• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

The Botanical Kitchen

Recipes, travel and the occasional rant

  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Travels
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • About
  • Contact

Food Photography Workshop at Tab x Tab, London

5th August 2018 By Urvashi Roe

I do love Instagram. It’s procrastination at it’s best! I mostly snap food and the odd picture of our beautiful Pip. It has however now also become my app of choice for taking and editing photos. It’s so easy and intuitive to use to get great results.

There are a few Instagrammers that I am rather obsessed with and check out most days.

Rose petals for today’s Instagram workshop at the @thegrapesboa. . . . #roses #rosepetals #petals #roses🌹🌹🌹 #InstagramWorkshop #FoodPhotography #PhonePhotography #MattInwoodMasterclass

A post shared by Matt Inwood (@matt_inwood) on Jun 21, 2018 at 11:53am PDT

Matt runs Instagram workshops. Just take a look at his feed or stories for more information. I’ve been on one of these and it was great fun and very informative.

As a parcel of buns from @marksandspencerme turned up at my door out of the blue I felt duty bound to taste them all. Salted caramel and chocolate hot cross buns? ‘Heaven on a plate’ or ‘what is the world coming to’? As a traditionalist no surprise that the ‘luxury’ were my favourite followed by cranberry and orange. Less keen on the Bramley Apple or the blueberry. Best toasted as these aren’t ‘real bread’ but definitely toothsome mid afternoon. @tableforfive says she eats hers with marmalade. How do you eat yours (if you do that is). #adoremycupoftea

A post shared by Trusted food + travel writing (@mycustardpie) on Mar 23, 2018 at 12:31am PDT

Sally doesn’t run any workshops as far as I know but posts great photography tips from time to time on her blog.

WORLDWIDE GIVEAWAY! NOW CLOSED! . 🌱 To celebrate my INSTAGRAM SERIES turning 1 on the blog this week I am giving away my Lightroom food photography presets bundle, my instagram e-guide and my mini booklet outlining my editing process. Want to win and make it all yours? Then listen up. . 🌱 All you need to do to enter this giveaway is: . 1. Follow me on instagram if you aren’t already doing so. . 2. Tag two food bloggers, food lovers or food photographers who would love this giveaway. . 3. Multiple entries permitted of course 😉. . 🌱 Giveaway on my instagram grid closes at midnight, Friday, August 3rd BST. Good luck 💓💓💓💓. . 🌱 P.S. You need to have Lightroom on your desktop to be able to download the presets 😘. . 🌱 . . . . . http://thelittleplantation.co.uk/blog/3-surprising-reasons-instagram-account-not-growing . . . . #foodstyling #foodbloggers #foodphotography #vegan #veganuk #bestofvegan #veganbreakfast #thelittleplantation #giveaway #lovetrumpshate #whatveganseat #herbivore #plantbased #feedfeed #foodandwine #lifeandthyme #beautifulcuisines #hautecuisines #gloobyfood #foodblogfeed #mycanon #flatlayforever #healthyliving #healthylifestyle #thatsdarling #f52berry

A post shared by Kimberly Espinel (@thelittleplantation) on Aug 1, 2018 at 1:44am PDT

Kimberly runs lots of live events on her Instagram and courses via her blog

So I am always on the lookout for courses or workshops from these folks that share secrets and top tips.  A few weeks ago I saw a post on the lovely Giulia’s feed on a collaboration she was running with Jo Yee. Two more favourite photographers let alone great instagrammers

Don’t mind me, just taking decor inspo from @brasseriezedel … esp the wall of B&W photos and that big ol basket of 🥖bread 💪🏼

A post shared by Jo Yee (@candidsbyjo) on Jul 30, 2018 at 7:04am PDT

There’s 🍕 and then, there’s PIZZA… @seupizzailluminati in Rome! Introducing you to the Déja-Vu pizza by @pierdanieleseu with fior di latte, scarola cooked with pine nuts, olives, anchovies, raisins, salted cod, figs and Japanese spices. SUPERB!

A post shared by Giulia Mulè (@mondomulia) on Jul 23, 2018 at 12:16am PDT

 

A great location and an awesome cause

The workshop took place at Tab x Tab in Westbourne Grove and 100% of the proceeds were being donated to Bread and Roses.

