Episode 465: What You Need to Know About Filming Recipes with Liz Capozzoli

EBT465: Liz Capozzoli

Intro (00:00):

Food bloggers. Hi, how are you today? Thank you so much for tuning in to the Eat Blog Talk podcast. This is the place for food bloggers to get information and inspiration to accelerate your blog’s growth and ultimately help you to achieve your freedom, whether that’s financial, personal, or professional. I’m Megan Porta. I have been a food blogger for 13 years, so I understand how isolating food blogging can be. I’m on a mission to motivate, inspire, and most importantly, let each and every food blogger, including you know that you are heard and supported. 

Megan Porta (00:37):

Are you creating video right now, food bloggers? If you are, or if you aren’t, this will be a great inspiring, encouraging episode to listen to. Liz Capozzoli from Owlbbaking joins me in the episode and she talks about making recipe videos and how to make it not so daunting, how to get started, what equipment you need. It’s not very much. And other encouraging words that will get you going through the process. Liz talks through how important she believes video is. Now, you really can’t be a food blogger without creating video on some level. So if you’re avoiding it, you might wanna give this a listen. I get it. It’s intimidating. I avoided video for a long time. I’m actually not doing video at all right now. So I understand that whole, it’s way too daunting idea. I do understand it, but give this episode a listen. I really hope you enjoy it. It is episode number 465 sponsored by RankIQ. 

Sponsor (01:36):

Food Bloggers, are you looking for a massive boost in confidence that can help you find your true potential while expanding your blogging business in meaningful and impactful ways? If so, then the 2024 Eat Blog Talk Mastermind groups might be the perfect solution for you. December 15th is the last day to apply. Visit eatblogtalk.com/mastermind to apply today. Here is a short clip from Jen, from Cook, Eat, Go. Talking about the power of the accountability within the group.

The weekly accountability was big because it’s so easy to, oh, I’ll do it next week. I’ll do it next week. And so knowing that I had set these goals with these ladies, or talked about what I was doing, knowing that I had to come back and say, oh, I sucked again and I didn’t do it, or I actually got it done, kind of made a big difference in my mindset with everything going on. Seeing faces every weekend talking about what we’re hearing in the interwebs and finding out what’s working for others on like a factual basis instead of just speculation, was really a big difference in my business.

Megan Porta (02:36):

Liz is the creator behind Owlbbaking, which is a recipe blog focused on classic homemade desserts and sweet treats. Liz has been blogging as a business since 2019, and she also did recipe development, photography and video for mashed.com, tastingtable.com, and she has created videos for other food bloggers. Liz runs a cookie decorating online course and also has an Etsy store with baking and food related merch. Liz, welcome to the podcast. How are you today?

Liz Capozzoli (03:04):

Hey, Megan. I’m good. How are you?

Megan Porta (03:06):

I’m doing good. I’m super excited to start my day with the conversation with you, so I’m eager to dig in. But first we would love to know if you have a fun fact to share about yourself.

Liz Capozzoli (03:15):

Sure, I’d be happy to. Yeah, so my fun fact, it’s, it’s usually my blog, but in this case, I wanted to share for my 30th birthday, I thought it would be a really fun idea to go diving with sharks. Oh, I just had it in my head that this would be a great way to ring in my thirties. So I ended up going to a Long Island Aquarium, which is not too far from where I live in New Jersey, where they had a shark diving experience and you could go into a cage in their shark tank. So I booked the session and I thought it was, I thought I was gonna be all brave , but I ended up just having a 30 minute panic attack underwater. Oh. While the sharks were just swimming around me. Oh, gosh. So, yeah, it was quite the experience.

Megan Porta (03:59):

No worse place, in my opinion, to have a panic attack than underwater. Holy crap. That is so, that’s like my worst nightmare. I, I mean, I’m like super adventurous. I love doing . risky, fun things, but underwater stuff freaks me out.

