Riverside: London Photography and Styling Workshop 2015

London2015-WM-0066

London, always such a bustling and hip place, was the location for my second workshop this year. I always love coming here for short visits – perfect to soak up the energy of the city. While London is very much about urban dynamism, I also love the open-wide spaces, leafy escapes and the riverside hideouts this city offers. The perfect place to give just the right beat to one of my workshops.

My last workshop in London was is 2013 and ever since then I have had a steady pace of emails with requests to hold another one here. It did not take long for me to convince my dear friend and co-instructor Jeanne Horak-Druiff that it was time for another styling and photography workshop.

I love working with Jeanne as we often wordlessly and intuitively know what the other one thinks and wants so organizing something like this just happens very smoothly. Jeanne found a sensational venue by the riverside she had already been to and things fell into place effortlessly. A massive bonus this time was having another special friend and fellow co-instructor Simone van den Berg joining us from Holland. She was very valuable during the two days helping with a lot of good sound advice and feedback. 

London2015-WM-0195

Linden House, welcomed us with its vibrant bold red door. I instantly fell in love with this charming Georgian riverside venue on the North Bank of the River Thames. The architecture provided a unique character and the surroundings a picturesque backdrop for the workshop. We had full use of their meeting rooms filled with beautiful natural light coming through the windows overlooking the river. The flexible staff made sure every single wish we had, regardless how unusual, was fulfilled. I soon found myself relaxing as it often felt to me that the staff was able to anticipate our needs and had ideas that complemented our concept. A very special thanks goes to Bee for her kindness, professionalism and uplifting character throughout the two days. It felt like a home away from home.

LondonCollage1 LondonCollage7 London2015-WM-0018 London2015-WM-0038 London2015-WM-0049

My pulse increased again as the participants began arriving as each one eyed the other, taking their places. The ice was soon broken, with the familiar chatter of camera, photography and hobby talk. Both Jeanne and I were glad that the group of ten gorgeous ladies melted well together. I felt an air of enthusiasm and focused energy from all of them, they were keen to soak up the knowledge we provided during the theoretical aspects of the workshop and fervently put the theory into practice during our hands-on practical assignments.

London2015-WM-0046 London2015-WM-0052

I attended the London 2015 food photography and styling workshop after having completed the online course with Meeta K. Wolff, and found that two complemented each other beautifully. Throughout the workshop, I had the chance to not only brush up on the skills and techniques I had learnt during the online course, but to also work with other aspiring photographers and bloggers from all around the world, start building a network, get immediate feedback with the chance to enhance my images on the spot, and much more. I left feeling inspired, motivated and proud of the images I am now able to capture. The instructors are knowledgeable, fun, extremely patient and helpful. It was a priceless experience that I would repeat in a heartbeat. ~ Reef Fakhoury, Copenhagen, Denmark

 London2015-WM-0059 London2015-WM-0062 London2015-WM-0068

Theory sessions included learning aspects of the camera and camera settings, manipulating natural light, finding the right focus, working with color and texture, creating the required mood and atmosphere, styling principles and of course a long session on props. Further sessions covered low-lighting and restaurant photography and post-processing. All this was then put into practical exercises and assignments for the participants to work on creating their own images.

London2015-WM-0022

London2015-WM-0021 LondonCollage2

Our convivial meals provided the ideal basis for interaction, giggles and exchange of ideas and thoughts. The workshops are designed to help participants network with each other rather than working individually. For me it is one of the most important factors in creating a memorable experience for them. We were spoilt with mouth-watering food provided by Wendy of Cooking for a Crowd, Linden House’s resident caterer. Fresh and flavorful, everything that came out of the busy kitchen was impeccably good. Working with Wendy was sensational, whether it was for our meal or for our styling/photography sessions or our coffee breaks her enthusiasm was tremendous. Thank you Wendy!

LondonCollage8 LondonCollage4

After a styling demo and many shooting and styling exercises we headed towards the character-filled gastropub, The Hampshire Hog, for a modern Pub style dinner. We were given the quaint and very pleasant annex, spacious enough for all thirteen of us to move around and take endless images. The Hampshire Hog offered a unique atmosphere that just fit exquisitely into the theme of our workshop “Bites of London”, allowing the participants to create images with a distinctive mood.

LondonCollage3 London2015-WM-0074


London2015-WM-0079 LondonCollage9

London2015-WM-0086

London2015-WM-0089

London2015-WM-0096

London2015-WM-0092

LondonCollage10 LondonCollage11

London2015-WM-0109

London2015-WM-0106

I attended a two day course run by Meeta and Jeanne in May 2015 and took so much away from it. Meeta is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the subject of food photography and styling, and it is all the more inspiring that she is completely self taught. Both Meeta and Jeanne have an extremely warm and friendly approach to teaching and made us all feel welcome and comfortable enough to ask for advice and guidance whenever we needed it. The two day course included a perfect balance of teaching time and hands on practical tasks. It is a testament to Meeta's skills as a photographer, stylist and teacher that she has attracted such wonderful sponsors on the way that provided us with incredible food and drinks to photograph (and eat) over the two days. I would highly recommend Meeta's workshops. ~ Ixta Belfrage, London, UK

London2015-WM-0135

London2015-WM-0127

London2015-WM-0117

London2015-WM-0118

LondonCollage12

It was picnic by the riverside back at the Linden House the following day with most of the day dedicated to taking specific images in teams. Wendy once again created an incredible feast that not only looked stunning to take photos of but was a tasty mix of fresh, sweet, savory and piquant dishes. Once again the workshop bubbles were provided by Nino Franco and their “Rustico prosecco” keeping all of us on high spirits throughout the day!

