Tabitha Park

Hi Tabitha! Tell us a little about yourself — when did you first become interested in photography and how did you get to where you are today?

My love for photography started when I was 12 capturing bugs, snails, and mushrooms in the yard! I’ve always felt a pull to the macro world wanting to collect snippets of tiny everyday magic. Specializing in digital photo throughout school helped me find my way around gear and the studio and also gave me the opportunity to dabble in every niche from portraits to puppies. My deep dive into chocolate and donuts went hand in hand with teaching fun and approachable foodie-adjacent courses on Skillshare, which landed me my dream gig with a top chocolate brand in the US.

How did you find your own photography style?

I found my style by trying every other style! I think experimenting early on and continuously throughout your work keeps things fun and flexible. The style that has always felt like home for me has lots of juicy contrast, clean highlights, and tack sharp details.

What has been one of your favorite projects to work on so far? What would be your dream creative project or subject to shoot?

I had the opportunity to shoot all the components and features of a Halloween-themed board game, Girls vs. Ghouls, for their Kickstarter campaign. It was my first time photographing a board game, and I had so much fun during setup and styling. Playing the game with friends brought the project full circle and it was such a joy to get to connect with the artist and designer of the game, who happened to be one of my Skillshare students and her husband!

My dream project at the moment would be working with a creative in the publishing world! I’d love to contribute my skills and passion for food through the development of a breathtakingly beautiful cookbook or crafting compendium. I’m also an avid puzzler and would love to see some of my favorite captures in tactile jigsaw puzzle form!

The art of food styling can make or break a photo shoot. Do you handle the food styling yourself, or collaborate with professional food stylists? What are your go-to tricks and tools for keeping dishes camera-ready during those long shooting sessions.

I do most of my food styling myself! Typically the desserts and drinks I’m working with can hold up for a while so I don’t have to worry about things collapsing, melting, or dripping luckily! And when we do have drips, I like to lean into the story by reminding viewers of the creation side of things. The “lived in” look is always my preference to a perfectly spotless scene! Adding texture and leading lines with a sprinkle of salt, powdered sugar, or cinnamon is typically my finishing touch! It gives the eye some movement and if you're sprinkling spices or herbs it adds another sense to the shot, inviting the viewer to "practically smell" what they're seeing.

What sparked your journey into photography education? From your popular Skillshare courses to your personalized one-on-one sessions, you've built quite a following. If you could instill just one core principle in your students' minds, what would it be?

Get scrappy! Early on in my education I was taught that photography is expensive. Working on a shoestring budget forced me to see everything around me as a tool to cheat my end result. Making a lightbox out of cardboard and tracing paper was my foray into teaching on Skillshare and has helped empower other creators to use what they have lying around and make it up as they go! My friends tell me how they wouldn’t have had the guts to tackle certain projects that I just showed up with the audacity to do- for example, tiling all the bathrooms in my home. Having a knack for just “seeing how it goes” tends to work itself out. Making mistakes is the first step to fixing mistakes and getting good at pivoting is critical to the success of any creative endeavor! I like to think that watching me make my own backdrops and seeing me use junk mail as a reflector gives my students permission to make it up as they go too.

Given the speed at which AI is progressing in content creation, the landscape and future of photography are shifting rapidly. What opportunities and/or and challenges do you think AI will present for photographers?

Being able to share a creative vision of a lush pollinator garden without lifting a shovel can absolutely propel people to take action on the projects in their “someday” folder, which I find exciting. However, saving these “someday” photos to my Pinterest boards knowing that nobody has ever watered the plants in this bedroom inspo or curled up in the folds of that comforter does make me feel a little sad.

I feel empowered when I get to see spaces touched by the magic of humans. Show me the imperfect trim, the busy little spider you let live in the corner, the part you messed up and then had to fix. I hope the surge of AI art propels us into a world where things get to be imperfect just to prove a person lifted a shovel. I like to think that it will inspire creatives to “do it better” than AI by proving that these beautiful scenes, dishes, and people actually exist.

Are there any specific pieces of equipment, such as particular lenses or lighting setups, that you consider essential for your shoots?

I’m obsessed with my Sigma Art 35mm lens! I love that its minimum focal distance lets me stay physically close to my subject and the flexibility of the ultra wide open aperture mimics how we take in the details of a scene with our eyes.

Along that same realm but on the opposite end is my 105mm macro lens. It's less of a walkaround lens than the 35mm, but I’m always pleased with the results and getting that larger than life perspective adds a uniqueness to my portfolio that brings me right back to what drew me to photography from the beginning.

What advice would you give to new photographers who are interested in food and product photography who just starting out?

Be a moth! Go to the light! Study all the light in your space, become obsessed with watching how it falls and bounces and fills shadows everywhere you go. Learning to identify, shape, and utilize light is going to be the actual cornerstone of your entire photography career because without light, photos don't exist. Once you master light, you'll be able to build confidence in the studio and on location, thus gaining better control of your scene and how your product or food can be presented within it!

What are you currently working on now and what’s up next for you?

I’m putting out feelers at the moment! Reaching out to a bunch of brands and people making things that inspire me and seeing how I might be able to help through my work! Planning to keep on creating fun classes, photographing tasty treats and maybe manifest my images into a cookbook or two!

Thank you for sharing with us, Tabitha! To view more of Tabitha’s work, visit her website, explore her Skillshare classes, and follow her on Instagram.

Tabitha was nominated by Skillshare.