The last weekend in March, I participated in a master food styling class, in Durham, North Carolina. Food Fanatics is operated by Denise Vivaldo and Cindie Flannigan out of Los Angeles, California. The two women are an absolute delight to work with in the process of the training program. Although I work in a commercial photography studio as a marketing director, the other portion of my job requires me to work on set at times. The studio does a great amount of food photography, and there have been many times, I have been thrown on set to style food. Even though I do have a background in catering, I always state, "styling food to make it edible is much different than styling food for the bright lights of a photo set". This class taught me all the shortcuts to making food look great in a photo and what the food advertising industry is really about. It was hard to believe I worked alongside chefs, stylists, photographers, and editorial staff. I also learned that Denise Vivaldo had written the book, How to Start a Home-based Catering Business, which I had read when creating my own catering business. Anyone thinking about catering, a personal chef business, or the food industry should really consider taking one of the Food Fanatics classes or reading their books.
