ATFT photography workshop at Mumu Grill

I'm a bit late with this post on the food photography workshop presented by Billy of A Table for Two (I attended the session held on 24th April). But Billy has just announced another 2 workshops in June, so it's timely after all.

The workshop was held in the private dining room next door to Mumu Grill in Crows Nest.  The room also backs onto the restaurant's kitchen, as we found out when quite a bit of smoke started seeping into the room just before lunch.  Never mind, the topics in the workshop are interesting enough to make you ignore the fact that you are suffocating...

The attendees for this workshop included foodbloggers and non-foodbloggers, and most wielded DSLR cameras.  Only myself and another blogger had compact cameras, though of a higher spec than the usual.  It helps if you understand your camera's usage and controls before coming to the course.  A knowledge of photo-editing software is also useful.

Most of us use Photoshop, and Billy also showed us Lightroom, which is looks like a great product.  He also covered subjects like photo composition, restaurant etiquette (to ask or not to ask), publishing on blogs and keyword searches.

Although I already knew about some of the things we discussed, I picked up a couple of useful tips, including how to use spot metering, which is something I'd never bothered with before.

Getting up close and personal with our food

Speaking of lunch... a benefit of the workshop is that you get to eat the food that you photograph, and such fabulous food it is too.  My previous meal at Mumu Grill was for Duckfest 2010, and the food this time was even better.

Lunch included a selection of appetisers, including figs wrapped in prosciutto and goat's cheese. The main of t-bone tagliata was amazingly tender and tasty, accompanied by duck fat potatoes and cherry tomato salad.  Dessert plate included rhubarb cake and pavlova.

Just to prove I was paying attention, here is a photo that has had things done to it, as I learned on the course.  Spot the difference.

Some of the adjustments include: white balance, cropping, levels, and soft light filter.

If you want to learn more about how to improve your photos, and get a good feed at the same time, I can highly recommend ATFT's photography workshop - A satisfied customer