BEHIND THE SCENES OF OUR ADVANCED FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEOGRAPHY RETREAT, FINLAND 2023
Last month, I had the absolute honour of travelling, once again, to one of THE most beautiful places I know - the Finnish Archipelago. It’s there that I got to teach our yearly 4-day advanced food photography, food styling, visual story telling and videography retreat together with food photographer, cookbook author and videographer, Viola Minerva Virtamo!
In today’s blog post I’d love to share some images and the behind the scenes details from the retreat with you! Sound good?
DAY 1 - WELCOMING OUR RETREAT GUESTS
Having taught this retreat once before allowed Viola and I to hone in on the things that worked well and replicate them whilst giving them their own unique touch of course. What worked well included getting the beautiful AirBnB - a STUNNING traditional waterfront house - stocked up with delicious goodies as well as personalised welcome gifts for each and every attendee, courtesy of our amazing retreat sponsors!
Like last year, the attendees’ accommodation was situated within gorgeous woodlands surrounded by lots of green outdoor space, a beautiful sauna, al fresco dining opportunities right at the shore and of course access to the tranquil sea waters of the Archipelago!
A little nook inside the accommodation
The personalised welcome gift!
DAY 1 OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY RETREAT CONTINUES…
Like last year, Viola and I welcomed our retreat guests with a heart-felt welcome dinner
Viola, setting the dinner scene.
Once everyone had settled in, freshened up and unpacked, we hosted the welcome dinner, which wasn’t just a way to nourish the body, but also nourish our creativity. You see, everyone snapped pictures before, during and after the dinner to add some lifestyle and outdoor images to their portfolio and learned to work with the magical ever changing Finnish light.
What was so wonderful is that when I met the creatives, I was struck by how special they all were - heartfelt, eager to learn, generous, and kind. This really put me at ease! You see, as a retreat host, you never know who’ll attend and whether they’ll all get along, but both Viola and I were delighted to see that the group instantly connected that first evening, setting the tone for a FAB 4 days!
At this advanced food photography retreat, students took every opportunity to capture images to broaden their portfolio!
One of our attendees, Ioana, baked this STUNNING and delicious babka cake for all of us to enjoy!
DAY 2 - FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY, FOOD STYLING & VISUAL STORY TELLING
The backdrop used in this shot is by Jipy Fondos, who kindly gifted one to each attendee!
The backdrop used in this shot is by Jipy Fondos.
In the morning of our second day of the retreat, we kicked off with a teaching session led by Viola, all about how to get started with videography! Viola is such a great teacher and able to break even the most complex concepts into understandable, bite sized lessons. Students were FULL of really great questions and took copious notes, for use during our second morning teaching session: styling!
Once Viola concluded her lesson, I taught sweet food styling, creating a darker, moodier scene (despite having to work with LOTS of harsh light)! Students had the opportunity throughout to ask lots of questions about food styling, colour theory and composition and learned by observing the step-by-step process of how the visual story was put together!
We left ample space for photography opportunities, as well as time to learn about playing with and shaping the light. The aim was not ‘just’ to teach, but also to allow the attendees to walk away with a portfolio full of lots of varied shots, starting with some moody food focused lifestyle and visual story telling images!
After a little comfort break and a delicious lunch, students were invited to create their very own visual story outdoors where they were tasked to put the morning’s learning to the test!
The backdrop used in these shots is by Jipy Fondos.
DAY 2 OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY RETREAT CONTINUES…
Viola’s gardens provided ample opportunities for interesting shots; the focus here was to learn to:
a) identify a photogenic location
How does the light work in this location, how will the setting impact the story we wish to tell, etc.
b) work with harsh/EVER CHANGING OUTDOOR LIGHT
Which angle will allow the outdoor lighting to work best, where is the light located in relation to the subject, etc.
c) style and shoot stunning light and bright lifestyle and outdoor food photos
What photos can be taken to broaden and enhance one’s portfolio, etc.
This outdoor styling session allowed students to use some of the key take aways from the morning’s styling and videography sessions and put them into practice! The results were mind blowing as each and every one of the students worked their socks off throughout, adjusting and adapting to the challenges the outdoor styling set up threw at them. Honestly, it looks easier than it is!
Throughout the outdoor session, Viola and I provided support and guidance as well as individualised feedback to empower the attendees to problem solve what wasn’t working with their set up as well as push their creativity beyond their comfort zones!
Attendees concluded the day with wind down time in the sauna and long chats by the lake where they had a chance to relax and let the day’s learning sink in!
