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    Home » Recipes » Photography » Finding Props for Food Photography with Naomi Robinson | Summer Food Photography Series Part One

    Published: Jul 15, 2012 · Modified: Mar 29, 2022 by Sylvie

    Finding Props for Food Photography with Naomi Robinson | Summer Food Photography Series Part One

    Home » Recipes » Photography » Finding Props for Food Photography with Naomi Robinson | Summer Food Photography Series Part One

    This week I am kicking off another photography series like I did last year with a number of guest posts from bloggers, photographers and stylists all sharing their best tips and tricks on creating beautiful images.  Today please welcome my very good friend and fellow food photography lover Naomi Robinson of Bakers Royale who is going to share her secrets to sourcing great props for food photography.

    Food Photography Props

    I’m so excited to be guest posting here at Gourmande in the Kitchen. Sylvie's blog is one of my favorite food blogs for many reasons - one of them being Sylvie's incredible photos.

    Given the professional grade photography on Gourmande in the Kitchen, let’s start this off right; I'm a beginner when it comes to photography. So I'm not here to talk about any technical aspects of picture taking. I'm here to talk about the one thing I have managed to do well, despite my protesting wallet - food prop sourcing.

    Since I get quite a few questions about my backgrounds and my props, Sylvie and I thought it might be helpful to share with you where and how I find them. My top shopping destinations are eBay and Etsy. I can't say I like one better than the other, nor can I say one is less expensive than the other. What I can say and recommend is checking both sites when sourcing something.

    To simplify things I'm going to display photos with the props I'm most often asked questions about. I've included where they were purchased along with the search words I used to find them. Finding the right search words is the difference between having a just few or a lot of pages returned to you for browsing. Now my style is primarily rustic so the words most often used to describe that category, outside of vintage and antique, are primitive and chippy or chippy paint.

    Pewter and Aluminum Plates: eBay, Etsy
    Search words: Wilton Armetale RWP, pewter plates, (Note: While the plates look like, and are often tagged with pewter, they are actually aluminum. Although you can find knockoffs Armetale knock-offs that maybe pewter and not aluminum).
     
    Pie pans: eBay
    Search words: Vintage pie tins, vintage pie pans
     
    White and patterned plates: Home Goods Store
    Pie pans: eBay
    Search words: Vintage pie tins, vintage pie pans

    Plates for Food Photography

    Platters and Bowl: eBay
    Search words: Brass platter
     
    Brass Platters
     
    Bakesheet: (*Note: I often use bakesheets for backgrounds) : eBay, Etsy
    Search words: enamelware, vintage bake sheet, Ovenex, kitchenalia bake sheet
    Baking Sheets
    Flatware: eBay
    Search workds: vintage flatware, antiques silverware
     
    Flatware
    Pattern Flatware: Sabre
    Search words: Sabre, acrylic flatware

    Sabre Flatware

    Background: Bench
    Search words: chippy paint bench, farm bench, shabby chic bench (*Note: Make sure to check the size)
     
    Here are a few examples of how Naomi has used her prop finds in her photos.  (Click the images to see the recipes.)
     

    Reeses Brownie Ice Cream Cake Bakers Royale

    Background: Aluminum bake sheet | Purchased: Ebay | Search words: vintage bake sheet, vintage cookie sheet
    Plates: Wilton Armetale RWP | Purchased: Ebay | Search words: pewter plates, Wilton RWP, Wilton Armetale. (Note: While the plates look like, and are often tagged with pewter, they are actually aluminum. Although you can find knockoffs Armetale knock-offs that maybe pewter and not aluminum.
    Flatware: Random pieces | Purchased: Ebay | Search words: vintage flatware, antique silverware
     
    greyhound popsicles
    Background: Homemade boards
    Plate: Enamel pie pan | Purchased: Etsy | Search words: enamel pie pan, enamelware
    Fabric: Dishtowel | Purchased: Muhs Home