Liz Capozzoli (04:17):

Yeah. It was not my brightest moment because it was also the first time I had done anything like that. Like I hadn’t been like scuba diving or anything to like have experience. So like they put this mask on me and they’re like, you know, like going underwater. I was like, I like can’t breathe. I was like thinking like, I’m underwater, I can’t breathe. And then they’re like, no, you could breathe. I’m like, oh my gosh. So

Megan Porta (04:37):

Oh gosh. Yeah. Your mind, I’m sure plays tricks with you, right? You have to talk yourself into things.

Liz Capozzoli (04:45):

Yes.

Megan Porta (04:45):

Oh my gosh, this is the first shark related fun fact I’ve ever had on the podcast. Oh my goodness. You’re so brave. So do you feel like you carried, I don’t know, a morsel of bravery away from that experience?

Liz Capozzoli (04:59):

I did, yeah. I was very happy to have it be over. Yeah, for sure. But then after the fact, like looking back, I’m like, Hey, I did that. It was just like pretty cool. Yeah. I kind of like, as I go through life, I’m like, Hey, I’ll try anything. Like just once, you know, so I’m like, you know, I might not go shark diving again, but hey, I just, you know, I can say I’ve done it, so.

Megan Porta (05:20):

Oh my gosh. Yeah. You can have one up on most people by saying that. Love it. Yeah. Okay, we’re gonna talk about videography today, and you have really gotten into videography for your blog, but to kind of frame this, do you wanna tell us a little bit about your blog?

Liz Capozzoli (05:36):

Sure, yeah, I’d be happy to. So my blog is owlbbaking.com, and among my friends and family, I’m always known as like Liz, the Baker. Everyone knows I love baking and it’s a massive passion of mine, and I’m always baking and delivering treats to people and taking care of all the desserts for bridal showers, baby showers, holidays, things like that. So in January of 2016, I had just gotten married a few months prior and I was like, okay, now that I’m not filling my days with wedding planning, what do I do? And I remember the moment where I was on my laptop looking at my recipe blog and my husband says, you should do that. You should start a website and share your recipes. And I thought to myself, Hey, that’d be pretty neat. I think I could do that. So that’s how Owl Bee Baking came to be. And the reason for the name is also because I love owls. I think they’re just really cool birds and I adore them. So my husband was also the inspiration behind that name, and he kind of came up with like the play on words of, you know, I will be baking. So yeah, it’s where the name came from.

Megan Porta (06:44):

I love that. I love it when you add, when people add little, like, yeah, like cute little tricky words in with the baking or the cooking. I think it makes it very charming.

Liz Capozzoli (06:54):

Yeah. And with that, I started the blog as a place to share favorite dessert recipes with family and friends. And I thought, I’m like, Hey, if you know the occasional stranger finds me on the internet, like, that’d be pretty neat. So it just started, started off as a fun project and personal blog. And then around in 2018, 2019, I came to the realization and I learned about how to blog as a business. And it was really exciting to think that I could monetize this. So that was a really huge awakening for me. And I became really obsessed with doing just that. And I was working full-time back then, which I still do now. I’m a manager at a market research company, so I’ve always done my blog on the side. But having that side hustle and extra source of revenue and that little taste of, you know, running a business and being my own boss has really been an exciting part of my life, too.

Megan Porta (07:50):

Do you feel like it keeps your mind active? Like it keeps you from going to the unhealthy places? Like I feel like that’s what it kind of did for me in the beginning.

Liz Capozzoli (07:59):

Yes, definitely. For sure. Yeah. It’s nice to have something to, like, when I log off for the days with work, to do something other than just like doom scroll or just like watch Netflix, like I get to be creative. I get to, you know, handle business. I get to interact with people and you know, read comments on my blog. It’s, yeah, definitely really boosts you up in a lot of ways.

Megan Porta (08:23):

I love that. So many stories like that too. Like, yeah, just getting a little bit of mind activity I think is so healthy. It can be to a certain point, , and then it becomes, you know, I’ve gotten to the point where it’s become an obsession a little bit borderline, but, yeah. Great story with your blog. Thank you for filling us in there. And then videography, I know that you love videography, you feel really passionately about it. So how did you get into that?

