Learning for Creatives

BY FRAN FLYNN

Make your photos a bit extra! Whether you're a pro or just starting out, I'll show you how to crank up the creativity in your food & product images.
Ready to take your shots from 'meh' to 'magic'? Let's go!

Hi I'm Fran, a professional photographer, designer and educator, based on the Gold Coast in Australia. I’m a lifelong creative, with over 20 years of full-time self-employment as a creative.

My passion is teaching others how to achieve the satisfaction of realising their creative vision and crafting a sustainable business in the process. If you enjoy longer stories you can read more about me here>

from the blog

Blog

My 7 AI Photography Predictions for 2024

In 2024, the photography world is set to witness a monumental shift, with Artificial Intelligence emerging as a game-changing force in the industry. Saddle up - it might be a bumpy ride! Here are my top 7 2024 predictions on AI for commercial photographers…

How (and why) you need to shoot tethered

Shooting 'tethered' can seem like a giant leap for an amateur food photographer. The large majority of professional photographers shoot tethered, and for good reason. The concept may be daunting, because it is an inherently different way of approaching your photography. Once you get past the psychological intimidation it is surprisingly easy to implement.

How to photograph food in a restaurant

There are two core reasons why you might like to take photos of food in a restaurant environment;
1) you're visiting the restaurant as a customer and you want to share the shots of the food on your social media, or 2) you have been employed by the restaurant or a 3rd party (e.g. meal delivery service) to capture shots of the food. Both scenarios offer their own set of unique challenges.

Spot focusing versus spot metering (and how use them)

This is a topic that baffles my students all the time. It tends to rear its ugly head around about the time that students are starting to gain some sense of confidence and knowledge, and then the 'spots' get in front of their eyes and spoil everything. So let's clear the mud, and make some sense of spot focusing versus spot metering.

Blog

8 Top Tips for Printing Food Photos

Regardless of whether it’s a poster, a menu, or an entire cook book — at some stage you’re going to want to print your food images — but printing doesn’t always go to plan. Once you delve into the Pandora's box of colour management you'll never see the world in the same light again! To achieve best result you need to know a bit about how printing works and how colour is rendered both onscreen and in print...

How to print out a Pinterest board

If like me, you love to use Pinterest for inspiration when you are conceptualising your photo shoot, it is likely that you would also like to print the boards that you’ve created sometimes. Here is a quick step-by-step guide that makes it quick and easy.

Do you really need Adobe Lightroom for food photography editing?

Lightroom has become a bit of an industry standard for photographic post-production. But one often overlooked software, which is actually bundled for free with Adobe Photoshop, is almost identical in many ways...

Blog

How to choose a tripod for food photography

It can take some time to be convinced of the value of using a tripod for food photography, but once you start to work with one you will never look back. Finding the best tripod to suit your workflow and budget will become a top priority and the options can be overwhelming. This guide will help you to make the best choices.

Why a $50 lens hood has saved me thousands of dollars - twice!

For a long time, I had pretty much considered a lens hood to be a superfluous decorative piece of plastic that hung around on the end of my lens. Several years ago when I was out on a location shoot, I discovered that they can actually have a much greater purpose than they were originally designed for. Then just the other day, I was reminded of its value again.

What are the best lenses for food photography?

This is THE question I get asked every time I teach a workshop. It’s a hot topic for anyone that has struggled with food photography and I often think it stems from the hope that buying a fancy lens is going to make everything look good!

Food Photography - Digital SLR versus iphone/smartphone

You'll often see advertisers triumphantly proclaim that the SLR is dead and the latest awe-inspring smartphone or iphone will render SLRs obsolete, and become the holy grail for food photography. I tend to disagree....

Blog

How to photograph food in a restaurant

How to sell food images to photo stock libraries

On the surface, selling stock images seems like an attractive, quick and easy way to make an extra few bucks. Who hasn’t thought of digging through their backup system, uploading a few images and making a bit of regular extra cash. Can it really be that easy?

Blog

The Fashion of Food Photography

One of the most significant and frequently overlooked aspects of food photography is fashion. Yes, fashion! You might not possess an awareness of how significant an impact fashion has on food photography because you're looking at images every day. However, if we take a look back, the impact of fashion becomes ultra-obvious.

What exactly is a stylist anyway? (And how can I become one?)

Photographic styling is often a misunderstood art. For those of us working as professional photographers, particularly for high-end clients, stylists represent an essential part of the team, that fulfils a key role in making us (the photographers) look good.

Why I have Lego and makeup sponges in my food photography styling kit

Today is your lucky day! Not only am I going to let you in on my 'secret' for having Lego and makeup sponges in my styling kit, I’m also going to share details of my entire food styling 'bag of tricks'. This could save you hours of ‘wishing you had thought of it earlier' moments…

9 different ways to create the best backgrounds for food photography

Backgrounds are the make or break of a good food shot. Every food photographer or stylist has their own approach to sourcing or producing great backgrounds. Here are my top nine suggestions...

Blog

What exactly is a stylist anyway? (And how can I become one?)

9 different ways to create the best backgrounds for food photography

Backgrounds are the make or break of a good food shot. Every food photographer or stylist has their own approach to sourcing or producing great backgrounds. Here are my top nine suggestions...

Work with me

Do you need some great photography for food, products, advertising, lifestyle or Amazon listings,
or do you want to product a cook book or high quality coffee table book? I can help!

www.franflynn.com.au