Food Styling with Adhesive Putty Holds Food Shots Together

Every food photography shoot – no matter how seemingly simple – has a lot of moving parts to juggle. A big part of a stylist’s job is to make sense of all the different variables that each assignment presents. So, when something comes along that helps to keep a few things in place, the best thing you can do is to take full advantage!

What’s blue, malleable, and ultra-beneficial for food stylists to have on hand? If you haven’t already, it’s time to give food styling with adhesive putty a try.

With a consistency akin to chewing gum, it’s possible to manipulate into any shape or size to secure dry objects and surfaces to one another. Unlike many alternate adhesives, putty is pressure sensitive. That means that you can gently push your food subjects into place. Despite its flexibility and plasticity, putty boasts a strong grip. So, for stylists constantly having to make adjustments and move about, the security of this unsuspecting substance can bring a great deal of substance.

Not convinced? Consider a scenario that required neatly presenting a tray of cheese and crackers. Despite the humble subject matter, there are a hundred elements at once that rely on one another to stay in place. One misstep while removing a crumb could knock a portion of the setting out of place, resulting in time-consuming, painstaking corrections. Food styling with adhesive putty helps prevent these mishaps from happening in the first place. If you wanted to, you could attach each individual cheese slice directly to the platter, plate, or crackers.

Cheese and crackers are far from the only things that benefit from food styling with adhesive putty. Sandwich bread, unpeeled produce – just about any dry substance – can be set in place with a tiny bit of pressure. Better yet, you don’t have to stop short at food. This stuff can keep silverware, tablecloth, cups, and other accessories from shifting.

Every stylist, at some point, has to find a way to work around an uneven surface. But there’s no need to settle for the awkward angles a crooked work station can create. Putty can fill the space between a glass or plate and an uneven surface, facilitating precise angles and improving compositions.

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For stylist’s purposes, the this stretchy, sticky material has a lot to offer. One of the greatest benefits to food styling with adhesive putty is the lack of mess it leaves behind. Unlike tapes or glues, putty does not leave behind any residue. So, if something isn’t positioned perfectly, there’s no hassle or clean up required to rectify the issue.

On the off chance that you can’t get your hands on some putty, experiment with substitutes. Modeling clay or Play-Doh can often accomplish the same tasks and have the added advantage of coming in an array of colors. Having a variety on hand can be a good thing – with a good eye, you can camouflage a matching color directly into the food you’re styling.

If you’re really feeling creative, putty or clay can be great assets when creating food stop motion. Since the frames will register the slightest motions, having a tool to keep everything stationary can make all of your movements just the slightest bit smoother.

Best of all? They won’t break your bank. Available through online marketplaces and local hardware stores alike, you’ll be hard pressed to find the stuff selling for more than a few dollars per pack. What’s more, adhesive putty is totally reusable. Small enough to slip into a side pocket, there’s no reason to keep these little miracle workers out of your toolkit!

Inside the Food Stylist’s Tool Kit

Have you ever looked at a food editorial or advertisement and wondered how they’re able to get subjects as unruly as spaghetti sauce or ice cream looking absolutely pristine? As it turns out, the art food styling is a precise one that requires quite a bit of patience, precision, and improvisation. In the Inside the Food Stylist’s Tool Kit segment Phoode examines the unexpected tactics stylists employ by digging through the tools they use on set.