Liz Capozzoli (08:49):

Sure. I can’t recall the exact moment, but I guess it was, you know, like over the last few years, obviously video is definitely the choice of content nowadays across all platforms. It’s the most engaging, it’s the easiest, fastest way to share information, give instructions, and, and show people how to do things. And I got into that because I realized, actually, because a lot of other blogs I was looking at who were a part of the media vine, like group, like always had like the little videos like in the corner of like, you know, them doing their recipes and stuff. And I was like, Hey, how did they do that? How did they get that on there? And like, I wasn’t a part of Mediavine at the time, so I wasn’t sure how they integrated it, but I just thought it was so cool that like they get to have that. And then of course that like falls into, you know, you can run ads in between your videos and like, make more revenue that way. So that’s kind of how it like piqued my interest of like, okay, I think I need to get on this train of doing video. And I was definitely hesitant at first, which I don’t know, video seems very intimidating. Yeah. To me at least. I’m sure it is for a lot of people. So it was definitely a learning process and, you know, but I eventually got into it and, you know, have videos up on my blog now. Yeah. So it’s great.

Megan Porta (10:08):

So where did you start? Did you start with your phone? Did you go right into DSLR?

Liz Capozzoli (10:13):

Sure. I started right with my DSLR camera. I wanted to make sure that the video was as crystal clear as possible, that the focus was right. Even though I didn’t have like the right setup at the time, I was just kind of like, had it propped up on a stack of books, like on the side of my, you know, kitchen counter. It was pretty basic. But it did the job and, you know, it did help me like get the exposure settings correct and it gave me more control versus using my phone. But that’s not to say you can’t use your phone for sure. Like, I’ve used my phone for plenty of video, but I got started using my camera.

Megan Porta (10:51):

I did the same as you. I kind of saw the videos start popping up and I was like, okay, I need to start creating that. I have no idea how, but I know I can do it. So I remember taping my phone to something in my kit, like literally I had like packing tape taped my phone to something I don’t even remember, like a stool or something in my kitchen. And it worked. I mean, it was like such a hack job, but looking back, I still remember which video it is, lemon curd, if you wanna go look at it. Oh my gosh. And it was like, oh my gosh, I can’t believe I made that work. But it was so exciting just to, it was show myself that I could see something and then replicate it without having any knowledge. I’m just like, I’m going to figure this out. And then, you know, like recording it and piecing it together and editing and like knowing what to do in the first place. Like, I don’t know, it’s just Right. It’s kind of a new creative endeavor, right?

Liz Capozzoli (11:44):

It is. It is. It’s definitely like new territory in that way. And it’s, as much as I like watch other people’s videos and like learned on YouTube and learned tips and stuff, I, it’s like when you go to do it, it’s different. I don’t know how to explain it. And then you get nervous where like, oh, I didn’t like move my hand in the right way, or like, I didn’t like introduce this ingredient and the way I envisioned it. Like, there’s different things that can just like, I don’t know, change how the experience is, I guess, if that makes sense?

Megan Porta (12:12):

Yeah. And add little elements of creativity and . it’s really fun. Okay, so you got in with your DSLR and you just started doing it. Do you believe that we can get by without video? Or do you feel like every food blogger should really dig into this?

Liz Capozzoli (12:28):

Yes, I do feel every blogger should dig into it. It’s just video is just everywhere now, and it really is the format of engagement that people enjoy the most. And I have found I get more, you know, comments with the video and just people talking about it and looking at them. And the great way too is you can broaden your audiences through video. So if, if you’re siloed just into, you know, texts and photos on your blog, you know, that’s not gonna translate to YouTube. So it’s like once you start doing that video, you can use it on your blog, you could throw it up on YouTube, you can do TikTok, Instagram reels, and like, it just builds your engagement in an exponential way that you can’t just do with photos. Yeah. So it’s in my opinion, very essential for today’s blogger and any content creator these days.

