Kimberly Espinel on how food photographers move past technical basics to find their own look. She credits color choices, lighting decisions, editing style, and studying photographers like Gabriel Cabrera and Louisa Brimble. The key is a messy experimental phase where you copy work you love until your voice emerges.
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How much do you feel like the conversations that you're having with photographers, creators, how much of it is mindset, kind of reflecting on who you are, how you work versus, hey, here's how you get better at shooting in manual, like really tactical.
Um, I would say the audience that I'm now cultivating is moving more towards the latter because, you know, people can just go on YouTube and you know, like, when we started that was. None of that existed and now it's just at the fingertips. But also there comes a point where you figure manual out. You, you know, you crack that, that nut, so to say. And then the next stage is about really positioning yourself and distinguishing yourself. And that actually requires mindset but also introspection in the same that all that we discussed about, like, how is your photography different? How are you going to stand out? Are you going to get noticed? How are you going to stop comparing yourself and imitating what is or has already been done to, to really fine tune your own voice? And so a lot of, you know, that's really the work that I'm doing much more now than quote, unquote, just, you know, manual mode, which is important, super important. But I think that for me, where I'm stepping into my role as a teacher is to really support people in finding their own unique creative style.
And what does that, what does that transformation look like? So where, where, where do you, where are people on that journey usually? Like, if you were to kind of boil it down to. And then what does it look like once you're on the other side? Are you ever on the other side?
Well, I think it's a lifelong journey for sure, but I do think there's, there's steps that are noticeably, you know, that transformational steps that are, are that everyone can see. So I think when, a lot of the times when students come to me, they've, you know, they've watched the YouTube videos and they've done other things and what they're ending up is they're creating images that look generic, that look a little bit like what everybody else is doing. And so what I really good.
But they're really similar to. Yes, I use the analogy all the time of songwriting. And it's like you, it's like, oh, that's a really good song. But it kind of sounds like, you know, sealed, Kissed by a rose or whatever. It's like, wait, this is the same melody? Yeah.
And so part of why that happens is because a lot of the times we are very external, so which is normal. That's how we're set up as humans, we have our eyes at the front of our. Our face. And so. And we're spending so much time on social media, so we're consuming a lot of content. And it's very hard not to get influenced by that in. When you're at the start, it's. It's very natural to want to imitate and, you know, emulate the people that you admire. But then there comes a stage where we actually have to do the introspective work and to think about what. What is my unique gift and how can I bring that to the fore? And that consists, for example, at looking at. I always say, look at your color story. So are you on the cool spectrum? Are you on the warm spectrum? Do you feel. Find that you're moving towards using analog colors or complementary colors? Or how are you expressing colors, for example? And that is one part of how you start creating your own look and your own feel. And. And what I do is I ask people to kind of play with different ways of working with color, for example, so cool and warm, and then the different ways of combining colors and to write down which one do you like best? Like, which one got you really excited, which image? Because it gives you lots of indicators of where you. Where you are. And the same with editing, the same with light work. All these things can be manipulated and controlled and changed in such a way that it allows you to create a signature look that somebody will see your image and it'll go, that's, you know, Lindsay, that's Kimberly. And. And I can really see that transformation. I also can how people feel more confident in playing more boldly with color and really having a go at editing. There is like a messy phase in the middle where, you know, you're trying stuff out, but then when you come out the other end, it feels really good.
Yeah. But I would imagine one of the fears, like, if I put myself in that position is looking a lot of the reasons why I think we emulate certain people is because they have been successful. And there's a safety in saying, this person did it this way and they were successful doing that. So there's a relative amount of safety in me doing it this way because that's how this person did it. That could be applied to photography, you know, operations, best practices, like whatever it might be, business or creative. So how do people feel confident in creating their own look, style, brand, knowing that they might not have examples of that being successful in the world?
So I think one is, you don't necessarily have to share everything. You know, like, you can do a lot of the things behind the scenes.
Yeah.
And then only post something that you feel really confident with. I also think it's nice to be part of a creative community of people who cheer you on, maybe who give you feedback. So, you know, my courses, for example, we have Facebook groups, but you don't even need that. Like, you could have a community on Instagram, you know, maybe a DM group of a friend that you connect with. But then also, I think the other side of discomfort is where. Where the magic happens. You know, it's part of the process. And sticking with a set formula, I think A becomes boring very quickly, but B, I don't think you can ever be as good as the person that you're emulating. So, you know, I just think there's this. Yeah, there's magic at the other side of trying and failing and trying and failing, and. And that's where you want to get to.
And part of it is I think about this with podcasting, and I listen to certain podcasters, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, I love the way that they podcast. They interview. I think of a couple different people who are, like, really, like, confrontational, edgy. It's like, I love listening to that. I know that's not going to be me. So if I try and emulate it, I could, like, put that. Those jeans on. They're not going to fit very well. And I would imagine the same thing with photography. One of the things that you're trying to do is emulate when it's something that fits into who you are and matches what you're about in service of becoming the maximum version of who you are as a. As a creator. Like, how do you become a hundred. Like, max it out 100%. The. These. This is perfect alignment in my style. My. You know, how I want to show myself and present myself to the world. It might have little elements of those people who have inspired you, but really it is like you a hundred percent. Is that kind of what you're trying to get through in that transformation?
Yes, exactly. And I think one way that can be helpful in, you know, stopping yourself from emulating certain people. Like, if you notice that you're doing that is either a, you know, mute them for a little while and. Or also start following work, people that are totally different than you. So that, you know, there's three creators who I really, really feel inspired by, and they're all so different. And so there's a little element of Each of them that I've just, you know, that I. That really resonates that I've kind of pulled to create my own look and, and I think that, you know, versus just following everybody who does exactly the same kind of visual storytelling as me, that probably wouldn't have led to the style that I have now.
And who are those people that you appreciate? Or just a couple.
Yes. So somebody called Gabriel Cabrera. He's. He's a Mexican Canadian food photographer who does a lot of really abstract. Yeah, you know, artificial light colors. Like it's neon. It's crazy. I love it and I love colors, so I don't work like that. And then the other one's Louisa Brimble. She does a lot of very natural, so very unstyled and very homely. Like it feels homely. And that's one something I love to convey my photography is the sense of, of belonging and, and, you know, just a down to earthness. And then the other one is Aaron Goyoaga or Canel Vanille. And she does you know, just very kind of a little bit of. A little bit moody, darker shadows, but still. And that's very much me as well. So they're so different and, and one of them has totally influenced the photographer.
That I am today is not exactly the same, but there's a little bit of overlap. So you can find inspiration without feeling like this person is doing kind of very similar work to what I'm doing, which I think, yeah, that's great.
