A few weeks ago an opportunity to lead a Better Food Post Bootcamp for the members of the Social Fabric® Community arose. I applied, I knew there were FAR more qualified candidates out there that would more than likely apply as well, I never really gave it a second thought. Then I received an email from the Community Management member that is heading up the bootcamps about how excited she was that I applied. ME! You guys! It almost made me cry! Oh who am I kidding, I teared up a bit. I am SO excited for this opportunity! I am co-leading this challenge with Sarah from Clever Pink Pirate, be sure to check her site out!
This week we are talking about finding your Inspiration. Weather it be Food Photography, their style or how the blogger writes the story of the recipe. Who inspires you? To start, I am going to share a before and after pic of my own. I started blogging in 2008, when I started I was using my blog to journal my pregnancy. I don't think it was until 2010 I shared my first recipe on my blog! WOW!
When I first started sharing recipes, I only had a Point and Shoot Camera. I did what I could and my pics were OK. My problem was WAY over editing (we will get to editing in a few weeks). The top picture is of my Mocha Cupcakes with Sweet Cream Frosting, the cupcakes are DELICIOUS. But, you really wouldn't know that just by looking at that picture. The bottom pic is of my German Chocolate Cupcakes I shared last fall. That picture definitely makes me want to run out and get all of the ingredients to make them.
My 3 favorite Bloggers to look at for inspiration are Rachel from Bubbly Nature Creations, Tonia from The Gunny Sack and Ree from The Pioneer Woman (yeah, she is everyone's....right?). I am about to share with you two pics from each of their blogs. One is a pic of one of their very first recipe posts and the other is from a more recent post. A lot of bloggers jump on the scene and then get discouraged because they think their pictures are not good enough. Hey! Don't get like that! We ALL started not really knowing what we were doing. Right?
 |
| Source: Bubbly Nature Creations |
This is a Before/After from Rachel at Bubbly Nature Creations. In the pic on the left, Rachel is sharing her Green Smoothie Recipe. It looks delicious! However, in the pic on the left, she shares an Iced Coffee creation. I love how she adds pop to the picture by tying a bit of bakers twine around the jar, adding a matching straw, shaking a few sprinkles on the whipped topping and placing the creation on a piece of scrapbook paper. It really makes the drink stand out and makes you want to go make iced coffee right now.
 |
| Source: The Gunny Sack |
Both of these Stromboli pictures are from my friend Tonia at The Gunny Sack. The top pic of Stromboli looks good. But, the bottom picture of Stromboli makes you want to dig right in! I love that she keeps the crumbs on the tile, it looks like she is inviting you to slice a piece for yourself! I also love that you can clearly see every single layer of pizza goodness in the bottom picture, especially the cheese dripping off the top layer of bread, onto the pepperoni, onto the second layer of cheese. OH MY! Where is my plate?
 |
| Source: The Pioneer Woman |
Last, but certainly not least is Ree from The Pioneer Woman. Yes, even she started out with not so great pictures. Like I said, we ALL do. I love, love, love knowing that even PW herself started off with pics that weren't so great. I also love that she has not gone back to "fix" the posts with new pictures. The top picture was one of her very first recipes she ever shared on her blog, The Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever. Go look at her post. I will wait. Do you see how in the pic of her pouring water into the pot is blurry? Now, check out this recipe she just posted last month for Chocolate Strawberry Nutella Cake. See how the pic of her pouring the water is clear as day? One thing I LOVE about Ree's recipes are her drippy shots. The shots of her pouring some sort of liquid into a pot or onto a dish, or whatever it may be landing on/in. I hope to one day have amazing drippy shots as well.
So, there you have it. My top 3 inspirations. Our challenge to the members of Social Fabric this week is to post in the community, or on their blog, a post/picture that mimics one of their favorite food bloggers. If you aren't a member of the community but want to see what others create and share over the next month, be sure to follow the hashtag #SoFabFoodie on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!