LondonCollage14

 London2015-WM-0176 LondonCollage13 LondonCollage15

London2015-WM-0157  London2015-WM-0189

London2015-WM-0191

The last few hours of the final day were primarily filled with the general air of hustle and a flurry of activity. Participants were industriously working to complete not only our dedicated assignment but also on creating an image for the Nino Franco Prosecco Rustico Portfolio Competition 2015, sponsored by Nino Franco, where the winner would walk away with a magnum bottle of Rustico. I definitely envied the participants for this one.

London2015-WM-0192

Everything comes to an end and as we were presented with the assignments I think many realized how far they had come in just 2 days. I was very proud of my London Team 2015. They produced outstanding work in every category.

London2015-WM-0178

London2015-WM-0150

We ended with more tingling Rustico prosecco and delicious food, celebrating great two workshop days. These workshops are always extra successful with the tremendous support of our partners providing a variety of items from their product range.

Lakeland UK supported our practical sessions with a generous selection of props while Unearthed filled the goodie bags with selections of their delicatessen items everything from chorizo to some amazing duck rillettes, antipasti, cold meats and pates! Gliss Coffee kept us going strong and Bon Maman tarts provided sweet nibbles for shoots and goodie bags. Thank you for all your support and faith in us!

London2015-WM-0197

A massive thanks to 10 amazing ladies who came to London and joined us from all across the globe making this a memorable 2 days for Jeanne and me.

Lisa | Courtney | Leila | Bente | Beatrice | Reef | Ixta | Hanna | Jenny | Holly

Thank you to Simone for just coming down and hanging out with us. This was special!

London2015-WM-0029

A very special thanks to the two lovely ladies at Linden House – Bee and Wendy! Love you ladies and craving your flapjacks!

And a big thank you to Dacotah and the Franco family for supporting and providing us with many tingling, prickling and bubbly moments during the workshop and also for providing the prizes for our Nino Franco Prosecco Rustico Portfolio Competition 2015

Holly proseccoImage: Holly Kennedy | 1st place Nino Franco Prosecco Rustico Portfolio Competition 2015

 Ixta_ProseccoImage: Ixta Belfrage | Runner-up Nino Franco Prosecco Rustico Portfolio Competition 2015

 Lisa-proseccoImage | Lisa Rostoen

More about this workshop:

Holly: Let me whet your appetite

If you’ve gotten into mood and want to be a part of a monumental experience I can only tease and tempt you to join me in Sintra, Portugal this Fall ….

September 2015: Sintra, Portugal Food Photography and Styling Workshop

Portugal2015_IGBadge500pxRegistrations have started and we already have participants registered from San Francisco, the UK, Germany and Portugal. This two day workshop takes place in the stunning and tranquil town of Sintra - 30-minutes from Lisbon. You will learn all the aspects of food photography to help you hone your skills and find your way through the jungle of food styling. You will also learn how to harness natural light for perfect images, shoot in low-light and post-process efficiently.

Furthermore, we will take you on a magical tour of a stunning Sintra landmark and treat you to a picnic in the park. With expert tuition, hands-on exercises and assignments this workshop offers an intensive yet fun-filled experience.
Date: 11th - 12th September 2015
Details, registrations and preliminary programme here.



Our London 2015 workshop was generously supported by:

NinoFranco_thumb

BonneMamanLogo_thumb1

Unearthed_thumb1

Logo-Gliss---Leidenschaft_thumb

lakeland-logo_thumb1


All photographs and written content on What's For Lunch, Honey? © 2006-2015 Meeta Khurana Wolff unless otherwise indicated. | All rights reserved | Please Ask First

Continue »

12 comments:

  1. Wonderful workshop, gorgeous food, fabulous people and awesome place! It looks like you had a lot of fun in London.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes we did Rosa! Thanks for your comment ... it was exactly as you described it!

      Delete
  2. Oh yay! What fun we had in London! Looking forward to doing that too in Portugal soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes london was great and for me a bit greater to have you there too Simone! That was awesome. Thanks for making it happen!

      Delete
  3. Aaah this takes me right back to your wonderful workshop. Thank you to you, Jeanne and Simone for a really excellent course!

    Holly, Sweet Like Cinnamon Blog | www.sweetlc.blogspot.ie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Holly it was a real pleasure to meet you finally. Third time seems to be the real charm here ;). You were so motivated and focused and I am really enjoying seeing your progress now! Hope we can meet again!

      Delete
  4. Well, I missed this course. I will endevour to come next time in London, finance permitting. Great pictures!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shame! But I hope I will come back to London sometime again and then I cannot wait to see you there!

      Delete
  5. Your workshops sure do look like fun. I love how everyone seemed so enthused and inspired at the end of the one I caught.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For me finally meeting you was a massive highlight Andrew. So glad you made it and we got to spend crazy time at Jeanne's after the workshop. Thank you for judging!

      Delete
  6. Oh what happy memories this brings back! As always, it was a pleasure to teach alongside you, my sweet sister, and what a bonus to have both Simone and Andrew join us! I loved both the venue and the warmth of the participants (and of course the FOOD!). Can't wait for next time :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This was a perfect workshop in every way. Great participants, freat venue, great service and great to have SImone and Andrew with us and most of all it was great to do this with you. xo

      Delete

Thank you for visiting What's For Lunch, Honey? and taking time to browse through my recipes, listen to my ramblings and enjoy my photographs. I appreciate all your comments, feedback and input. I will answer your questions to my best knowledge and respond to your comments as soon as possible.

In the meantime I hope you enjoy your stay here and that I was able to make this an experience for your senses.

Hugs
Meeta