LOCAL MILK'S FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP IN VENICE PART III

STYLING 

 

Sometimes it's easy - usually not. Styling a pic, I mean. You really need to work with it and  that's not even enough. You really have to find a good light and think how to crop the frame. Will you go closer or stay a bit further. Can you take a pic straight from the above or can you have nice perspective by photographing it from side with chosen angle. What kind of props and colors you choose. The question list is a long one. 

But it looks so easy when they do it. Beth Kirby from Local Milk and Ginny Branch. I guess there isn't easy way out - I mean if you want to be good at styling you have to work with it. Hours. 

This is my last post of Local Milk's food photography workshop in Venice. Venice is magical place and I love it. The place where we had the workshop was also unbelievable palazzo. Huge windows, antique furniture, walls with reliefs - felt almost I was dreaming. Winter in Venice is also quite adorable. But of course if acqua alta - high water - comes then it's not nice at all.

LOCAL MILK'S FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP IN VENICE PART II

AT MARKET

Getting ingredients was a big pleasure. Walking through Venice on it's paved and narrow streets was an experience. You get easily lost there but you might even find something wonderful because of that! Like I found organic shop full of different kind of products from organic wines to gluten free products. Rialto Biocenter in Santa Croce.

At St Mark's Square you can find beautiful details like corridor floor tiles in front of legendary cafe Florian. We were playing with camera there. We had a bit bad luck though. On Monday it's closed.  

We have enjoyed the products from Rialto market everyday. In the mornings the styled breakfast table was waiting for us. Everyday.

I think in Venice everything is in walking distance. You see a lot more if you walk. Of course it's great to see Venice from Grand Canal so take a waterbus and do that too.

Venice is the place of mascarade party. There is plenty of shops that sell masks but we found also a place selling rococo wigs! If you buy a mask be sure it's a handmade one from local artisan. 

When you walk through Venice you see so many nice restaurants and cafes. This place looked tempting but because the lack of time never went back. But through the window it looked very tempting. Maybe next time. Venice is so gorgeous place that there might be a next time :)

Finally we were close to Rialto Market. When you walk slowly and watch all the details it might take awhile before you are there where you were going to. But I don't think it's a bad thing. Vacation is for relaxing and enjoying not so well timetabled time, I think.

Different kind of shapes.

Fresh colors.

There we were. At Rialto market. So many fruits, veggies, berries, fish, sea food, meat - you name it. Expecially I loved the way lemons and other fruits had still a bit of branch with them. In Finland you see more seldom things like that. If only one could go everyday to place like this to buy ingredients. It would be superb! ...I'm also sure I would eat more veggies and fish.

I hope you enjoyed the walk. If you want to see my Local Milk's food photography workshop in Venice Part I, you can find it here. We made pasta. It's my favorite :)

Have a lovely Sunday!

xoxo

Kreetta

 

LOCAL MILK'S FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP IN VENICE PART I

MAKING PASTA

Eggs and wheat flour. Very simple. Just need some extra power to make the dough. Our workshop cook Aaron Teece from Studio Neon made the pasta for us. But in the photos you see charming Ashton who was so übercool and beautiful in our pictures.

Working in Venice. It's unreal. In every corner, there is beauty. A bit decayed yes but lucky me - I happen to like old and frayed.

It was perfect pasta making day. We had a cool cooks, superb stylist Ginny Branch and as a teacher was Local Milk's talented photographer Beth Kirby. We were in pretty good hands.

I think we couldn't have made any of this if we wouldn't have had the light. (I hope it's written right, haha)

So it was 4 days ladies with cameras. Everywhere and almost all the time. I enjoyed a lot and it is always - always - a pleasure be inspired by people around you.

Ok, finally we see a real work in front of camera and it's a man who is doing all the work :) Aaron made wonderful pasta with so stylish pasta machine.

Pasta.

We had a big dinner in the evening. There we met again handmade pasta.

