JOSH GRIGGS

Photographer

Josh’s lick-the-page photographs bring dish’s recipes to life for readers. He tells us about making food look its best.

How long have you worked for dish?

Josh: I’ve been a freelance photographer for dish since 2015 (Issue #63).

What does your day-to-day job involve?

Josh: Being a freelance photographer, I get the chance to work with all sorts of clients – not just dish – on a wide range of projects. I’m usually working on a mix of shooting, editing, location scouting, pre-production planning, meetings and emails. When photographing for dish, the first thing I like to determine is the type of story we are telling – are we wanting to set the scene of an al fresco dining table on a balmy summer afternoon? Or are we showing a cosy mid-winter meal by the fire? This story helps me determine what kind of lighting and approach I want to take. From there, it’s about determining which angle a dish will look best from and working with Sarah and Claire to determine the plates, props, backgrounds etc. for the scene. There are also some sections, like Food Fast, where we’re going for a consistent look between issues, so I approach these all in the same way when it comes to lighting/composition etc.

What’s your favourite bit of your job?

Josh: The best bits of working on dish are definitely shoot days with Sarah and Claire (as well as all the wonderful previous dish staff) and getting to sample the food after we’ve shot it.

What’s your least favourite bit of the job?

Josh: Honestly, it’s a job with very few downsides. If I had to pick something, it’s probably when the workload skews too heavily towards admin. A lot of the job is actually spent on emails, calls, planning and prep. It’s of course an important part of making it happen, but I always prefer being out with the camera than stuck at the desk.