Megan Porta (13:26):

If somebody is feeling really intimidated by this, and I understand because I’ve been there and I’ve honestly, like 13 years in, I’m still intimidated by it. I don’t like, ugh. Where do you suggest they start? Do you suggest like little snippets of video or doing the whole, like hands in pans or where do you, yeah. What are your thoughts?

Liz Capozzoli (13:46):

Yeah, that’s a great question. I would say start with whatever, this might sound intimidating. I not trying to make it this sound that way, but like, start with the style that just inspires you. So for me it was like the like top down videos where like, yeah. Hands and pans kind of thing where you’re just moving your hands, mixing things and stuff like that. To me, that’s the most introductory way to start because you also don’t have to worry about talking or like showing your face, which can add another layer of stress if, you know, that kind of stuff intimidates you. So in my mind it was easier to just kind of start with like, all right, I have the camera just facing top down onto the counter top and I can just move my hands around and edit them out later if it doesn’t, you know, work out or you know, I don’t do the certain thing. Yeah. But I dunno, I found that to be the most, I don’t know, introductory way to start.

Megan Porta (14:39):

Right. No, that’s good advice because some people are so natural on camera and I can see them. Yes. wanting to just like immediately get themselves on camera, but if you don’t feel that way, then maybe it is hands in pans or maybe it’s just piecing together little snippet clips of your process or whatever. Yeah. So kind of, there’s no really one answer for everyone. It’s true. It’s, yeah, it’s kind of a customized.

Liz Capozzoli (15:06):

Yeah. And you could even start as basic as like showing a, I dunno, like a slideshow of your photos. Like if you wanna, you know, get into like more photos and, you know, I’ve seen like slideshow styles, which kind of just like gets you in the door of like video and then it can kind of, you know, you could take it step by step like, all right, now I think I feel a little more comfortable with this. Or, you know. Eventually you’ll get to the point where I think I can, you know, talk in camera, you know, and get more comfortable face-to-face like that.

Megan Porta (15:35):

Yeah. Love that. Okay. So talk about other pieces of equipment. What do people need? Just bare bones to get started?

Liz Capozzoli (15:44):

Sure. I would say definitely like a tripod of some kind that you can put on like the countertop. That’s been a really handy tool for me because it allows you to move the arm to like, do top-down style videos. You can angle the arm to do like a side video showing your hands and moving, moving ingredients and mixing bowls and stuff. And it has a, I recommend one that like, has a phone attachment if you wanna use phone. And then it also has a clamp I can, you know, put my DSLR camera on. So something like that is a really good piece of equipment to just get started if you want to take it up a level. I would say the thing, the other thing that’s helped me a lot is having continuous lighting. So with working full-time, it’s hard for me to do stuff on like nights and weekends. So filming near like a window is, can be tough. And then also tying into that, since like filming video can take a little longer you can lose daylight easily in that way. So having like lighting and then just some kind of like tabletop tripod arm thing that you can move around easily is a great tool to have.

Megan Porta (17:01):

So really that’s not much. And do you recommend anything else? Like just lighting and a tripod? . and a camera of some sort. And that’s where you start. And I mean, really, like, you could use the sun. I used the sun for many years, , I never used artificial lighting. And like you said, it is kind of a pain because, you know, nights and weekends are difficult, but we just made it work. So you can do that, I think, personally. Tell me what you think, but I think you can start there if you need to.

Liz Capozzoli (17:31):

Absolutely. Yeah. And I did for a couple years as well.

Megan Porta (17:36):

It is hard though because like the sun or the clouds will come cover the sun, and then it’s like, the whole scene just changes, and then you have to like, oh, you have to adjust and…

Liz Capozzoli (17:45):

And it’s, it’s hard. And like, when it happens, like with photography, you can kind of get by. because Like, it’s like, oh, maybe this cloud will pass. But with video it’s, it’s there like it, you can’t, yeah. You have a lot less control with it, so it’s tough.

Megan Porta (17:58):

Right. Okay. So aside from equipment talk about editing. So what do you need basics for editing?

