Finding Props for Food Photography with Naomi Robinson | Summer Food Photography Series Part One (Kopie)

*****

This week I am kicking off another photography series like I did last year with a number of guest posts from bloggers, photographers and stylists all sharing their best tips and tricks on creating beautiful images. Today please welcome my very good friend and fellow food photography lover Naomi Robinson of Bakers Royale who is going to share her secrets to sourcing great props for food photography.

I’m so excited to be guest posting here at Gourmande in the Kitchen. Sylvie’s blog is one of my favorite food blogs for many reasons – one of them being Sylvie’s incredible photos.

Given the professional grade photography on Gourmande in the Kitchen, let’s start this off right; I’m a beginner when it comes to photography. So I’m not here to talk about any technical aspects of picture taking. I’m here to talk about the one thing I have managed to do well, despite my protesting wallet – food prop sourcing.

Since I get quite a few questions about my backgrounds and my props, Sylvie and I thought it might be helpful to share with you where and how I find them. My top shopping destinations are eBay and Etsy. I can’t say I like one better than the other, nor can I say one is less expensive than the other. What I can say and recommend is checking both sites when sourcing something.

To simplify things I’m going to display photos with the props I’m most often asked questions about. I’ve included where they were purchased along with the search words I used to find them. Finding the right search words is the difference between having a just few or a lot of pages returned to you for browsing. Now my style is primarily rustic so the words most often used to describe that category, outside of vintage and antique, are primitive and chippy or chippy paint.

Pewter and Aluminum Plates: eBay, Etsy

Search words: Wilton Armetale RWP, pewter plates, (Note: While the plates look like, and are often tagged with pewter, they are actually aluminum. Although you can find knockoffs Armetale knock-offs that maybe pewter and not aluminum).

Pie pans: eBay

Search words: Vintage pie tins, vintage pie pans

White and patterned plates: Home Goods Store

Pie pans: eBay

Search words: Vintage pie tins, vintage pie pans

Platters and Bowl: eBay

Search words: Brass platter

Bakesheet: (*Note: I often use bakesheets for backgrounds) : eBay, Etsy

Search words: enamelware, vintage bake sheet, Ovenex, kitchenalia bake sheet

Flatware: eBay

Search workds: vintage flatware, antiques silverware

Pattern Flatware: Sabre

Search words: Sabre, acrylic flatware

Background: Bench
Search words: chippy paint bench, farm bench, shabby chic bench (*Note: Make sure to check the size)

Here are a few examples of how Naomi has used her prop finds in her photos. (Click the images to see the recipes.)

Background: Aluminum bake sheet | Purchased: Ebay | Search words: vintage bake sheet, vintage cookie sheet
Plates: Wilton Armetale RWP | Purchased: Ebay | Search words: pewter plates, Wilton RWP, Wilton Armetale. (Note: While the plates look like, and are often tagged with pewter, they are actually aluminum. Although you can find knockoffs Armetale knock-offs that maybe pewter and not aluminum.
Flatware: Random pieces | Purchased: Ebay | Search words: vintage flatware, antique silverware

Background: Homemade boards
Plate: Enamel pie pan | Purchased: Etsy | Search words: enamel pie pan, enamelware
Fabric: Dishtowel | Purchased: Muhs Home

Background: Wood box | Purchased: Etsy | Search words: primitive box, chippy paint box

Pan: Cast iron pan | Purchased: Sur La Table

Fabric ishtowel | Purchased: Etsy | Search words: vintage kitchen farm towels

Background: Wood board | Purchased: eBay | Search words: primitive wood cutting boards, primitive bread boards

Pan ie tins | Purchased: Ebay | Search words: vintage pie pans, vintage pie tins

Background: Homemade wood board
Platter: Brass platter | Search words: brass platter

Since I primarily shoot with a rustic style, I shared my best sourcing places and tips for that. But here are a few other places that I also enjoy and shop at:
•Canvas
•Sabre
•Gilt
•Serena & Lily
•One Kings Lane

Thanks again, Sylvie, for having me here with your readers. I hope you guys enjoyed this!

Naomi Robinson is a self taught baker and the author of the blog Bakers Royale. She’s armed with an abundant reserve of passion and determination for baking and creating. You can find her on Twitter @BakersRoyale and on Facebook

Read more: http://gourmandeinthekitchen.com/2012/food-photography-props/#ixzz2WfYbFeay

http://www.bakersroyale.com/