Food and Lifestyle Photographer Annabelle Breakey Discusses Shaping Light, Staying True to Creative Vision

Food and lifestyle photographer Annabelle Breakey has an envy-inducing portfolio that features sun-drenched tables crowded with elegantly displayed dishes and bright arrangements of produce against pristine backdrops. I had the chance to speak with Breakey about her work, managing creativity and business and staying creatively inspired.

I asked Breakey about her stunning series “Tablescapes” which features beautifully arranged tables filled with food, as well as more lifestyle-genre work surrounding the preparation and enjoyment of a meal. A collection of images from separate shoots, “Tablescapes” is brilliantly lit and, Breakey says, intended to represent its subjects the way they would be seen in natural light. A master at manipulating light, Breakey says, “How you shape the light is the way you tell the story of the image.” For example, with “Tablescapes” she notes, “sometimes foliage goes really dark and there is often high contrast with direct sunlight, so often I have to use strobes to lower the contrast.”

How you shape the light is the way you tell the story of the image.

Being able to see and shape light are extremely important tools, especially for product and food photography. Breakey describes her process for planning a shoot and determining the best way to manipulate light. "Is the scene in winter with low, crisp light? Is the setting in spring with bright, vivid light? Is the story a soft warm story for a child’s birthday or warm and sparkly for Christmas. Creating this mood is what I mean about shaping light. The color of the light you choose is one way to shape light- winter can be blue, Christmas can be more warm, yellows and oranges. In the winter, the sun is lower in the northern hemisphere, so I equate that with a smaller window which creates longer shadows and more contrast."

Breakey’s work is primarily in the food and lifestyle photography genre which, she emphasizes, is a team effort between herself, her assistants, and the stylists for the shoot. Breakey adds, “My teams… always brings such wisdom and craftsmanship to the table and I try to do the same for them in post-production… We have a very harmonious and supportive environment and definitely have each other’s back on getting things right for the client.”

I asked Breakey about the evolution of her work, and balancing the business and creative sides of photography. “Running my business is an art a lot of the time. Yes, we create beautiful images and that is the icing on the cake which drives everything. I have a wonderful team and we all take great pride in each of our parts of the business to create success…Creativity flows freely when we have the time to breathe.” Breakey has shot for a huge variety of well-known clients, from Starbucks to Hewlett Packard. Of her recent work, she says, “It’s always exhilarating to win a new client with a new challenge. Every client is the most important client we have, and every image is the most important image we create. That said, it is super fun seeing your work out there and just about everyone loves Method, and Ghirardelli (!), just can’t wait until that comes out. We’ve been able to create some new and amazing work for their new branding. For Starbucks, it was really fun to go to Paris and see our photos on the menu boards in the Louvre. So yes, it is exciting.”

Leaving us with some wonderful advice for those just starting out in her field, Breakey says, “Speak with your own voice. Tell your own story about your subject. Create a place and mood with light. Make your viewer want to take a bite through texture, tone, juiciness, time of day. All this comes from creating a moment in time that is relatable and it can only work if it’s personal to you.”

Images copyright Annabelle Breakey, used with permission.

Anabelle Breakey will be presenting at the Stand Out! Photographic Forums in San Francisco tomorrow! Use promo code FSTOPPERS to get free admission.