The latter is a social enterprise which trains refugee women in floristry and in the process provides them with the space to learn English, develop skills and build their confidence.  Since the Refugee Integration and Employment Service was disbanded in 2011, there is no longer an obvious place for refugees to go for help and support getting a job or just for everyday questions. The team at Bread and Roses strives to empower women and support them into jobs where they feel valued. There are some cool stories over on their Instagram feed that are well worth a look.

Tab x Tab is an independent coffee shop run by Mathew Tabatabai and his wonderful team. I liked Mathew instantly. Similarly to me he started his coffee shop after a career doing something completely different – mostly working with luxury goods companies like Matches and Browns. Then he went to live in Hong Kong doing more cool stuff for retailers there until a Global Retail Director role for Alexander McQueen came calling back in London. Also like me he wanted a bit of a life change when children came on the scene hence the coffee shop. He’s going strong with a busy neighbourhood cafe that sells independent brands of chocolate, tea and coffee and you can see where all that style and fashion within the cafe comes from. The whole space is simply beautiful and airy. The crockery is beautiful and the coffee machine is the sexiest I have ever seen. It is well worth a visit if you haven’t been.

The workshop started with some tips from Giulia on light, composition, styling and design whilst talking through images from her favourite feeds.  She shared how she uses props and quickly styles in the moment.  Jo talked about lifting images using cloths, creating images using an S-shape as a guide and how to create connections in images using the plates or other table components.

I took away the following top tips

Tip #1 – Shoot in portrait to make the most use of the camera lens

Tip #2 – Try to have some items touching and some not touching each other to create a connection in the image.

Tip #3 – Use other photo editing apps before uploading a shot to Instagram. I found two apps that I’d never heard of before. Touch Retouch removes unsightly or unwanted objects and A Color Story has some wonderful filters and effects tools.

We then had a chance to split into groups and see the ladies in action shooting the delicious food from Mathew’s kitchen. First off a Matcha Latte and Matcha, Chia, Coconut and Strawberry Breakfast Bowl, Amaranth Porridge with Maple Syrup, Chocolate and Cherry Brownies, Banana Bread, Poached Eggs on Toast with Kale and Feta and of course some beautiful coffee.

We all got to have a go guided by Jo and Giulia and it looked a bit like this

Superb food photography workshop last night by @mondomulia and @candidsbyjo @creatingforgood thank you for everyone who attended. 100% of proceeds raised gone to @wearebreadandroses ❤️ . A big thank you also to @teaspectea who kindly donated boxes of their beautiful tea for everyone who attended 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 ❤️

A post shared by TABxTAB (@tabxtablondon) on Aug 2, 2018 at 4:10am PDT

The end result

I really enjoyed the evening. It was just nice to be around like minded folk, get a bit of inspiration to do things a bit differently and just have a go. Here’s the final shot I was happy with on my own Instagram feed. I wasn’t quite brave enough to go for the full flatlay but I will keep trying now that I have some words of wisdom.

Beautiful poached eggs, chard and feta at @tabxtablondon. Wish I was eating this now. Such a beautiful menu for brunch. If you haven’t been then I would highly recommend a visit. Fantastic team who are passionate about coffee and tea too. And look at that plate! Major #plateenvy! . . The #tabxtab team laid on a great spread for the @creatingforgood workshop last night led by @mondomulia @candidsbyjo . Was very inspired by the #toptips from these ladies as they are the queens of #flatlays. I’m still not brave enough but I now have no excuse! Am armed with the know how do I gotta get snapping. Stay posted!

A post shared by Urvashi Roe (@urvashiroe) on Aug 2, 2018 at 1:57am PDT

What do you think?

Do pop over and give it a like. Would love some feedback too if you have a moment to leave a comment.  And if like me, you want a bit of inspiration, you can follow the hashtag #cfgworkshops as a starter for ten.

 

Related

Filed Under: Events, Reviews Tagged With: food photography, food styling, instagram, iphoneography

Previous Post: « On My Travels: Tartine Manufactory, San Francisco
Next Post: Courgette and Mint Curry »

Hi I'm Urvashi!

I love food. This blog is a little glimpse into my foodie world which is an escape from two teenage girls, a busy job and my little cafe.

Connect With Me

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Follow Me On Instagram!

Instagram has returned invalid data.

RECEIVE NEW POSTS BY EMAIL!

Copyright © 2023 Urvashi Roe · All Rights Reserved · Log in