Interview with Lisa Golden Schroeder, Food Stylist and Founder of Foodesigns.com

Q. What skills and personal qualities do you feel are important to a food stylist?
A. I think it’s important to have a strong feeling for consumers and a desire to help them make their lives easier and families happier. Any aspect of working in the food business goes straight to how people live and how they run their families. When we work on consumer issues, from providing basic cooking information to food safety concerns or offering a beautiful recipe booklet, we’re just making people happy (and confident) to be in the kitchen. If a food company wants to produce a print advertisement, a recipe booklet, or product packaging, the stylist needs to understand what the company’s mission is and who their audience is—this can influence how you portray their food.

Q. Are there any specific skills that are necessary to be a food stylist?
A. Yes, good food handling skills and a strong working knowledge of food chemistry. There are many times in the studio when a stylist is called upon to make food work in a way that it doesn’t want to, and good problem-solving skills are essential. But the job also entails patience, a meticulous nature (planning the details of a shoot can be almost more important than being able to make food look pretty), and a creative eye. Some people just have a flair for design, but the basic elements of art can be learned. And understanding how the business works, and the role that everyone plays in a shoot, can make a huge difference in completing a successful project.

Q. What is a typical day like for you?
A. What I love about styling is there is no typical day. One day could be a cereal shoot—arranging flakes of cereal in a bowl and adding milk. No pre-preparation, early grocery run, or late night in the studio. But the next shoot could entail a large spread of food or packaging for ice cream containers. You’ll have to manage an assistant, do food preparation ahead of time, go to the grocery at 6 a.m. to pick up special orders, and work until the job is done—sometimes until 8 p.m. or later (this is especially true if you work on film shoots.) It’s unpredictable and you must be ready to roll with whatever the day throws your way.

That being said, here is a very general schedule for a typical still photography shoot. A day in the life of a stylist starts early, at the grocery store. Or if the budget allows, a food styling assistant will do the shopping or meet the stylist at the store. Once everyone arrives at the studio, the groceries are unpacked and organized and props/layouts for the day’s work are reviewed with the art director, photographer, and client. The stylist then gets to work, preparing a stand-in for the first shot so that the art director can create the desired layout and the photographer has something to light. Once the art director and photographer are happy with how the shot looks, the stylist re-creates the food carefully and places it on set for final photography. If food packaging is being shot, maybe only two shots are done a day; a print ad may take an entire day. But catalog or editorial (for magazines or cookbooks) work will get many more shots done on a daily basis.

Q. How involved in the shopping for materials, ingredients, props, etc. are you?
A. Again, it depends on the size of the job—or if you work in a large city or smaller town. Many jobs are not big enough or do not have the budget for an assistant. So the stylist alone shops for groceries, locates specialty produce, etc. And sometimes the stylist will prop the job, too. It’s very nice to have an assistant to do the early grocery run, or to have a prop stylist bring in the props (or sometimes someone at the studio will do it)—but it doesn’t always happen. I used to prop a lot, but in the past few years I’ve focused on the food styling aspect of the job—although the food stylist should be available with input for the person who does the propping.

Q. Is there interaction between you and the photographers or cameramen? How much money does it cost per photo shoot or TV commercial? Is the food real or computer generated? Do you embellish the food at all and if so how is it done? How do you come up with the presentation styles?
A. Yes, there is a lot of communication with the photographer on a still shoot. There are more layers of communication on a film shoot, where the director/art director may be the person the stylist communicates with more than the cameramen. At all shoots, there should be good team interaction—the food stylist, art director, photographer, prop stylist, and the client need to all be in sync with the goals of the shoot. It’s impossible to give general numbers for the cost of a still or film shoot, as they vary from city to city. The food used for most shoots is real—there is a certain degree of enhancement that happens now because of computer technology (sometimes images are moved around, but they are usually shot from real food). Food is almost always kept moist or preserved in various ways during the course of a shoot—if it has to stand out for a while. Our goal is to keep the food looking as fresh as it did when it was first prepared, and to shoot the hero food as quickly as possible. Presentation style is where stylists can show their talents. Every good stylist brings something unique to their jobs—but everyone gets inspiration by staying aware of what’s happening in the food world, eating out, traveling, looking at new publications, and generally challenging themselves each time they go into the studio.

Q. What are some of the tricks of the trade that you have come across or use? Is there a tool kit of some sort that you use?
A. There are many special techniques used by stylists, depending on the shoot, the food, and what is required for any particular layout. The goal is still to present the food in the most appetizing, appealing way possible. Food photos are primarily used to educate, sell, or give pleasure. Stylists do have quite a collection of equipment and tools they use on the job. From basic cooking equipment and good knives, to art brushes, spritz bottles, and dental picks—every stylist’s kit varies somewhat. Each tailors what they carry to how they like to work.

Q. What alternatives or substitutes are used instead of actual food (for instance we have heard rumors that some people use glue instead of milk, mashed potatoes instead of ice cream, blow-torching raw chickens to make them seem cooked when they are actually raw inside)?
A. There have been so many stories circulated about how the food is faked in photos, but they are generally not true. In past years, there were more instances of using non-edible items as stand-ins or added to food. But the trend has been for a more natural approach in the past decade. And most food companies have policies that dictate nothing artificial be used on a shoot—particularly in advertising, where there are laws that govern these issues. There are formulations that simulate certain foods that are very difficult to work with, like ice cream. But the recipe for fake ice cream is edible—it’s basically a very thick frosting that can look like ice cream when scooped. Sometimes foods are cooked down, like maple syrup, so that they become thicker and easier to control. Or in the case of poultry (especially turkeys), the bird may only be cooked in the oven with steam until the flesh is firm but not completely cooked. This is because a fully roasted bird, once cool, will wrinkle and look very unappetizing. By cooking the poultry less, then coloring the skin, the cooled bird looks fresh, like when it first came out of the oven. But again, this method varies. There are many magazines and cookbooks now that completely cook food and shoot it immediately—and it looks natural and delicious.

My final words about food styling are that it is a career that takes great dedication and training. You cannot graduate and just begin being a food stylist. It’s necessary to have an understanding of the food-marketing world, and to get experience working in the food industry. Many stylists work as assistants to experienced stylists for years before they go out on their own. Many stylists work as chefs, food editors, cooking teachers, artists, and in other related fields before they know enough to plunge into the freelance world. It is a very competitive field, and can be hard to break into.