Still life and food product photographer Jenna Gang has been specializing in social media and stop motion content that’ll both capture your eye and elevate the look of your brand.
When she got her start as a photographer for Macy’s, and as their first social media photographer, Gang worked to grow their Instagram presence to more than 1 million followers in just two years.
Here, she chatted with Adorama on her start in photography, how she began her work in stop motion, and what keeps her inspired for her pieces.
Q: How did your career in photography start? Can you walk us through your beginning projects, what caused that “spark,” and how did you come to do the still life work you’re doing now?
A: I began taking pictures when I was seven years old with a Fisher-Price Perfect Shot camera, but I didn’t know I wanted to be a photographer until I saw my first image come to life in the high school darkroom at 15. After that moment, I was always taking pictures. I decided to go to college to study photography at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. It was amazing to dig deeper into the world of photography.
At the end of my sophomore year, a professor took our class on a trip to Macy’s photo studios in Brooklyn. I was in awe of the incredible space, contacted the studio director, and ended up freelancing there a few weeks later. I slowly grew to appreciate still life photography while assisting photographers at Macy’s studios every summer in between semesters at FIT. After college I worked for Macy’s full time. On the weekends, I went into the studio to test my still life concepts. I began working on their socials in February of 2015 as their first social media photographer, and helped grow their Instagram following from 250k to 1m in two years time. Other brands started to notice the work I was creating for Macy’s, and after 8 years there, I left in August 2017 to focus on freelance work.
Q: What gear do you use? What’s your tried-and-true set of equipment that you bring on every shoot? What’s the one piece of gear every still life photographer should have?
A: I’ve shot at a bunch of different studios in NYC and will often use what’s there, such as Profoto lights and the Canon 5DSR () , but this is what I have in my home studio:
- Camera: Nikon D850 (). I shot with a Hasselblad H2 at Macy’s. Will hopefully upgrade to medium format soon!
- Strobes: Broncolor Senso 1200 Pack (). I love how lightweight the pack is, and the number system is super easy to understand.
- Strobe Modifiers: I usually modify the lights by bouncing strobes into a 4×8 sheet of foam core, or through a silk. If not, I love the P70 reflectors with the grid pack, or Broncolor’s 2×2 softbox ().
- Tripod: I have an Arkay 8 MS-III stand. It lets me shoot products directly overhead while keeping the camera firmly in place.
- Software: Capture 1, Photoshop, Helicon Focus, Dragon Frame.
If you’re starting out, I don’t think you need any of the gear I have except for Capture 1. Shooting tethered is something I find to be extremely important. Being able to see your work on a larger computer screen allows you to see every little detail of the image.
Q: What is the biggest mistake people make when shooting still-life photos? What’s something you wish you knew when you got started that would have changed your work style?
A: I wish someone had told me at the very beginning to not be afraid to move the strobes around, add a scrim, flag, or bring in a fill card. It took me a really long time to truly see how the light affects different types of materials. I’ve learned so much from experimenting with different lighting techniques.
Q: What’s your approach to composing and bringing action to still life?
A: I always try to tell a story with my work. Sometimes I’ll create a character, or focus on a time period to draw inspiration from. For personal projects, I’ll work on a concept deck for a month or two before I present it to a stylist to help me execute the idea. I find that collaborating with stylists improves the quality of the images because we’re bouncing ideas off of each other. The images I’ve selected here were styled by Hadas Smirnoff, Anna Lemi, Rebecca Crea, Genna Moss, or Sharar Behzad.
Q: Where do you find your inspiration for the shots you take?
A: I love looking at Pinterest, old photography books, and Google. I find Instagram to be a black hole of inspiration and I search for hours to find new accounts to follow. Lately I really like @PrincessCheeto, @FentyBeauty, and @BathandBodyWorks.
To see more of Jenna’s work, check her out website jennagang.com, and see her on Instagram @jennagang.
