gen-Z's, going out for dinner or drinks means picking up our phone to take a snap of our food or capture a boomerang, clinking our cocktails together all for our Instagram accounts. As a generation that has grown up with social media, this is norm for us.
Video credit: Leanne Powell
In fact, there are people out there doing this for a living. Seven years ago, Sarah Crawford became a full-time food blogger after she started shooting content for her Instagram and blog for fun.
Her passion for photography came from school; originally, Crawford went into a career in anthropology after college but decided to quit and delve into the restaurant industry instead. Her blog gained 30,000 views per month and became home to her recipes that she developed, tested and photographed.
"By searching 'how to get paid to become a food blogger' online, I learned the skills that I needed to make it into the industry," she said.
"To be a food photographer you have to create your subject and have amazing stuff to shoot," Crawford said.
Although her talent goes beyond the kitchen, some of her audience wasn't so sure about their cooking skills. "If you don't like cooking then baking is a great because you can photograph it 2 days later and it still looks great," Crawford said.
The Foodtography event was held on zoom with over 10,000 participants worldwide, all listening to Crawford's advice on how to turn their food photos into a thriving business, just like she did. Her aim was to give back by creating the Foodtography school.
“I started off wanting to teach people using workshops but it was expensive and I made little profit. So I launched Foodtography, a 4-week virtual course which teaches you composition, lighting, colour stories, moodboards and how to use social media as a career."
Infographic: By Leanne Powell
Working with food is harder than it looks, she said. You have one chance to shoot it and to Crawford, that means, "Finding the emotional connection between the viewer and food, just showing something being eaten or that has something inside gives an element of enjoyment. I want you to be able to feel like you're eating it.”
Phoebe Elliott, 23, owner of food Instagram account @Tastebudtings agrees: "High-quality photos engage more as opposed to a fuzzy quick picture. A lot of followers like aesthetically pleasing photos and they follow accounts that deliver this, so having consistent photos that are at a good level of quality will heighten followers over time."
Infographic: By Leanne Powell
Even though we post our foodie snaps on Instagram for fun, it's also a great business tool. "What's amazing is that social media is at our disposal. Food brands are aware of this so reach out and offer to photograph for them, there's a lot of room in the industry." Crawford said.
Food photography allows you to do it from anywhere. Crawford ended the conference by stating, "All you need is talent, will, design, equipment to make it happen."
Photo credit: Leanne Powell
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