HYDERABAD: Back then, she never imagined that her passion would eventually become her profession.
Trishnanta Kanjilal, an accomplished food stylist and photographer from the city, had a rollercoaster journey to establish herself in the F&B industry.
She ventured into her journey by starting a food blog in 2013. “I was fond of baking, so I wanted to document my recipes. Being a big foodie, my blogs provided me with a platform to channel and express my love for food. I used to click pictures for my blogs,” she says.
Throughout the entire week, she dedicated herself to a full-time job at a corporate organisation, but she reserved her weekends for cooking, photography and blogging.
Giving it a shot
The year 2014 gave Trishnanta her first break in the F&B industry as a food stylist and photographer.
As a newcomer in the industry, it was really important for her to stand out, and her first commercial shoot made it happen. Thinking about capitalising on food styling and photography she says, “In 2017-18, I decided to take a big leap of faith, by choosing it as a career. I quit my full-time job and switched to photography. While actively working as a food photographer and stylist, I was still working as a copywriter in advertising agencies for one-and-half years.”
It was in 2019 when Trishnanta made the full-time switch to being a photographer and founded her own company, Berry on Top Photography. Since then, there has been no looking back.
Interestingly, for her a typical day begins around 10 am. The location completely depends upon the projects signed for or according to the client’s requirements. The photographer sharing her 8-hour-long schedule, says, “If it is a restaurant shoot, then we reach the location and shoot until lunch. The lunch breaks are never fixed. We try to cover 5 to 6 shots before the lunch. So typically the first session of the shoot ends by 2.30 pm but gets extended when we need to meet the deadlines. Apart from photography, we also do food styling, which overall needs its own time and effort.”
All about referencing and mood boarding a project
Pre-production is a very extensive process. It is the backbone of the shoots. Based on the kind of assignment Trishnanta and her team do a lot of groundwork research before 8-10 hours of shoot. Explaining the pre-production process, the food stylist says, “Typically mood boarding and a lot of referencing takes place a week before we shoot. We also do a competitor analysis. To stand out in the market we also look after giving our creative touch.”
For Trishnanta it is quite challenging to work on ice creams. Sharing her hustle while shooting ice creams she says, “When working with real ice cream, it is important to understand the type and quality of the product we are using. It’s also essential to understand the melting point of ice cream and the tricks to store it properly.”
Dealing with on-set challenges and tips for beginner
Trishnanta humorously declares, “Challenges is our second name!” Food is very challenging to handle. One must have the knowledge of the the shelf life of the food. The food stylist says, “Blunder do happen while dealing with food but we have our own hacks to deal with it.” Over time, beginners can learn to handle food even in unfavourable conditions. “Don’t get disappointed by failures. Try assisting a professional photographer. Most importantly be passionate in what you do,” she concludes.
