As part of Wacom Creativity Camp, we’re excited to host photographer Bea Lubas for a webinar on August 30th, 2023!
Bea Lubas is a Polish-born, England-based photographer and stylist, specializing in food and lifestyle. When she isn’t photographing, she is educating and motivating aspiring photographers through her online content and virtual and in-person workshops.
At the bottom of this post, you’ll see all of the information about the event and a link to register.
First, however, we chatted with Bea about her work, what aspiring photographers should know, and what interested folks can expect as they look forward to her webinar next week! The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
You didn’t go to art school. Do you recommend young artists follow this path, or should they get formal art training if they have the opportunity?
One of the main reasons I didn’t go to art school was because, for the longest time, I just didn’t know what I wanted to do in my life and which path to take. Maybe if I had more clarity on my path, or if I discovered a love for photography earlier, then I would’ve gone to art school instead of the school I chose at the time.
I think there isn’t one path to becoming a photographer, as we are all so different, and everyone should choose a path that feels right for them.
Why do you choose photography as your medium, and why specifically food photography? How did you get into this field?
I really didn’t know what I wanted to do in my life for a very long time. I graduated from a Hospitality program, and I also loved studying different languages — I am from Poland originally — but I really wasn’t sure what path I wanted to take. I didn’t find anything that felt “right.”
When I moved to England, and started to travel to different places around the country, I thought it would be nice to learn photography and document these travels as a way to capture the memories. At the time, I was also learning more about food preparation, and got really curious about food ingredients. So, when I purchased my very first camera and started to learn all its settings and buttons, I started my photography learning adventure in the kitchen. I really fell in love with that process! At the time, I didn’t even know that food photography was a profession.
One day, as I was looking for some tips on food photography online, I came across a competition for food photographers. The competition was closing the next day, and even though it sparked my interest, I didn’t feel that my work was good enough to enter. But my husband encouraged me … and, much to my surprise, my photo was chosen as a finalist and I came second in the category I entered!
This really gave me the motivation to learn more about food photography, to practice every day, and to put my work out there. It all started to slowly grow from there.
What skills are important in food photography?
Learning how to see and capture light as well as how to shape it, both on set and in post-production, was one of the skills that had the biggest impact on my work.
I think it is also important to exercise our skill of observation. Thanks to showing the often unnoticed details, or a common subject in a different perspective, we can create art that surprises and captivates people’s attention. I also think that to be a better visual storyteller, we need to be a good observer too.
Do you think it’s important for photographers to learn editing skills and edit their own work? Why?
I think editing is one of the most important and fun parts of creating a photograph, and it’s a skill that can move our work to the next level.
Editing helps us express our creative vision, craft the mood to evoke a certain feeling, emphasize important details, draw more attention to the subject, and add that polished and professional look to images.
What will your workshop be about, and who should attend?
The workshop will be about one of my favorite topics — strengthening our skill of observation. I’ll share some exercises that we can do to sharpen our skills of noticing interesting details around us, and walk attendees though some visual examples and how we can look at things from a different perspective. I’ll also show a Lightroom demo, and share which editing tools and techniques I use to strengthen the photo and draw the attention to the most important elements.
Anyone who is interested in improving their photography, or even any artistic practice, can benefit from strengthening their observational skills, in my opinion!
About the Webinar
How do you take something that seems ordinary, and make it into something extraordinary? Sometimes all you need is a change in perspective. In this photography workshop by award-winning food photographer Beata Lubas, participants will learn how to strengthen their observational skills in order to strengthen their artistic practice. Lubas will walk attendees through a series of thought-provoking questions and participatory creative exercises intended to help them look more creatively at everything around them, so they can strengthen how they create and present their work.
Location: Online on Zoom
Date and Time: August 30th, 2023 – 10:00am PDT
Link to register: Click here!
