Food Photography Assisting: Heidi Coppock-Beard
I got the opportunity to assist for the accomplished food photographer Heidi Coppock-Beard after connecting with Maya Sharp (after her talk). Heidi does photography for a few different companies such as Greggs and Asda. Working alongside Maya Sharp as a freelance assistant has set me up for understanding how to get the most out the opportunity, network and understand what needs to be done for different types of photography. This is the first time I was able to see food photography in action and it was amazing to see it done for a prestigious brand and how to handle clients. As an assistant you have to learn to be:
Perceptive, especially when clients are in
Think one step ahead of the photographer
Stay organised so the photographer doesn’t have to
Be intuitive when buying props/lunch
Learn how to make a good cup of tea/coffee
A smile goes a long way!
Photographers are usually very nice and understand if you’re new so just be friendly and take all the advice they can give you. You can learn so much from their softwares and the cameras they use, watch how they set up their lighting. Keep an eye out for how everything functions and take every chance to network and build bridges.
Food photography was quite different to other studios I have worked in. A lot less is left up to the editing and is more in the final shot, for the test shoots you want to get through a lot of different photos to understand the lighting and get approval from the clients. However, for the final shots you can spend all day perfecting it depending on how detailed it can be.
