What began as portrait photography quickly morphed into so much more as the start of the pandemic in 2020 allowed Janie Jones, a local serial entrepreneur, the time and opportunity to get creative and try different facets to her photography. With ideas rolling around in her head, she began doing, creating and trying new things. Since she, along with the entire world, was confined to her home, her living spaces became her canvas and as ideas flowed, so did her desire to take action. She did everything from DIY’s in building to styling her home with different angles, items and decor. Through combining the desire to create and the love of styling, she found a love of using her photography skills paired with food. This evolved to food styling and photography. She did it for herself at the beginning, and then when the world began to open up again many businesses realized how needed her talent was and reached out to her for food photography and branding needs. With her instagram profile, @uncommon.jane, gaining traction, she was soon booked with restaurants and other businesses to pivot her business to primarily styling and food photography.
While food photography will always be her favorite, she longs to capture the stories of people through senior and family sessions as well. She is known and recognized for her uncommon, clever and artistic styling when it comes to shooting various kinds of food. A self proclaimed lover of creating in any capacity, she loves working with other creatives and seeing what kind of magic and beauty can be created when different people with specific talents and skills come together to create something new. Janie found her passion and what she loves to do and longs that everyone do what brings them as much joy as she has found through shooting different subjects. When asked what her favorite thing to photograph was, her answer was, “a great flatlay with beautiful linens, dinnerware, herbs, spices and whatever else is in the dish. It just makes me happy!” You can see some of these amazing photos on instagram at @uncommon.jane Here you will be able to follow her daily life, see tips, tutorials, DIY’s and so much more.
Tips to take your own beautiful photos of your culinary creations
1. Start with the dish and make sure to note the colors of the dish.
2. Move on to the raw ingredients.
3. Once you have those colors, find the linens, cutlery or other props to accentuate the food.
4. Less is more: Don’t "over busy" the scene.
5. Natural light is best. Pull your table up in front of the window if you need to get good lighting.
6. Make sure the background or backdrop is neutral in color so you can really see the details of the food.
Happy Creating!
Contact Janie Jones for photography or styling needs at Janiejonesphotography.com or @uncommon.jane
