The Bite Shot (@thebiteshot)
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I’m Joanie, a food photographer and food blogger. Yep, I get to take pictures of food for a living, and it’s extremely fulfilling work.
As a food photographer, it’s important to incorporate unique and interesting props into my images to give life to the food that’s being captured. I’m always on the lookout for plates, cups, and cutlery items that can be included in my images in order to convey the story behind the food.
Goodwill has been a favorite go-to for unique, one-of-a-kind items for me for years. I first started shopping at Goodwill in high school as a member of the drama department. Goodwill was the best for hard-to-find costume pieces. So, when I got into food photography and styling images, I remembered Goodwill’s miscellaneous section and found it to be the best resource anytime I’m in need of something special for a shoot. I recently stopped in at my local Goodwill store and found some fantastic pieces.
I found a unique olive oil / dressing bottle that I knew would be perfect for an image with salad. It has a slightly aged look to it and a simple blue and green pattern that would complement a green salad nicely. I also love that it’s not a standard olive oil bottle that you could find at any other stores and makes a subtle statement alongside a goat cheese and greens salad.
The teacups might be some of my favorite finds at Goodwill. I have found pieces with stunning patterns and all variety of colors and patterns. The yellow leaf pattern on a recent find reminded me of the swirls that happen when you pour cream into coffee.
I always manage to spend a lot of time sorting through the stacks of plates at Goodwill. I especially get excited when I see plates with unique texture, muted tones, and special accents. This plate with the raku finish felt strong and substantial though elegantly minimal. It made sense to me to pair it with an Asian food.
I’ve also found a good many platters at Goodwill, like the blue one that I used to serve deviled eggs. It’s always great to have a few solid serving pieces for food photography that highlight the art of entertaining.
There were a lot of fun pieces of glassware to pick from during my last visit. These etched sunburst glasses reminded me of a glass of orange juice at breakfast at my grandmother’s house, and it was fun to recreate that scene with fresh Arizona citrus.
I don’t think I’ll ever have enough bowls. As much as I love plates, I adore bowls even more. It’s something about the shape and how, as a photographer, I can play with the angle of shooting to frame the food in fun ways with a bowl. This cool-toned breakfast image includes a vintage bowl with a beautiful speckled surface. I could never find a piece like it anywhere else and that’s why I love to shop Goodwill.
