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It’s a world of pretty pictures, but what does it take to produce captivating images of food?

How is it possible to convey in a picture those delicious moments that follow a bite of a tasty morsel? How to translate our recipes into dazzling pics?

“However rudimentary you may imagine your ignorance to be, if you don’t know, ask; if you don’t understand, request an explanation” ~David Randall (The Universal Journalist)

Food photography is the result of team-work. Generally there is a food stylist to prepare the food and style it, (a cooking background is essential); a prop stylist to pick the props, a photographer to ponder about the visual balance, camera angle, lighting.

The resulting image is meant to seduce, and yet what looks good on the plate doesn’t necessarily look good on a picture.
The setting, the lighting, the mood all together are playing an important role in the seduction game, eventually to make you want “to eat” the page or screen.

My name is Orsola (aka ockstyle) and I am a food stylist! Trained in both visual and culinary arts, I’ve took my first steps in the field with the late food stylist master Delores Custer. I’ve worked with an inspiring hodgepodge of people, from professional kitchens to magazines and tv.

However, the moment I tell people I’m a food stylist, aside from the initial oohs – or some hilarious moments where food stylist was misunderstood for foot stylist 😉 – there is always the “what’s that?” question, eventually followed by “is it even real food?”.

Yes folks, it’s real! The trend is to present genuine food with crumbs, spills, possibly in natural light, to show the “hero” (the item that will be featured in the photograph) in an authentic context.

With photographers Rosangela Giannoccaro and Lucia Zeccara, and the chef Simona Scarone, we are holding in Rome a series of introductory workshops on “Food Photography & Styling”. They’re in Italian, but could be easily organized in English too.

Fell free to ask us about it, here’s our contact email

In the gallery are few picks from our last workshops… I’ve prepped and styled all the food in the pictures.

ockstyle

I’m an Italian gluten-free Gourmet Traveler+ and a passionate storyteller, writing in English and Italian. Fluently speaking (eating and dreaming) in Italian, English, French, and Russian. When I’m not writing, I cook and test recipes for special diets, and photograph (also on film). Not necessarily in that order. — / — Sono una viaggiatrice buongustaia (la Gourmet Traveler+) senza glutine, appassionata narratrice di storie. Scrivo in italiano e inglese, parlo (mangio e sogno) fluentemente in italiano, inglese, francese e russo. Quando non scrivo, cucino, testo ricette dolci e salate per diete speciali, fotografo (anche in pellicola). Non necessariamente in quest’ordine.