Why I Give Away My Photos for Free on Unsplash

Want to build a thriving creative freelance career? Then it’s time to rethink the way you’re making money. Here’s why I decided to stop creating for money only, start freely sharing my photography with Unsplash under the Creative Commons license, and how it dramatically boosted my income.

One of the biggest questions I get asked by people just entering the industry of food and photography is how do I get jobs? How do I get my work seen & shared? And lately I’ve been getting this one a lot: how do I become the type of photographer magazines hire to shoot their covers?

From Unknown to Globally Recognized

3 years ago, I was a scrappy work-from-home food blogger. Felt lucky to have patched together a freelance career. Was certain life would always been a frenetic hustle from one job to the next.

But then, I stopped clamoring for cash and accidentally stumbled onto an approach that changed everything: I stopped thinking in terms of scarcity and started sharing some of my work…for free.

The Most Unpopular Decision I Ever Made

When I first found Unsplash, it was a simple one-page feed full of hi-res photos anyone could use for free. I stumbled upon the site while building a website for a friend, and thought it was so profound. Because unlike most free photo sites, these photos were gorgeous.

For someone like my friend, a single mama with big dreams but a limited budget, being able to access photos as beautiful as her vision was game-changing. She could create everything she needed for her brand without breaking the bank. All because a few gifted photogs willingly shared some of their work.

Wow, I thought. I am so grateful for this resource. So grateful, in fact, I want to share, too.

So I started uploading my photos to Unsplash.

Shortly after I began publishing to Unsplash I received this email from someone who had come across my work:

“ I just heard about Unsplash and their "business model" of giving away photography for FREE! If we as photographers get into the habit of giving away our work for free, how long do you think we'll be able to make a living at what we love??? Exactly what do you think you're accomplishing by contributing to a business that so totally does NOT value our hard work, experience, training, education, expertise, etc. What you're doing is devaluing photography for everyone and hurting an entire industry and those who rely on us for excellent photography. Shame on you!”

Clearly the idea of sharing photography for free is controversial. It does take time, money, resources to build and fuel a creative career. Having clients and brands respect that process and value that work is the primary way we freelancers make cash-money.

However, I never saw Unsplash as a way to put myself out of work. I saw it as a way to reclaim my art as a gift, an offering. A way to join a community of creators and say “look at all the beautiful things we can make together.” #communityovercompetition

So I decided to ignore this email and trust my own gut for how to grow my brand. And how to prioritize the values that are important to me.

You will never reach your destination if you stop & throw stones at every dog that barks.” ~Winston Churchill

Since receiving that email, I have received hundreds of emails from aspiring creators, designers, web developers, and authors, thanking me for the photos I share. I’ve read stories about how my photos have been featured in web designs, book covers, news articles, and even iTunes app features.

I wasn’t just giving away my hard work for free. To me, I was marketing, sharing my work, and perhaps even helping new creatives build their brands and products.

And that was enough.

Except that’s not the end of the story.

Because those aren’t the only emails I’ve been getting.

After 2 years of sharing on Unsplash, my work is now downloaded more than 30,000 times per week and viewed by an average of 22 million fans monthly. The site has helped me build a name for myself, and has become a top referral site for potential new clients.

Turns out, when brands see your work and get to know your name, you’re the first one they call when they need something custom created.

Sharing is Smart Marketing

Every week, I now receive dozens of emails from clients who want to work with me because they found me on Unsplash. Here’s one I was extra excited about. Because there are job out there you didn’t even know you were being considered for. But if your portfolio is out there, waiting to be found, it’s possible you may just be in the running for big gigs:

Hey Brooke, Art Director for Delicious Living Magazine here…we really want to start [2019] off on the right foot …and that means collaborating with you! Our goal is to commission and produce our all our covers…And after reviewing a wide range of artists, we know that you're the perfect fit for the job. Looking forward to a prosperous working collaboration.

Two weeks later, I was in contract to shoot 12 magazine covers for a major publication. And it all happened because 2 years ago, I had an abundance of photos and simply wanted to share.

So, if you’re asking how to get your work seen and shared, how to become a big-named professional, how to reach that ultimate goal of magazine covers or published work, my one piece of advice is to share. Put your beautiful creations out into the world, and NEVER let anyone tell you that your art doesn’t belong there. Create abundantly, and take the time to nourish your art. Don’t wait for a client or a job to begin creating. Start now. The sooner you do, the sooner you’ll find clients and companies who need what you are creating.

DID YOU KNOW I JUST LAUNCHED AN ALL NEW DocuVlog?

Discover what A Day in the Life of A Food Photographer is like. Go inside my studio, visit me behind-the-scenes and see what I've got cookin' up. WATCH SEASON 1 of LOVE, LARK NOW.

Wanna nerd out even more? Find tricks, tips and answers 24/7 in my Food Blogging, Photography & Videography Facebook Group. It's free to join!

LEARN FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY

You’re just 90-minute away from taking the best, most beautiful food photos of your life. Click here to enroll in my 90-Minute Food Photography Crash Course and kickstart your professional career as a foodtographer.

GET A FREEBIE

Download hi-res images from my archives for FREE at Unsplash.