As I promised you there will be part II and III of Local Milk's food photography workshop in Venice. I will post them during this spring. I hope you enjoyed the part I.

xoxo

Kreetta

PS. There will be great food photography workshops in this summer. Go and see Angela Ritchie's Ace Camps. There you can find Local Milk's workshop too. You can also find Aran Goyaga's workshop there. She is also talented and lovely cook and photographer. I've been also her student and I can recommend with big heart. Here you can find my blog post from the last summer's food photography workshop with Aran in Iceland. We went to picnic and it was just gorgeous styling by Aran and Aslaug Snorradottir. You have to go and see it!

IT'S HERE - MY BLOG'S NEW DESIGN!

How many times I have said that I will make THE new design in near future? Well, it's here! Done. I did it, yay! There are small things that I will change still but from now on my blog's design looks like this. It's been wonderful and productive days and I'm happy about it!

I got bored with the older one  - I had it for two years like the previous one too. I started blogging in Jan 2012. I have this thing you know - I want to make new things.

I also want to tell you a short story behind the new header. I was in Venice in the beginning of the Jan 2015 and it was a great journey. I took part in Local Milk's Food Photography Workshop and met so many wonderful people and saw the magic happen in front of camera. Everything was so beautiful. Very talented people like Beth Kirby and Ginny Branch - what else you need to get inspiration? 

It was so beautiful place - Venice - you could walk everywhere. I found beautiful old treasures like cardboard letters I've used in my blog's header. It was one very small antique shop were they were in a rusty metal box. There were many of them and I guess they use to be part of some kind of word game like Scrabble (handmade!) but I only collected what I had in my mind. I've been planning my blog's new design for awhile and when I saw those cute and decayed letters...and I'm quite sure they whispered to me...we are coming with you ;) I also decided to make handwriting in old-fashioned way. Don't ask how many times I wrote those link letters and still they aren't perfect because they are handmade :) And who wants perfect? I know I go quite a long way when I'm doing something but it's always good to keep in mind when to stop.

My blog will still be about creative spirit and inspiration but now it also has a real touch of vintage or even antique - literally.

Today I photographed beautiful gifts we got in Local Milk's workshop. You can follow the IG links if you want to know more about makers of these treasures. There will be at least one Venice post still coming up...

snake spoon @_sandwichshop_ 
bath salts @ederleshop 
perfume @naninstudio 
aprons @icemilkaprons 
tea @marbleandmilkweed 
paper recipe cards @signoraemare
Pastiglie Leone @pastiglieleone 
 
How about you - do you like my new design? Have you had thoughts of changing things lately?

Happy weekend!

xo
Kreetta

PS. It would be very cool to hear who made that game and how old those letters are....only if they only could speak ;)

Feeling Moment in Venice

It was my very first time in Venice in the summer 2010. We had a chance to be there only 24 hours. It wasn't enough. I wanted to go back. Winter in Venice sounded a good plan. Less people, winter coat, silent night, woolly hat, rubber boots, maze of the narrow streets. Haunting sounds of church bells in the darkness. Echoes of footsteps and sounds of talking people and dog barking. You know there are plenty of dogs in Venice, haha.

Venice, my love. I can't forget one film I have seen many years ago - Don't Look Now (1973) by Nicolas Roeg. Filmed in Venice. A thriller with strong atmospere and a bit scary and weird Venice. I use to study Cinema and Television Studies in university and this movie was crucial to me. I understood something. I wont be a researcher or reviewer. I want to be a maker. I wanted to make films and stories. I wanted to be a storyteller. Long story to tell how did that all happen...and I won't bore you with that. But let me just say I became a photographer who also makes videos.

But I warn you if you want to keep a pure romantic feeling of Venice I recommend you don't watch the movie. It's everything else than a pretty story. I feel Venice more romantic than scary. Odd it is anyway ;) and weird too where the streets are water. It's beautiful and adorable.  

This post is about something I feel strongly Venice. These photos and stories are the ones I want to show and tell you, something I think is very much Venice.

Churches, canals, birds and brigdes. 

They are everywhere. They make your path not very much staright forward - they make you wonder around and you might even lose the track of time and direction. Map is a good tool but learning the streets of Venice is not done in one day or two. I guess that is the good thing. A lot to explore.