DAY 3 - LIFESTYLE & LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEOGRAPHY
As teachers, Viola and I are always thinking about new ways we can challenge our students and allow them to explore different parts of their creativity. With that in mind, instead of heading into the woods for a videography and photography lesson like we did last year, we decided to head to the waterfront instead! This set up allowed students to work with a different colour palette and learn to manage direct and open sun light situations, compared to the more dabbled light they worked with in Viola’s garden.
Though it looked like it might rain, thank goodness, it did not! Instead, the light played peek-a-boo throughout the teaching session, giving us all LOTS of space to learn, adjust and experiment.
To make the most of the morning, we broke into two groups; group 1 got to hang out with Viola and film a visual story from beginning to end whereas group 2 got to hang out with me and explore food styling, filming and photographing a picnic scene. We then swapped groups so everyone had a chance to experience the full teaching session and practice being behind the camera as much as possible.
Viola was our model for the day!
DAY 3 OF THE RETREAT CONTINUES…
Matildankartano, from our advanced food photography & videography retreat.
In the afternoon we travelled to Mathildedal, a quaint traditional little Finnish village where we grabbed lunch at the gorgeous Matildankartano - a bakery come cafe restaurant serving the most delicious home made meals. Matildankartano not only has pretty gardens and a lovely photogenic terrace, but it’s surrounded by endless woodlands, traditional villas and lots of little lakes and rivers!
Remembering us from last year, the owner treated us to a seasonal and delicious meringue pie made freshly in the bakery! The pie was stunning too, so stunning in fact that we couldn’t help but capture it with our cameras before devouring it, once we finished our lunch!
Once everyone was fed and felt nourished, Viola gave attendees a handout to help them as they focused on capturing more landscape type images and video snippets for a self study session. This allowed us to have 1-2-1 private feedback sessions with all the attendees; we answered their questions and gave them specific pointers to help them further their creative journeys with more clarity on where their strengths lie and what they’d need to continue to work on.
In the evening, we all went back to the house by the water for a farewell al fresco dinner, lots of chatter, laughter (and some tears too) plus time to create more beautiful memories together.
DAY 4 - LAST STYLING & VIDEOGRAPHY LESSON + A FINAL FAREWELL
The backdrop used in this shot is by Jipy Fondos.
Despite it being our last day, day 4 was still action packed! In an attempt to give our attendees THE most varied shots for their portfolio, I taught salad styling focusing on how I construct a dish for the camera. Viola then dove deeper into editing in Adobe Premier Pro with several of our attendees experiencing numerous AHA moments throughout the morning’s lessons!
Following a cozy lunch, we said our goodbyes or better said, our see you laters.
Lasting memories and friendships were formed. I can’t wait to do it all again soon!
BEFORE I GO I WANT TO SAY…
…A huge, heartfelt THANK YOU to our fabulous creatives who joined us from near and very far! A food photography retreat may not be right for everyone, but it was absolutely right for you! It was an honour to teach you, to see you work so hard and support one another on this transformative creative journey. I’m excited to see you continue to go from strength to strength and want to wish you all so much success!
Nicola - Sihan - Shannon and Wlady - Caroline - Ioana - Jennifer - Mirjam
And, the retreat would not have been possible without Elina who cooked up a storm in the kitchen, assisted by attendee Ioana. THANK YOU so much for feeding us THE best food!
I also want to give a big shout out to my uber talented co-teacher Viola. It was once again an INCREDIBLE experience to teach alongside you; I feel SO freakin’ lucky to know you and to be able to observe you in your element! (BTW, if you want to discover how Viola captured the retreat, please head to her website here. And if you’d like to see images from last year’s retreat you can head here.)
The sun never quite goes down around midsummer. Image captured at 11pm.
The backdrop used in this shot is by Jipy Fondos.
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR WONDERFUL FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY RETREAT SPONSORS
Thank you all so much for gifting us and our attendees your thoughtful goodies. Our Midsummer Finland Retreat could never have been what it was without your incredible products:
DREAM COZY for your gorgeous and inspiring notebooks. So much gorgeousness!
JIPY FONDOS everyone LOVED the backdrop they got to take home! Beyond stunning. Thank you
NIKI NEWD for your pioneering skin care products which made our sauna experience extra special!
HEIROL for the most precious linen napkins. Ideal for food styling!
WANT TO ATTEND ONE OF MY FOOD STYLING AND FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS OR RETREATS?
Then please check my food photography workshop page here OR join the waiting list below to hear about our upcoming advanced food photography and videography retreats and our in person workshops first!