Great British Chefs’ Food Photography Workshop #smwldn #smwfoodphotography

Last night’s Food Photography Workshop hosted by Great British Chefs at Tom’s Kitchen was great. The food provided was tasty and photogenic, and chef Tom Aikens was kind enough to do a bit of a meet and greet and give a little speech to kick things off.

Guiding us through the event competently and thoughtfully (and with enthusiasm oozing through his every action and word) was professional photographer David Griffen. David’s the dude behind roughly 50% of the food shots you see on the GBC website. I like his style, and I like how he presented the workshop.

Part of the hashtag frenzied activities of Social Media Week, the workshop started with an overview for all (about 30 of us in attendance), then a ‘play group’ split with mobile phone photogs in one group and DSLR shutter bugs in another, and then a final thought round up with all of us back together again. I hung with the SLR folks most of the time but eavesdropped a bit on the mobile side of the room as well.

Much of what David taught confirmed that, with respect to shooting with my SLR, I’m doing the right thing – which was very nice to hear. He had some lens, equipment and setting tips though that I really appreciated. He answered questions with direct, practical answers. Soon, I’ll be switching from years as a Blackberry user to joining the throngs of iPhone drones. The advice on apps and how to make the most of mobile photography, made my decision to switch seem like the right choice, a no brainer (at least from a photographer’s perspective).

I take a lot of photos of food, professionally and for fun (and can only assume I’m going to be doing more and more of this over the next year or so). I think my time learning from and observing David will pay off and enable me to take better shots.

Do you take a lot of photos of your food or have some other kind of photo fetish? Great photography related events like this one are going on all the time here in London these days. And with plenty of cheap flights available to get you across the pond, it’s a smart idea to consider heading over to the UK to experience some fun shutterbug activities.