Live AMA with Suzi Pratt

[Suzi Pratt]

What lighting setup do you use or do you try to use natural light?

Budgeting is a big topic, but in general, I always factor my budgets around how much time the photo shoot plus editing time will take, as well as how the client will use the photos. I rented lights when I was first getting started, but at this point, I own all of my gear.

[Suzi Pratt]

Do you photoshop the food in any way or are the images you make fairly similar to out of camera?

I almost always photoshop my food photos, but I don't do anything extreme. It's mostly clone stamping out dust on the table, or drops of food that might be out of place. I aim to get most of the photo correct in camera and just use Photoshop to "clean up" the image.

[MusicalMelanie]

Do you tether?

[Suzi Pratt]

How do you attract new clients?

For a long time, I had an active blog on my portfolio where I'd talk about my recent photo shoots. This was a way to build up SEO and also show more of my process and results on my site. I'd recommend starting off that way.

[miar]

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What gear do you have?

So between your a7IV and the a7RIII - which one is your go camera and why?

[Suzi Pratt]

Do you tether?

It depends on the nature of the photoshoot, but for clients who want to be more collaborative during the creative process, then yes, I do. It's very helpful to make sure we're both happy with the way to shot it turning out.

[avmil]

How did you know you were ready to leave your corporate job?

[aidm]

Do you photoshop the food in any way or are the images you make fairly similar to out of camera?

Thank you that is so helpful!!

[aidm]

Do you have a go-to lens?

[Suzi Pratt]

How did you know you were ready to leave your corporate job?

When I was making more money freelancing than I was at my day job -- that was a good sign! But also making sure I fully understood the associated costs of going freelance, like paying taxes -- that was probably my biggest struggle with going freelance.

[MusicalMelanie]

Out of curiosity.... how did you get into vlogging?

[Suzi Pratt]

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Do you have a go-to lens?

For photography, I can often pull off an entire shoot with just the Sony 55mm f/1.8. I don't know what it is about that lens, but I absolutely love it and have learned to shoot well with it. For video/YouTube, I like the 20mm f/1.8, mainly because I'm in front of the camera a lot and 20mm is great for that.

[miar]

Question from social: How do you manage to not get hungry when you're shooting food for restaurants?

What a cool side bonus to some shoots, being able to eat the food after all your hard work!

[Suzi Pratt]

Out of curiosity.... how did you get into vlogging?

Long story, but...my husband got a drone right before our wedding/honeymoon, and we ended up with all this video that we had no idea what to do with. So that was our gateway into video. For vlogging specifically, we just noticed that vlogs got a lot more engagement on YouTube than "cinematic" videos

[Suzi Pratt]

Out of curiosity.... how did you get into vlogging?

and my husband was gung-ho about being in front of the camera, so he kicked off the vlogging. After some practice, I started getting in front of the camera too, and at this point, I'm pretty comfortable with vlogging.

[alpha-stormy]

Question from social: Thanksgiving meals are always so bland lookin - how do you make a Thanksgiving meal photogenic?

[Suzi Pratt]

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What gear do you have?

Definitely the A7IV. I want to replace my A7RIII so badly, but I'm holding out for the A7V, whenever that will be. But I like the hybrid nature of the A7IV--it's so easy to flip between video and photo -- and the menu and layout is so much easier to use than the A7RIII.

[miar]

Question from the forum: Avmil asks: "how do you lay the food out to look good? That may sound silly but I feel like it's hard to make food on a plate look appetizing and not just like a pile of mush... though maybe that says more about my cooking than photo techniques"

This is so helpful! I need to check out Pinterest for inspiration for the upcoming holidays.

[avmil]

What do you like about your Sony setup?

[miar]

What gear do you have?

Super, thank you for sharing.

[Suzi Pratt]

Question from social: Thanksgiving meals are always so bland lookin - how do you make a Thanksgiving meal photogenic?

I think the blandness can come from the colors of the food -- everything is so orange, brown, and honestly not super photogenic. How do you make mashed potatoes not look bland? Adding props and tableware can definitely help, plus hands and models can make it more dynamic and visually appealing.

[Suzi Pratt]

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What do you like about your Sony setup?

For my a7IV, I love the flip out screen and the ability to shoot in live view -- those are things I was missing my Canon DSLRs and they really changed the way that I shoot. I also love the vast library of native and third-party lenses. I think Sony has the most of any other mirrorless camera brand.

[avmil]

Do you typically edit in Lightroom? how much editing do you usually do?

[nodav]

What's the one tip that helped you improve your photography skills the most?

[Suzi Pratt]

Do you typically edit in Lightroom? how much editing do you usually do?

If I'm editing in bulk like for events, I use Lightroom. But for everything else, especially food photos, I use Camera Raw/Photoshop. It's mostly out of habit because I know the programs so well, but Lightroom is also great to use.