Good Food Reads: Pinch of Yum Tasty Food Photography Workshop

I can not wait to share this Food Photography Workshop with you!  So. Much. Fun.

You guys.  I just need to take a minute to gush about my last week.

Well, those of you who know me well, know that my dad has had some health problems this week, resulting in three hospitalizations and three trips to the cath lab.  It’s been a roller coaster to say the least, but in between all of that worry and stress, was a bright, bright light-The Pinch of Yum Tasty Food Photography Workshop.

One word: Ah-mazing!

This week’s Good Food Reads is going to be a little more personal than usual…all about the food photography workshop!

(PS-My dad is all fixed up and is doing great!)

Warning: Personal information and sap alert ahead, feel free to skip! #LeavingMyComfortZoneNow

This is where I take a second to plug “me-time”.  In real life, I have a full time job, a job that plants me firmly in responsibility-land.  Pure adulting.  And for the most part it is good, after all I am a responsible adult.  I have managed to keep two kids alive.  I am still married.  I earn a living.  I work hard.  I think I can say I’ve made a difference.  But sometimes I need to do something to feed my creative side.  Something purely for my soul.  Something that I do solely because it makes me happy.  And that is a big part of why I wanted to start this blog with Holly.

Don’t get me wrong, I love having fun with my kids.  And my husband, he’s the real deal.

But as we get so busy building a life and moving forward we often put those things which are not directly related to our kids or our careers or our spouses on the back burner.  We get “too busy”, and I am 100% guilty.  I’m reluctant to take time away from my responsibilities to explore things that are purely for enjoyment (well except for book club-that is pure enjoyment and I do not feel guilty.  Hear that ladies?  No guilt at all).  But life is short.  And sometimes you just have to carve out some time and learn to do you.

For me that was what this food photography workshop was.  Two full days to explore what makes me happy.  Two full days to concentrate on learning and developing a new skill.  One that I did not need for my kids or my spouse or my full time job.  Something just for me.

If you know what that thing is for you, by all means-make time for it.  Whatever it is.

So here goes nothing, I’m going to try to give the experience justice…because it was the bomb.  For realz.

I have learned that I really enjoy photography (who would have thunk it?). I really enjoy the creative aspect of coming up with recipes, testing them, staging photos and trying to get the right shot.  Blogging has been so much fun (and even more fun now that it’s not just our parents reading it-although thanks mom and dad, I’ll be forever grateful) and learning photography has been a big part of that.

Having said that, photography is Hard (capital H) and I felt like I needed all of the help I could get.

The Pinch of Yum Tasty Food Photography Workshop was merely a dream of mine last year.  However as the blog has grown and I’ve become more comfortable with my camera, I decided to go for it.  As a testament to how awesome this food photography workshop is, the first two sessions released sold out so quickly I didn’t even have a chance to get logged onto my computer.  The second two sessions sold out in less than 30 minutes.

The Pinch of Yum Studio in Minneapolis is the brainchild of Lindsay Ostrom and her husband Bjork.  Lindsay, originally an elementary school teacher, has been blogging at Pinch of Yum for seven years and she has built it into an empire.  The studio is in an old warehouse building that has amazing light, gorgeous space and was a place I could have stayed forever!  Click here for more pictures of the magic that is the Pinch of Yum studio (and prepare to be wowed!).

Lindsay and the Pinch of Yum staff were incredible.  Great teaching, great advice and a small enough group that you could get as much individualized help as you needed.  The light in the studio is gorgeous and the Pinch of Yum prop room is loaded.  How can you go wrong?

The Pinch of Yum staff provides all of your food and snacks, and encourages you to style and practice with all of it, starting with some bowls of colorful fruits and vegetable and ending with a pancake bar to perfect the “pour shot”.  We had an amazing amount of food available to us and it was so fun to see what everyone’s different interpretations were.  Every participant had their own window with a table, the use of props and backgrounds, and access to assistance from all of the staff, including Lindsay herself.  (I won’t deny feeling just a little #fangirl)

Lindsay also teaches a segment on styling (so useful!) and on the use of Lightroom for editing (even more useful!).

Participants came from near and far.  A few of us were from the Minneapolis area, but I met gals from Seattle, Chicago, Texas, Atlanta, Maryland, Green Bay and even Canada.  I’m pretty sure the late Minneapolis summer showed everyone a good time, and dinner at Hola Arepa with a few of the gals extended our networking time and created new friends (I’m looking at you Melissa, Julie, Ellie, Lesli and Jan!)

All of the above photos in this blog post are photos that were taken with my DSLR (Nikon 5500) as practice shots for the workshop.  Many of them also appeared on our Insta Feed (@withtwospoons).  I learned so much, not only from Lindsay and her staff, but also from the other workshop participants (whose blog links will be listed below).  If you get a chance, check this one out!

Friendship. Food. Photography #SoMuchFun

So here is to doing what makes your heart sing.  #soulfood

Check out these blogs whose owners also participated in the August workshop:

FourMileRidge.com

SimplyWhisked.com

HungryByNature.com

AsianCaucasian.com

TeddyVPatisserie.com

RohndaSue.com

Addicted2Recipes.com

AmyInTheKitchen.com