Online Food Styling & Photography 4 Week Course

Hosted by Christiann Koepke & Valentina Solfrini

 

Join us online as we host live community and 1 on 1 classes, teaching on the primary topics

of the food styling & photography industry.

 

About Christiann

Christiann is a Portland-based photographer, stylist, recipe developer and author behind the popular blog, ChristiannKoepke.com where she showcases her immense love for the art behind crafting incredible food. She’s also passionate about traveling, shooting, hosting Secret Suppers and teaching her craft worldwide. Christiann has worked with brands like West Elm, Elle Decor, Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters and more, and has had her work featured in many places, including Vogue. You can see her full press list here.

Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

 

About Valentina 

Valentina is an Italy and US-based photographer and author behind the Saveur Award-winning blog hortuscuisine.com, where she develops, styles, shoots and shares vegetarian, vegan and often gluten-free recipes, with a keen eye for fresh, local food and produce. She hosts workshops and classes about the arts of food photography and Italian / Mediterranean food, which she has mastered thanks to the experience of her family of cooks. She has worked with brands such as Free People, Weck, and several American publications, and is currently writing her own cookbook, scheduled to be released fall 2017 by Penguin Random House.  

Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

 

About The Course

Class dates extend August 6 - 27

Early bird pricing is available July 7-13 | Limited space available

Detailed class description noted below image collection

 

The first class, Photography and Styling Basics will be streamed online August 6 with the class as a whole. This session is taught by Valentina from her kitchen located in Italy where she resides in the village of Gradara,  facing the northern Adriatic coast.

Week 2 is taught by Christiann and will be streamed online with the class as a whole as she teaches from her beautiful studio located in the heart of Northwest Portland. This topic covers Social Media, Branding and Editing in Lightroom Basics.

Week 3 on Food Styling is the first of 1 on 1 sessions, where each student will have the opportunity to have a live session with Valentina, either by her streaming into your kitchen, offering tips and advice for an actual set you're working on, or by streaming into hers, watching as she works, asking any question you like along the way to glean from her process.

Week 4 on Editing in Lightroom is the final session, and will be 1 on 1 with Christiann. Each student will screen share live and will work with Christiann directly, as she walks each student through the process of editing their own photos inside Lightroom on her computer. We will edit the images you shot in the week previous for your homework, and each student will walk away with a custom pre set that can be utilized for future editing.

Note : During live community sessions, there will be opportunity for Q&A and homework will be assigned after every course, which Valentina and Christiann will then review provide custom feedback for each students on their corresponding teaching weeks.

If community sessions are scheduled at a time that conflicts with your schedule, not a problem! They will be archived for reference when you're able to log on and view. Questions may be sent via email to the corresponding teacher if you have any post viewing.

See below the images for detailed descriptions of each course!

{First image collection by Valentina | Second image collection by Christiann}

Week 1 : Photography & Food Styling

Saturday, August 6

9:30 am PST 

2 hour full class online streaming session

PHOTOGRAPHY ESSENTIALS

Knowing your basics is crucial to developing top-quality work

  • Shutter speed, aperture, and ISO
  • Digital image formats and why you should shoot in RAW
  • Assembling your photography set, bodies and lenses, the difference between fixed and zoom, brightness, purpose etc...
  • Playing with light and light sources

STYLING ESSENTIALS

While playing by ear and following your own instinct is what makes your styling unique, there are a few rules, akin to painting and art, that can give you a better understanding of why you do what you are doing:

  • Harmony in shapes and rules of composition
  • color balance and consistence 
  • Textures & materials / Setting up a set 
  • Prop sourcing

At the end of the session, you will be given homework that follow a theme in particular, and will be asked to unleash your creative genius without straying too much from the theme you are given. The homework will be discussed on the following individual one-on-one session (see below).

*If you’re unable to stream in live at the scheduled time, archive capability will be provided for later access

 

Week 2: Social media, Branding, & Editing in Lightroom 5

Saturday, August 13

9:30 am PST

2 hour full class online streaming session

Learn about the industry’s hottest topics: Social media, branding and editing. Get real and direct insider tips and advice from Christiann who’s grown a popular Instagram account.

SOCIAL MEDIA

  • How to brand your work on social media (which requires a completely different strategy than web platforms)
  • Post timing
  • Post testing
  • Captions
  • Hashtags
  • Networking
  • Monetization
  • Working with brands

BRANDING

Learn strategic ways to brand your company; one of the most crucial parts in growing your company. We’ll cover topics like:

  • What is branding?
  • Why branding is even important in the first place
  • Tips and strategies on how to brand your work
  • Instagram in relation to branding

EDITING

  • Why editing is so important
  • Tips on how to make a good image great
  • Detailed overview of the basics of editing in Lightroom 5, the industry’s most utilized editing platform
  • Step by step instruction on how to edit an image in Lightroom

*If you’re unable to stream in live at the scheduled time, archive capability will be provided for later access

 

WEEK 3 : 1 on 1 Food styling

August 19 / 20

1.5  hour 1 on 1 online streaming session

Each student gets 1 on 1 teaching via screen share. Work with Valentina to have all your questions about styling answered as she walks you through a detailed tour of her own styling process. This one-on-one session will introduce you to styling both dark and bright color palettes, as well as both large, fully set tables and simpler but well-plated dishes, or ingredients alone, in tandem with the light and mood you want to achieve with your work. 

*This class will be scheduled directly between Valentina and the student to correspond with their time zone / lighting needs

 

WEEK 4: 1 on 1 Editing in Lightroom

August 25 / 26

1.5 hour 1 on 1 online streaming session

Each student gets 1 on 1 teaching via screen share. Work with Christiann as she takes your images from week three’s homework and shows you how to edit step by step. Ask as many questions as you like, we go at your pace! At the end of the class, Christiann will have developed a preset for you that you can take and utilize in Lightroom post session for future editing! Presets allow for consistency of your imagery and are crucial to branding your work, providing a starting place to build on in the post processing phase of your work.

*This class will be scheduled directly between Christiann and the student to correspond with their time zone