How should you choose your props for your next photo shoot? What are the 5 props that you must have if you are on a very tight budget? In this interview professional prop stylist shares her wisdom and knowledge on prop styling.
Lets Welcome Paula Walters
Paula Walters is a professional prop stylist who has been in this industry for more than 20 years and has worked with Chicago’s most successful food and product photography studios.
Paula has worked with clients like Arbys, Mc Donald’s, Hershey, Nestles, Barilla, Campbells, Red Lobsters to name a few. You can read her entire list of clients on her clients page. You can find out more about Paula by visiting her portfolio or by going to her blog.
Press the play button to listen to this interview
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Prop Styling 101
This interview is a 101 course for any food photographer interested in learning about prop styling. Here’s what we cover in this interview:
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Role of a prop in a food photo
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How to choose a prop for your next photo
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The 5 props that you should have if you are on a tight budget
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5 Places to shop for props – I am going to bet you may not have heard about most of them
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How to think like a professional prop stylist for your next food photo shoot
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Paula explains role of props in following food photos and why she picked the props in the photographs. She also explains her thought process for positioning the props.
This is a prop styling 101 course. Don’t miss this interview. Press the play button to listen to this interview
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Thank you Paula
Thank you Paula for your time. It was a pleasure talking to you and hosting you on this Food Photography blog.
Readers and Listeners
You can view Paula’s entire portfolio by visiting her website. Please leave your suggestions and comments below. As many of you have requested, I am working on converting this and past interviews into a downloadable podcast.
If you have any questions for Paula, feel free to leave in the comments section below.
All images are copyright of Paula Walters or a contributing photographer and should not be used without permission.
Very informative interview….Points on Chocolate-caramel shot and the lobster shot was really inspiring….
Thanks for posting this interview.
Glad that you found this informative. I enjoyed talking with Paula. Also her thought process explanation was very helpful.
Man that lobster shot is cool, although I can’t help but feel a bit bad for the lobster.
Thank you Neel!!! very good interview!! i learnt a lot
Thank you Yue. Thank you for listening this interview. I learnt a lot too in less than an hour.
I liked the tips on finding props. The ’5 props you should have’ list was very useful.
This post is just beautiful. I love her pictures. Your interview was awesome.
Thank you for your comment and thank you for taking time to listen this interview. Am happy that it was helpful.
This is the first time I was able to sit-down and listen to the interview… wow! So much information.
I accidentally stumbled on what she advises, using smaller plates.. at first it was all I had, then I realized that it really makes the food look bigger. You can put less quantity in a smaller plate and be able to spot all of the ingredients as opposed to using a serving platter or regular dinner plate.
On one of my shots, since I had a very small roast and used a smaller platter, everything else had to be smaller too! Small wine glasses, small salad forks and plates pretending to be dinner plates! I only had a modern milk pitcher pretending to be a gravy boat, so I had to kind-of hide it.
I’m looking forward to going through the archives and pick-up some more tips.
Thank you for contacting and interviewing these professionals!
L
hip pressure cooking
making pressure cookers hip again, one recipe at a time!
Oops had forgotten to click on the special link to include the image I was talking about, above. Here it is:
[img]http://contribute.sfgate.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/13/0/6d692bbb-bd8a-422c-a0f9-e63416b9e05f.Large.jpg[/img]
Never underestimate the power of a white plate!!
L
Great interview and very helpful, Paula and Neel. Thank you.
One question, if Paula is still checking in: do food photography styles change, and if so, how do we keep up with the changes? For example, I notice the pics with a sharp subject in the foreground while objects in the background are out of focus. Is this a style that may pass out of favor? Have other styles lost their popularity? Is this something to be concerned about, or should a food blogger just shoot what looks good, regardless of current styles?
Kathleen
Sorry, that was not an appropriate question I just asked Paula, as it was about photography, and not styling. Maybe Neel could answer it.
Kathleen
Hi Kathleen, I think that is a great question. Yes, photography styles change. If you look at food photography from 10 years ago you would see a big change, older than that, an even more significant change in direction. Food photography is influenced by so many things: current food trends, lifestyle trends, color palettes and interior design, popular travel destinations, to name a few. Changes in technology, cameras, equipment have been huge. As these influences and inspirations change, so will the way we portray the food. Lighting, focus, angle will also go through trends. And like so many other things, what is old often becomes new again.
A successful professional food photographer has established his or her style, but must be able to take different approaches based less on trends and more upon client concerns and what truly works best for the subject matter.
I would be less focused on trying to follow a style trend, and concentrate more on developing a style that feels right for you and carries the message of your blog. One thing that never goes out of style is superb lighting, when you hone your lighting skills much will fall into place, and give you the confidence to explore further.
Please yourself first! Your look may not appeal to everyone, but that’s okay. It would be extremely boring if every blog,magazine,and ad was approached the same way.
Thank you so much for replying, Paula. You have given me confidence to follow my own gut feelings about a certain style, rather than having to rely on what the pics in the food mags are doing, though they certainly can help with styling suggestions. I am just starting to try to understand lighting. Your advice underscores how important it is. I will continue working with it. Thank you.
Kathleen
Outstanding website. Thanks for so many tips. I’ve done a few jobs with local quality restaurant & organic food stores but every day looking at my new baby girl in her graco snugride 35 baby seat makes me long for working full time out of my home studio to spend more time with her now. Thanks for all the great tips and helping me to see that this is really do-able.
hi paula, i am wondering if you know some body that can teach me how to prop photos its for a dog buissness my partner dont have time to show me how to do it. i like to know how to prop photos. you can email me on my email address above. thanks for your help,jeff
This is cool, my photographer friend does a lot photography, but I don’t know if she has done food photography. It’s interesting how there are so many specialty areas even within photography. She was wanting to expand her career opportunities with photography, so she will love this.
Paula is really an amazing and talented lady that could turn food into a works of art! Imagine a pic that when seen, one could almost taste and smell it?
Thanks you so much for sharing this, Neel.,