So you think your food flatlays are good for the ‘Gram? Let Sycookies (@sycookies) show you how it’s really done with her mouth-drooling snapshots that put #FoodPorn to shame. Food is a journey that begins with the eyes and we talked with the food stylist on how she orchestrates her great feasts.
What’s the backstory behind the name “Sycookies”?
"SY" stands for my name Soo Yin. Chipsmore Cookies had the tagline, “now you see it, now you don’t” — because I was the kid who was always engrossed with her projects and would disappear from group activities one moment but magically appear the next — “cookies” was attached to my initials. I’ve happily adopted this stage name since.
What are 3 tips for people wanting to capture the ultimate #FoodPorn for the ‘Gram?
Good lights, good angle, good composition.
Best part about being a food stylist?
I get to learn so much about food as a food stylist such as the origin, history and how certain foods are tied to culture and evolution. And, of course the part where I get to eat some of the food I'm working with. It can sometimes be very interesting food if I'm working with experimental food work!
What’s one dish you can eat everyday?
A good ol' bowl of soup!
Trials and errors are useful to overcome limitation factors but dropping your ego and learning from mistakes are key to overcoming any challenges.
Apart from food photography/styling, you’re also a huge advocate for healthy lifestyle living. What has been your go-to clean dish?
Easiest take would be salad. It doesn't have to be a vegan salad but as long as it's as close to wholefood as possible then I'm very happy. I try eating real food and I avoid processed food as much as I can.
How do you usually decide where to eat for your food adventures?
I normally already have a list of places I want to visit and decisions usually revolve around their opening hours and distance alongside how much time I have for the visit.
Your Instagram feed makes us drool! What apps do you use to take such mouthwatering pictures?
Thank you! I take most of my ‘gram photos with my Google Pixel and I post-edit in Lightroom, VSCO, Afterlight or Snapseed. Food photos lose its charm if it’s heavily edited so I usually stick to either one, or at most, two apps.
Can you share with us one challenge of your job and how you overcame it?
The biggest challenge is the process of achieving a balance between creative input and setting the realistic ultimate end goal. Creativity can get very restricted with limited resources at times though possibilities are endless. It is very important to not get carried away along the process when creating and photographing food art, and to be able to set a realistic goal can be very challenging. In order to overcome this, I've learned that accumulating experience is most helpful to apply in achieving a balance between the two.
Trials and errors are useful to overcome limitation factors but dropping your ego and learning from mistakes are key to overcoming any challenges.