The content and structure is exactly what I've been looking for. I had done a few styling courses whilst training at Leith's and your info is above and beyond.

Food & Product Styling Training Workshop

At Black Velvet Styling, Darley Abbey Mills, DE22 1DZ.

The best investment I've made for for my business

Our practical workshop training days are aimed at beginners and improving photographers or content creators who would like to elevate their styling and photography skills -whether that's using a phone or DSLR camera.

Come along to refine your styling and gain confidence in producing content to promote yourself, your product or your brand, learning essential techniques and industry tricks with Sophie, a stylist of twenty years.

Perhaps you already run a blog or sell food related products but need a confidence boost or creative kick up the bum to increase your output by banishing those little niggles that make us all procrastinate!

Be taught first hand by a professional and have an inspiring training day learning with other creatives, marketers and business owners!

Each attendee will get two free vinyl A1 backdrop sheets to use during the session and take home to keep. Just let me know which designs you’d like in the ‘notes’ section at checkout (or on email before the workshop date).

Two payment options -

Pay the full £250 today to secure your space.
Part payment,

Pay a deposit 60% (£150) today to reserve your space and we will invoice you for the remaining balance (£100) three weeks prior to the training date to secure your space.
The remaining balance must be paid within 1 week of invoice or your space will be reallocated.
Deposits are non-refundable but can be transferred to a future workshop or gift voucher if required.

Who is this training for?

This training is for you if any of these apply!

you create (or need to create!) content to promote your services, products, blog or business
you want more confidence in styling
you want to learn how to style your product at its best
you want to improve your image quality and photography skills
you sell food or small household products like jams, cakes, candles, flowers, gifts etc
you run a food business like a cafe, deli, bar, takeaway or anything else
you want to learn about styling or photography to start a career in it or you just want some styling experience and tuition to develop yourself or your business.

It doesn't matter your reason for wanting to learn - everyone, of any skill level, is welcome!

What you will learn on our food & prop styling workshops

These workshops cover the following modules to help you uncover your brand style and produce beautiful food-based images that tell your story and captivate your audience. Using a mixture of group teaching, demonstrations and guided practise tasks we will cover:

How to define a style
How to create your own styling rules & repetition
Prop styling dos and don'ts
Food styling kit essentials
Writing your creative brief/shot plan
DSLR camera/phone camera tuition tailored to your needs
Camera tips and tricks for food photography
Controlling natural light wherever you shoot
Composition techniques
Three fool-proof compositions
Story telling with food and props
Checking the details
Getting more from your set up

What’s provided –

You will have full access to my prop collection including ceramics, linen, glassware, bakeware, cutlery, utensils and curiosities (you are welcome to bring your favourite props too) plus fresh foliage and seasonal produce
Two free A1 vinyl backdrops of your choice to keep plus more to play with during the workshop
all learning materials will be provided for each attendee to work through and take home
selection of savoury and sweet food to practise with (and you can bring your own too if you like)
refreshments and a light lunch

What you will need to bring -

your camera or phone and chargers
a tripod (essential)
any props you love to use or are finding tricky and would like help with
your note book
laptop and tether cable if you'd like to (not essential)
any specific food you'd like to work with (not essential)

Training plan (loose timings) -

10am, introductions and welcome
10am, 11am group learning around style, kit & planning
11am, photography demonstrations and practise
12pm, composition demonstrations and practise
(lunch)
1.30pm, group learning - directing, refining and getting more
2.30pm guided practise
3.30pm open Q&A or more practise

Spaces are very limited so please book early to avoid disappointment!

Our workshops run from 10am to 4.30pm with a short/working lunch. Refreshments and a light lunch will be provided. The teaching will end at 4pm but you are welcome to stay and chat while you pack away until 4.30pm.

About the venue

Our photography studio in a Victorian mill provides the perfect setting for our styling workshop with tall windows running down either side of the space giving us lots of natural light and space to work.

We are up one flight of stairs and free parking is available - I will send more details on email when you book.

Feedback from training and workshop attendees

Such a great workshop would highly recommend, the tips and tricks will be very useful for our upcoming shoots. William Parkinson, High Street TV

Training with Sophie was the best investment I've made for my business. I now have the confidence to take photos to promote my bakery and grow my online shop. Highly recommend for anybody wanting to do more on social media and online, which needs regular, good photos! Dan, bakery/cafe owner

Absolutely fab (styling training) session. I've already had glowing feedback from the guys that took part, as well as from others who have seen the photos. Sam, St Pierre Group

Absolutely buzzing after yesterday. Its given me an extra boost to get creative with making things. I honestly can't thank you enough! Heather Ward, Etsy crafter

I had a fantastic time, definitely learnt a lot and left feeling very inspired. Your notes are fantastic and we will be presenting what we learnt to the team. Rachel Woods, Dot and Diode

Thanks so much, I really enjoyed yesterday. Despite exhaustion, in general, I was so inspired I actually spent all morning today making and shooting MORE salads! And I used the dropper to great effect. Which is good because this week coming is meant to be my week off, which I started with your workshop. And now I have loads of images so I really can ease up on Insta content for a bit, which is fabulous. Laura Hutton, content creative

I highly recommend Sophie if you want to develop your styling skills and massively improve the quality and structure of your content. Spending a day 1-2-1 with Sophie has taught me how to approach the styling of my products and how to produce quality images for social media. I'm not a natural when it comes to styling but I now feel I have the confidence and ability to do really well at it by putting into practice all the things Sophie taught me. Ceri Gore, wedding cake designer

I really enjoyed my day. It was great to have you there to advise and it was a massive learning curve on the photography side! It's a fabulous space and a pleasure to work in. Everyone was lovely and it was very interesting to see how many different food careers everyone was involved in. Kirsty Wilson-Close, home baker

The content and structure is exactly what I've been looking for. I had done a few styling courses whilst training at Leith's and your info is above and beyond. Kelly, trainee chef

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