How did you get into photography?
My dad managed a program called EarthKAM for NASA, which is a camera on board the space station, so photography has always been around my household. He would hand me a camera and a couple rolls of film and tell me to go shoot. I did and I had a lot of fun with it.
As an adult, I got into food photography specifically through a friend who recommended me to a company in the food industry. I traveled all over photographing food at different restaurants that were mostly independently owned, mom and pop places, which I loved.
What do you love about food photography?
Food photography is absolutely one of my favorites. It is the right balance between technical and artistic. My education is in meteorology and aeronautics, and I was in the Air Force for 11 years as a weather forecaster, so I still very much have that scientific mind. The precision that is required with food photography really scratches that itch for me, but then it's also equal parts artistry.
Being able to decide on the technical aspects of a photo, the shutter speed and the f-stop and all of the mathematical things that go into making a properly exposed image, brings me joy. Things like placing crumbs and sprinkles or how you set a tablescape can be very pretty or it can be very sterile depending upon the look that you're going for, so I also have a lot of leeway to be creative.
What is your approach to photographing food?
I believe that we can make every plate of food look as appetizing as it really is. We do that by setting a nice tablescape, lighting it properly, and picking the focal point of the meal to highlight. I specifically do not do any of the weird tricks you see floating around on social media. I am not spraying food with WD-40, and it is really milk in the cereal that I'm photographing, not glue. Everything that I shoot is true to what you will get if you go to that restaurant and order. The chefs that cook in the restaurant are the ones who prepare the plates for me to photograph, and I think it brings a level of authenticity.
I also try to get to every dish within the first minute or two because I don't want anything that is starting to settle. Things like beans look tired when cooled down, so I need to get it while it's still hot. For things like fajitas, I don't do weird things to make extra steam. When they bring me a plate of fajitas and I'm snapping the steam coming off it, that's real.
How do you use light when food is the focus?
The lighting is almost exactly opposite of what you would photograph a person with. Unless you're going for something specifically artistic, you light most people from the front and slight angle. When you're photographing food, you're lighting it from the back and then bouncing light forward, because you want to show texture and depth. If you blast food with light from the front, it ends up going very flat, so the use of shadow becomes very important.
Do you have any special methods you use when staging food?
If I have fruit like bananas and apples that can turn brown when they're exposed to the air for too long, I just use pectin, which is essentially dried lemon juice. You sprinkle that on, and it stops the fruit from turning brown. Plus, it's 100% edible. If I need something like an egg roll to stay in a particular position, I cut a toothpick and use it kind of like a kickstand so that the egg roll doesn’t "roll" away (pun intended). So, I do have a few tricks, but everything is completely consumable when we're done.
Do you have a favorite food shoot memory?
When Whipped Creamery first opened in the mall, I shot their ice cream right there on a table in the mall food court. I was the most popular person in the mall that day! I only had about 45 seconds before the ice cream started to melt and became noticeable in the photos. So, they brought the ice cream cone, ice cream sandwich, or whatever I was shooting, to me- I set it up and took the photo, then turned around and gave it to someone to enjoy.
What advice do you have for aspiring photographers?
One of the most common questions I get asked is what camera they should buy. I think the best camera for any person is going to be the one that gets used. Hold it in your hand, navigate through the menu, and go with the one that feels the most natural. As you hold it, if it is comfortable and you can reach the buttons and the dials to make changes on the fly and it feels natural, you'll pick up the camera and use it more.
In addition to food photography, what other services do you offer?
Essentially, I can do anything that a small business or organization would need, from headshots to content to group photos. I’m a licensed drone pilot, so I am out several times a week with the drone, whether that be real estate firms, construction companies, or architectural firms. I'll take photos of the lay down yard and time stamp them so that what supplies have been delivered or not arrived on a certain date and time can be verified. I can also do 360 virtual tours for real estate listings.
What else would you like to share with readers?
I own the Augusta Studio Collaborative. It is a 2,000 square foot space that includes offices in half of the building leased to individual photographers and a 1,000 square foot shooting bay in the other half that can be rented by photographers. I have backdrops, lighting, and a completely remodeled space for photographers to use. They can book time in the studio and use everything that I have there to do their photoshoots indoors.
For more information and to connect with Adrion, visit www.adrionau.com or call/text 706-825-5745.
Food photography is the right balance between technical and artistic.