    Cherry and Whiskey Upside Down Cake

     
     
    Background: Wood box | Purchased: Etsy | Search words: primitive box, chippy paint box
    Pan: Cast iron pan | Purchased: Sur La Table
    Fabric:Dishtowel | Purchased: Etsy | Search words: vintage kitchen farm towels
    Dirty Pirate Cocktail
     
    Background: Wood board | Purchased: eBay | Search words: primitive wood cutting boards, primitive bread boards
    Pan:Pie tins | Purchased: Ebay | Search words: vintage pie pans, vintage pie tins
    Do si do pie
     
    Background: Homemade wood board
    Platter: Brass platter | Search words: brass platter
     
    Since I primarily shoot with a rustic style, I shared my best sourcing places and tips for that. But here are a few other places that I also enjoy and shop at:
    • Canvas
    • Sabre
    • Gilt
    • Serena & Lily
    • One Kings Lane
     
    Thanks again, Sylvie, for having me here with your readers. I hope you guys enjoyed this!
     
    Naomi Robinson is a self taught baker and the author of the blog Bakers Royale.  She’s armed  with an abundant reserve of passion and determination for baking and creating.  You can find her on Twitter @BakersRoyale and on Facebook 

    Be sure to read the full Summer Food Photography Series:

    Styling for Food Photography with Chantelle Grady | Summer Food Photography Series Part Two

    Learning Your Camera and How to Shoot Moody Images with Peter Georgakopoulos | Summer Food Photography Series Part Three

    Rules and Tips on Restaurant Photography with Brian Samuels | Summer Food Photography Series Part Four

    Food Videography with Russell van Kraayenburg | Summer Food Photography Series Part Five

    Q&A with Food Photographer Jim Scherer | Summer Food Photography Series Part Six

    Sylvie

    Sylvie Shirazi is the recipe developer and food photographer behind Gourmande in the Kitchen. For the last 10 years she's been making eating more healthfully easy and accessible with gluten-free, grain-free, paleo and vegan recipes that are free from processed ingredients.

    More recipes you may enjoy

    • Kelly Moore Bags Review and Giveaway (Worldwide)
    • Black Rapid Sling Camera Strap RS-W1 and RS-4 Review and Giveaway (International)
    • The Language of Food Photography Part 6 | Finding Your Style with Meeta K. Wolff
    • The Language of Food Photography Part 5 | Creating Moods with Ilva Beretta

    Reader Interactions


    Comments

    1. Shweta says

      July 30, 2015 at 11:38 am

      I am a newbie into food photography and I think this post really helps out! thank you for sharing.

      Reply
    2. monisha says

      July 24, 2014 at 5:41 am

      hi, thanks for sharing this I have recently setup a blog shop where I blog about home cooked indian food and sell some spice, spice blends and handcrafted kitchenware. I have been sourcing and browsing charity shops to find old vintage plates and bowls and just about anything for the food photography and stumbled upon this site. Just what I needed and so informative. Thank you

      Reply
    3. Katie says

      March 08, 2014 at 9:08 am

      Really love this post and your specific and detailed suggestions. I am planning to include this article in a compilation of recommended Food Photography articles in a post on my photography-advice blog at the end of the month. I would like permission to reuse one of your images in the article description (with appropriate citation and link back to this post). Please let me know if that would be acceptable. Thanks!

      Reply
      • Sylvie says

        March 12, 2014 at 12:48 am

        Yes that sounds fine Katie, thanks for asking first.

        Reply
        • Katie says

          March 13, 2014 at 4:40 am

          Great, thanks so much! I'll let you know when the article goes live.

          Reply
        • Katie says

          April 07, 2014 at 9:03 am

          Thanks so much, again! Just wanted to let you know that "5 Must-Read Articles on Food Photography" is live: http://www.boostyourphotography.com/2014/04/food-photography.html.

          Reply
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