June 8th – 11th 2022
ADVANCED FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY AND FOOD STYLING RETREAT 2022
With Kimberly EspinelMIDSUMMER FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY AND VISUAL STORY TELLING RETREAT
with Kimberly Espinel
A few years back, together with Kimberly Espinel we started talking about a Nordic Midsummer food photography retreat. Then pandemic hit us, but finally in June 2022 we hosted our first workshop together. 7 students came from all around the world to enjoy our 4-day workshop at my summer cottage in the countryside of Finland. And it was beautiful! Our days were filled with learning a lot about food styling, outdoor food photography and lifestyle videography.
Read more about our amazing experience here and make sure to also check Kimberly’s post about it!
We started the retreat with a beautiful cozy dinner in the garden, surrounded by the lilac trees. The table was filled with fresh Nordic food. We had the loveliest time relaxing together and getting to know each other before our 4-day retreat!
DAY 1
welcome dinner
Accommodation
Our students stayed in the middle of nature, in a lovely old wooden villa by the sea. They were gifted a perfect little welcome package by our sponsors. Amazing Finnish fresh skin care products by Niki Newd, a lovely floral notebook by Cozy Publishing, beautiful 100% organic cotton towels by Anno and gorgeous little ceramics cup by Michelle Ceramics. After the retreat every student received a stunning vinyl backdrop from Errer Backdrops and some delicious chocolate by Hip Chocolate.
A welcome gift for our students.
DAY 2
Sweet food photography & Cake scenesOn the 2nd day of our retreat we focused on sweet food photography and styling. In the morning session we used two indoor scenes to look at how to use shapes in compositions and add texture to images. After that participants were given some time to create their own garden cake scenes outdoors.
In the afternoon session we dived into the basics of videography and learned about the important details to know before heading to shoot video.
DAY 3
Videography and savory food photography in the forest & an afternoon in the villageIn the morning session of our 3rd day, we had a little recap of the video techniques and then headed up to the forest to shoot some lifestyle and nature video and also learn about savory food styling in location.
In the afternoon we visited the local village together to have some lunch in the gorgeous Matildankartano café. Then the students had some free time to wander in the village with us, practice their new skills with video and still photography and get some help with any questions they had.
In the evening of our 3rd day we had a beautiful sunset dinner together at the accommodation.
Visiting small local shops and capturing beautiful old buildings.
Lunch at a cozy cafè Matildankartano in the village.
A magical moment from the last evening together at the students’ accommodation by the sea.
DAY 4
video editing & monochromatic Food photographyIn the 4th day of our retreat, we looked into editing videos and making most of your material and telling the story. Then we finished the lesson by learning more about monochromatic food photography and the difference between editorial and rustic, storytelling styling. Following our busy morning we had some lunch together and had some lovely time before it was time for goodbyes. We ended the retreat with little goodbye gifts and many hugs!
THANK YOU
I'd also like to thank our amazing sponsors:
Anno for the beautiful 100% cotton towels
Errer Backdrops for the stunning vinyl backdrops
Dream Cozy for the lovely floral notebooks
Hip Chocolate for the delicious chocolate
Niki Newd for the amazing fresh skin care products
Michelle Ceramics for the gorgeous ceramics