LOVE, LARK (Season 1, Ep 2)

Please Note: Affiliate links are included in this post. Thank you for supporting the brands I love.

In this episode of LOVE, LARK: Owning your own studio is all fun and games...until maintenance fees kick in. And what happens when you're already overbooked, and you forgot a vital ingredient for a deadlined shoot? On a too-busy day, Mama Lark deals with too much drama for one day, while trying to keep her #girlboss cool. (I may or may not lose it briefly).

FROM TODAY'S PHOTOSHOOT

GET STARTED WITH VIDEO

If you, like me, are looking for more ways to add video to your content arsenal, I've got you covered. As a tech-terrored human, I once worried that video would be too hard to learn. But once you get the basics down, it's surprisingly easy.

So I've pulled together all of the most essential tricks and put them into a 90-Minute Food Video Crash Course , broken down into fun 3-8 minutes chapters. After watching, you will be TOTALLY ready to shoot beautiful video with your dslr, edit with Adobe Premiere Pro, and could add video to your own channel by 5pm TONIGHT. It's THAT EASY!

T-SHIRTS FROM TODAY'S EPISODE

Got a foodie in your life? Amazon links for my favorite Under $20 Amazon Tees here:

Make Bacon Not War
You Had Me At Sprinkles
Retro Tacos Tee
Vintage Sushi Tee
Retro Vintage Guac Tee

Banana Logo Shirt
Booch Please
Love Avocado
It's a Kale Kind of Life
Kale, Avocado, Quinoa, Chia

Coffee Heart Tank
Ok But First Coffee
More Coffee Please
Coffee Sunrise in a Cup
Books and Coffee

TECH TALK

This video was shot with a Canon 5D Mk III paired with a SigmaArt 35mm Lens.

In the episode, you'll see me shooting with my classic setup-- a Canon 5D Mk III paired with a Canon 24-70 f/2.8 . See my setup and discover even more tricks with my 90-Minute Food Photography Crash Course. 

Wanna get even more of Food Photographer geek on? Find tricks, tips and answers 24/7 in my Food Blogging, Photography & Videography Facebook Group. It's free to join!

How to Make a DIY Rustic Backdrop for Dark Food Photography--in Under 1 Hour, for Under $30!

In a recent YouTube video, I mentioned the metal sheet photo backdrops I've been using for months. Tired of lugging heavy wooden backdrops out every time I needed a scene change, I started hunting for a simpler solution, and discovered large galvanized steel sheets worked like a charm. 

One large sheet, priced about $16/piece can be easily snipped into two with tin shears, roughed up with steel wool and painted with a combo of spray paint and metallic oxidizing paint to create stunning, totally original (totally gorgeous!) backdrops that rival those used by some of the hottest food photographers on Instagram. 

Though there are dozens of different methods (I promise to share them all with you eventually!), I wanted to demonstrate one super-quick, simple-simple technique that will get you started with your own set of steel backdrops. 

Tune in below as I show a throw-it-all-on, paint-it-all-fast, one-coat, kitchen-sink painting technique, which costs about $30 in materials and takes less than an hour from start to finish.

Supplies Needed

• 3'x4' Galvanized Steel Sheet, cut in half with tin shears (available in the plumbing/metalwork section of Home Depot or Lowes). You can also buy a 2'x3' sheet online here OR use an Aluminum Sheet. 
• Extra Coarse Steel Wool
• Inexpensive Paint Brushes
• Bleach spray or water (I didn't really mention in the video why I use bleach spray. When looking for ways to create chemical reactions with the steel and metallic paint, I started playing with a bleach-water solution. Now I grab whatever I have in the house. NOTE: always work outdoors, in a well ventilated space. And I do 100% recommend wearing a mask and gloves)
• Brown Spray paint (I used Espresso)
• Blue Spray paint (I used Gloss Navy, Ocean Breeze and Turquoise)
• Modern Masters Oxidizing Metallic Paint (I used Bronze, but also recommend Copper)
• Modern Masters Aging Patina Solution (I used Blue, but also recommend green)
• Crystal clear spray-on varnish in matte

Technique

Whether you're making one sheet at a time, or knocking out a whole batch, here's the basic technique for this look. 

1. Cut a galvanized steel sheet to the desired size. (I prefer 2-3' x 4' sheets)
2. Line the edges of the sheet with duct or electrical tape.
3. Cover your work area with a plastic dropcloth or sheet.
4. Spray a thick, heavy coat of dark brown (Espresso) paint on top of the steel sheet.
5. Working quickly (you don't want the paint to dry!), spray your sheet lightly with a water (or water-bleach, or water-salt) solution and spray several uneven coats of blue on top, adding water between coats. (NOTE: Don't want blue? No problem! Try black, different colors of brown, bronze, etc. Let your imagination go wild!)
6. Again, working quickly, pour about 1/2-1 cup of Modern Masters Bronze on top of the sheet, drizzle about 1/4-1/3 cup of Modern Masters Blue Patina solution into the bronze, then use a paint brush to quickly spread the paint in straight lines across your sheet. 
7. Spray lightly with water solution.
8. Allow to dry in the sunshine.
9. Once dry, steel wool to give it a rustic aged look, or coat again with paint until you love the way your background looks.
10. Spray with a heavy layer of matte varnish. (FYI I do not recommend eating foods that have directly touched these backdrops.) 

