I was spoilt for choice with what to post this week. Everywhere I look across the internet I see beautiful styling (Check out the new sumptuous UK based food gallery Seasons Eatings. Beautiful food styling from a contributing team of bloggers, psst can you spot any of my recipes on there?!) and every charity shop I stumble upon, has treasures inside.

No more so than when I visited Westbourne with my mother in law this weekend.  

Bursting with sweet tea shops, independent boutiques and 10 charity shops! There may have been more! 

Here are a few little bargains I picked up that you will see in my recipe posts over the Winter. 

I found three little mugs and a pewter shallow jug for £1 each which will be perfect for soup recipes and a set of 3 green and white Mason pottery pieces for £4 for the set, which I have all sorts of ideas for!

We then zipped into the local HomeSense and I spied this wooden paddle for £7.99. I have absolutely no idea what it is meant to be used for, but I will use it as a giant serving tray. Great for parties and one side has little inlets which could fit small pies or quiches and the reverse is flat, which I will use as a huge cheese board!

My final find of the weekend was actually found by my brother and sister in law at their local flea market in New Jersey, America! He Facetimed me from the market, walked me past a couple of stalls to a set of 2 huge old muffin trays! $7 for the pair! Thank goodness for Mum's staff travel allowance as they will need a bag just to bring them back at Christmas as they are really heavy.

I am so excited to get my hands on them to use as backdrops as well as serve ware! 

What have you picked up over the last couple of weeks? Have you taken a little more time over your photos and thought about composition and story telling?

Link up your photos and posts, old or new and show off your styling! 

Hip hip hooray it's Prop Shop day! 

Styling is an art. An art that takes an ordinary moment or photo to something extraordinary.  

Props are all around us and I find it impossible to leave something in the charity shop that might make an excellent accessory to a blog post in the future! 

I have been completely inspired this week visiting the Gladstone empire including the Gladstone Library, Hawarden Farm Shop, Pedlars vintage warehouse and Charlie's studio where they take all the styled product photos for Pedlars Friday Vintage. 

Every aspect of all their businesses are lovingly styled. I have hundreds of photos to share. But this week is all about cake.

As I mentioned in the last Sunday Prop Shop post, I have recently spent almost a week shooting thousands (yes really) of photos for Honeybuns, a gluten free bakery in Dorset.

Here are some behind the scenes shots! 

Product photos for a new website, styled recipe shoots for future blog posts and magazine features. Seasonal photos for marketing newsletters, flyers and campaigns and about 500 that don't fall into any category at all! 

It was wonderful to be part of the styling team as well as the photographer. And on some occasions left to my own devices. We brainstormed different ideas, layered up the shot and worked with different props and textures until we had the magic set up. 

The farm was bursting with potential props. Collections of things the family have built up over a lifetime and heirloom pieces that have been passed down through generations. Even a regular lunch was a photo shoot without even trying! I just had to get up high and take a photo! I love how the photos aren't harshly lit by studio lights. That the food has real shadows and the colours pop.

What do you think? I wanted to capture the natural warmth and movement of actually being at the bakery. I am so pleased with how they came out! 

I truly believe that to customers, the styled photographs will be more attractive than white background stock product photos. That the extra effort involved is worth it. 

Have you taken a little extra effort? Placed a napkin under your plate of food or thought about the composition of a family portrait? Grab the badge and link up your lovely photos! I am always so inspired by those who share their links on Sunday Prop Shop.

<a href="http://capturebylucy.com/blog/sunday-prop-shop-part-4" target="_blank"><imgsrc="http://static.squarespace.com/static/50fdc822e4b03aa4e2b9f11a/t/522ba7c5e4b0bb402a7e4ad0/1378592710416/SUNDAY-PROP-SHOP.jpg" /></a>

Hooray time for Sunday Prop Shop! But this week it comes with a warning! No perfect shots! I have shared some unedited photos this week, some on the Canon and some on my iPhone, but do click on the links to the finished posts to see how they turned out!

The internet has been bursting over the last 2 weeks with amazing inspiration for how to use props to improve your photography. 

My favourite posts I have read include an old post of Matt's prop tour OMG. Yes that's right I OMG'd. I am in awe of the blog photography on Lark and Linen, so effortlessly styled and finally the most sumptuous photography of a pavlova I have ever seen from Tanya Zouev.

This week I wanted to share some behind the scenes photos of some recent blog posts. All food related but I thought it would be interesting to see how I layer up the styling.

My style is definitely not less is more, although I am working on some more simplified styling. It just goes against everything I love! 

I love telling a story. Using props to add depth, texture and interest.  So the pictures themselves become more interesting than the subject itself.

You can see I use my tin bath as both a backdrop and to place a subject matter on. It has great texture and I leave it outside year round, as the rustier it gets the more I love it.

I always have scissors to hand to chop bits off here and there, and extra ingredients to have as back up props. The sprinkled coconut in the fig tarts post almost looks like snow! The "plate" is actually a garden stepping stone from a local DIY store! But the grey stone, combined with the effect of wood knots really adds to the photo.

I like to use flowers and greenery in my photography as that is what my natural style has developed into. What do you think defines your style? 

You will also notice that these were all taken outside on our patio either on the garden table, the boys sandpit with the cover on it, or on the wrought iron green table. With the weather turning and the afternoons getting darker, I will show you another time how I am creating the same photos indoors. Time to embrace the darker more atmospheric blog photography style and take advantage of what nature is giving us! 

I haven't edited these images in any way but you can see the finished posts here. 

I'll save how I edited them for another time. 

Ratatouille Tarts

Fig Tarts

Orange Blossom Cakes

Open Cherry Pie

Tomorrow I am off to Honeybuns again for an extra day of shooting (including a magazine recipe shoot, only for my absolute favourite magazine Pretty Nostalgic eek) and I can't wait to blog my time there in next fortnight's Sunday Prop Shop. Their collection of vintage kitchenalia is breathtaking! 

Here is a sneak peek. 

How did you style up your photos lately? Did you take an extra minute to think about your composition or lighting? Did you place a spoon or fork so delicately then rearrange it?!

Link them up here, it's a great way to share ideas and be inspired! I have noticed lots of bloggers taking extra care with their photos recently and I hope that maybe I have have a little hand in their extra effort.  

Show off your skills here! Did you style up a food post or have a little at home or on location photo shoot? Thank you so much for those who take part I feel truly inspired by you.

<a href="http://capturebylucy.com/blog/sunday-prop-shop" target="_blank"><img src="http://static.squarespace.com/static/50fdc822e4b03aa4e2b9f11a/t/522ba7c5e4b0bb402a7e4ad0/1378592710416/SUNDAY-PROP-SHOP.jpg" /></a>