Hi and welcome to Out of the Darkroom on AdoramaTV,
I'm here in the fabulous cafe restaurant surroundings of Lillies Bordello and joining
me on the show today is food photographer
Rob Kerkvliet. He's hopefully gonna be sharing some great trade secrets on how
he makes food looks so delicious.
AdoramaTV presents
Out of the Darkroom with Ruth Medjber
Rob, thanks for joining me and coming on my show. So you're a master at making
food look good.
How did start, were you into all sorts of photography and
then
slowly narrow down when you went to have a career?
I used to work in the greenhouse and all that, and that's when interest
came from
and that's - I just love to play with the light you know? That's the main thing that
attracts me to it really.
I mean cause I I guess food photography has really taken off
but I think on amateur level in the past two years because of Instagram.
Have you noticed that as well that the demand for like high-class
food photography has gone up? Like I don't know what it was like before I
came her but it's...
there's enough demand here anyway. There's enough demand to get you going.
I mean that's one of the reasons we moved here cause it's so exciting here really.
Like everything is artisan, everything is just small, local.
Compared to Holland anyway.
Tell us a bit about the company that you've set up.
It's called the Fox in the Kitchen and it's a duo team isn't it?
Yeah. it's with my girlfriend really. So you handle the photography?
Yeah and she does the styling basically, the food styling and pub styling.
I control the light and all that kind of stuff and
a food stylist makes the food look
appetizing really. Okay and you know if
a client wants something specific like a drizzle of
something.... yeah they'll put it on there, the food stylist does the drizzling and
the spritzing and that kind of stuff and tidying it up.
So would you have an art director telling
the food stylist what to do? Most of the time there is an art director yeah.
So it's quite a big production team goes into taking a photo
of food. Yes well there is usually 4 to 5 people most likely
that that's what I like. It's just the nice part of it really. What lighting do you
favor
when you're when you're taking food photography? Is there anything you favor or do you
just use everything that's available?
I use really whatever I think suits the project best.
Like for cookbook I tend to go more with natural light.
And for advertising it
tends to be flash usually. Cause I'm looking at your shots
and they have their own style. You definitely have your own style of photography.
But their lighting is completely different all over, I just want to know how you make
that call
Just on the day? Yes, it's just a feeling I
get or the client just tells you. I was told years ago to
come in at like a 45 degree angle and then I see some beautiful shots where they are
head on.
The cameras on top. Do you have any rules like that? What would you prefer.
It really depends on the dish really but is it I think that the overhead
kind of shots
are popular now really - you see them a lot.
I guess because of Instagram and all that it's very easy just to have your phone over it
and
Your studio shoot wouldn't be like my studio shoots. Where I have models
everywhere and I have a big, big area.
You're working within probably a bit like a two foot by two foot space
so you probably have to be very slight in your adjustments.
Yeah like it's all just the small, really small details.
It's always about details but now it's really about the small, small detail.
Is the food edible after a shoot
or has it been like poked and prodded and
I heard one time that fast food restaurants don't use ketch up
in their
photographs they use like red paint because it looks better.
Do you do anything like? No, like most of it is food!
Most of it is anyway, it could be undercooked to make it look a little
bit
nicer. Yes, have the color a bit more poppy or whatever like. But for advertising
sometimes,
especially things like ice cream because it just
melts.
Ok, That's usually made out of fat - sometimes it's a range as well,
strawberry ice cream and chocolate or whatever and it
all looks the same, except for the small change, you know.
If I was coming at this as an amatuer or an early starter photographer
and I wanna start taking really good pictures of
what I'm making would you have any tips like,
what gear would you recommend or you know
anything that you could tell someone who is just starting out. I guess the first thing you
need to get is a tripod, no matter if you're flashing or using natural light
you want to have
steady. Yes cause things are so tiny like
you could be saying to the stylist. "Move that just a mm',
like you know? If I move the camera then it's not
the same yeah.
And what about you? What do you shoot on?
Like is there any particular lens that you swear by, or anything like that?
One of my favorite lens would be the 24-70mm like if I have to shoot
the chefs and especially like in one of those Michelin star restaurants where everthing is
fast fast fast.
Your always in their way and
you don't have time changing lenses really.
And it's fast there a 2.8 cause I notice that in your shots a lot that
you play with the depth of field quite a lot. You always seem to shoot
around
2.8, is that right? and everything is nice and blurry in the background.
Is that something that a lot of food photographers would do
or you know? No that's just a style.
Yes, just so that the food pops more really.
It's just distracting to have had too much in the background.
One of the things I wanted to ask you? Is there food
that you hate photographing.
Probably risotto, yeah risotto goes
weird really fast. Like it kinda goes dry
within a few seconds - you have to be really fast. It's just
really hard to take a good photo so I won't be approaching you to
photograph my cook book of risotto recipes any time soon. Probably not no.
Rob listen thanks so much for joining me. I learned a lot about food
photography so hopefully
my Instagram account now over lunchtime is gonna get
fantastic treatment. Thanks a million. Cheers!
Well that's it for this episode of
Out of the Darkroom. if you have any comments make sure to leave them below
I do read them and I really appreciate the feedback. If you've enjoyed this
video
make sure to subscribe to the Adorama YouTube channel where, we're gonna post lots
more great videos
and if you got to brush up on your own photography skills visit the Adorama Learning
Center where you're gonna find lots of tutorials workshops and reviews.
Thanks and I'll see you again soon.
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