The Final Look

After a few minutes of painting and an hour of drying, I was ready to add this backdrop to my collection. Here's what this pretty kitty looks like in food shots.

Tried This Technique?

I would LOVE to see it! Upload a photo to Instagram with the hashtag #cheekykitchen. I'd love to show my Instafans your work! Are you following me over there? I give daily photo tips that you need in your life.

Got a Food Photography Question?

Shoot me an email! I'd love to address your burning questions in my next YouTube video!

My Works-Every-Time Lightroom Editing Settings for White Food Photography

99% of my food photography is edited in Lightroom. The tool is incredibly simple to use, and incredible powerful. Learning to use it was a breeze. And though you hardly need a tutorial to pop in and start playing with the settings, over the years I've honed my control over the final look of my photos. 

After using Lightroom over and over again, I started noticing a pattern. Though every photo certainly begs for a personal touch, there were edits I was always making. The same settings being tweaked in the same ways. Before long, I found that this same pattern was consistently creating perfect photos everytime. 

So I turned it into a tutorial. And then, I turned it into a Preset. (Which you can download for FREEEEE at the bottom of this post.)

Get My Favorite Filter Now. It's FREEEEEE!

Since I use these settings over and over again, I've turned them into a Lightroom preset. Just one click, and I can apply them to any photo instantly. It's so easy!

Let's make your life easy, too. If you want my fave filter preset, just click the button below. I'll send you the file and even give you supereasy step-by-step instructions for installing the preset. Because, some of us are tech terrified, but this process is sooo simple, you don't have to be. Promise.

TRIED THIS TRICK?

If so, I'd love to see your photos! Upload a snap of your shot on Insta and tag me @cheekykitchen. Totally can't wait to see how this worked for you.

The Only 2 Photo Edits You Ever Need to Make

Here's a secret: I don't always take perfect photos. The exposure is oftentimes off. The lighting uneven. Sometimes the color comes out looking weird, yellowy and downright wonky.

Though a vital part of capturing gorgeous food photos comes in the actual capturing of the photo, post-processing or editing is just as important and snapping the right shot.

Editing is a whole artform unto itself. I know some photographers who love that part, others who dread it. For me, I don't mind it much at all, because I've learned two quick little tricks in Photoshop that take the time-consuming trudge out of the editing process. In fact, these two little setting changes are the ONLY edits I make to most of my photos when using Photoshop. My primary editing software is Lightroom, so I'm not in Photoshop much anymore. But when I am? Well, here's how I go from wham to bam.

Couldn't quite tell the difference between the edited and unedited photo in the video above? Here's a side-by-shot shot comparison.

Gorgeous, isn't it? Boosting the whites and adding a little soft light makes photos simply POP. 

In the video above, I mentioned that these edits are ideal for photos shot on white. Let me add to that a little.

By boosting your whites and adding color pow with the "soft light" filter, these two setting edits are ideal for ANY photo. 

Tried This Technique?

If you gave this trick a whirl, I'd LOVE to see the results. Upload a before & after shot to Instagram or Facebook, and tag me in it. (You can find where I am on each of the social channels here). Or tweet a shot to me @cheekykitchen. I can't wait to see how this easy tip worked for you!

Transform Any Photo Into a Holiday Shot Instantly with This Quick Trick

If you were to have a professional prop closet, your entire house would be overtaken with food photography supplies. There's just no way the average food blogger can be expected to have a massive rotation of props fit for each season.

Thankfully, you don't have to store dozens of different holiday plate sets. No need to stock up on Christmas candy for year-round shooting. With two totally simple ingredients, you can turn any photo into a festive holiday shot. Here how.

See This Idea in Action

Here are a few shots captured with this simple technique. Marvel over their merriness! Festoon over their festiveness! Then go toss all those piled of special holiday props. And keep it simple with this easy 2-ingredient trick.

Tried This Trick?

Tweet me a shot of your Christmassey creation @cheekykitchen. I can't wait to see how this quick idea works for you!

This $20 Color Hack Should be Your First Food Photography Setup

If you want to upgrade your food photography game, it's worth investing in a few essentials. A decent dSLR camera and top-notch lenses are worth the price. But shelling out big cash for photography backgrounds? Not so much. 

Though dozens of specialized businesses now sell backgrounds for blogging (with most starting at $100 a pop), I've never needed to shell out big bucks for photography backdrops. And I don't recommend that beginning food bloggers do, either.

Whether you're just getting started as a food blogger, or are a seasoned pro looking for a fresh way to shoot, this simple $20 hack has made it easy to create some of the best images of my career. 

Join me in the studio and discover this secret now.

Photos Shot with This SetUp

Want to see this idea in action? Here are a few photos created on my colorful canvas squares. Turns out monochromatic is totally brilliant!

Used this Technique?

I'd love to see how this idea worked for you. Leave a link below and share your photos. Or tag me via Instagram. Can't wait to wow over your images!