Liz Capozzoli (18:05):

Sure. Yeah. So any editing program will do. The most important aspects to editing that I found is being able to clip out, you know, any dead space or mistakes or anything you don’t want in the video. Like any program that will just allow you to clip the video for desired length. And, you know, keeping the scenes going, like moving at a nice pace, not having too many long pauses or anything like that is very important. I personally use a program called Filmora, so I found that just to be like, very easy to use. Like, I’m not very techie, so like the Adobe programs kind of scares me a little bit, but I know like a lot of people have also used like, iMovie, like with their Mac’s. But yeah, any basic editing program, and I know there’s a lot of free ones out there too.

Megan Porta (18:57):

Yeah. Alright. So editing, do you find editing to be easy to learn? What are your thoughts on that?

Liz Capozzoli (19:04):

It could be a bit of a learning curve. I would say the things that helped me get through it was just like, you obviously have to familiarize yourself with the program you’re using. You know, as with anything, we have to learn WordPress and Lightroom and all these different programs. But yeah, it’s, it seems pretty, you know, easy once you get into it and just understanding like where to clip, you know, like I said, like keeping the, the dead space out to just keep the video moving and engaging is really helpful. And there’s other things you can do too. Like once you get more fancy with like, you know, broadening with like transitions and stuff like that. Doing like fancy like, you know, transitions with your hands and scenes and stuff like that, you can, you know, you eventually learn to, you know, kind of how, like figure out how those, you know, how to edit those clips and stuff.

Megan Porta (19:54):

Yeah. Time, right. You just have to invest that time and just keep learning. And that’s the only way to get better. I have a question about just your process. So I know like those times when I’ve just kind of done it on the fly and gone in like, oh my gosh, this is a mess. Like, I didn’t think through that. Do you have any way to think through the process of video beforehand?

Liz Capozzoli (20:16):

It’s an excellent question. I like, I did that for many years too. I just kind of like. Well, I’m doing video now and I just kind of like, kind of flew by the seat of my pants. But I eventually learned to organize myself a little better. What I typically do now is I have like, just like a basic worksheet, like template that I keep on my computer and I like, I like print it out or, you know, you could write it down on a piece of paper or just like thinking through like the scenes you wanna show or highlight in the video. And you really wanna tie that back to the recipe you’re making to really show off Yeah. The important parts of the scene. Like the steps of the recipe that you want people to like really see, to understand and how to do. So you really have to sit down and like, think about like, okay, I’m making you know, this lemon meringue pie. And it’s like you really wanna show off like that meringue like, you know, getting, getting placed on the pie and, you know, make it look very luscious and nice. You know, start to like plan out those scenes to, to really have the most impact on your video. And then, you know, end up with the result that you’re looking for.

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Megan Porta (22:50):

I had a videographer come to my house for a couple of years. It was so nice because [inaudible] not my favorite thing. I mean, I love the creativity involved, but I just never made the time for it. So she would come over and we would just film all day and then she would take the footage and edit it and produce final videos. But one of the things she did that I loved, and it was something that I never would’ve thought of myself. She used to create storyboards, so she’d come over with like all of these scenes that she felt like I’d give her the recipes beforehand, obviously. And she would create, like, I’ll write sketches of the scenes, like, okay, we need your hands here, and then maybe we should do this. And I was like, that is so brilliant. I just never would’ve thought of that. But it helped us. It was just something that we used as a guide to . just, you know, move us along throughout as we were filming. And it helped us not forget things too, because . I find that I’ll be like, oh, I should do that Yes. When filming, but then I just don’t, and then it’s like, oh, it’s too much work to go back and do it, but.

Liz Capozzoli (23:55):

It definitely is. Yeah.

Megan Porta (23:56):

Yeah. But that was a really good idea, I thought.

Liz Capozzoli (23:59):

Yeah, it is a good idea. I didn’t start creating like yeah, like that storyboard kind of template that I do until I started, I did do work for an online publication on the side and they required photos and videos and they had a very specific list of shots that they wanted for each recipe. Oh yeah. So I was like, oh no, I better, like really, you know, you know, make sure I’m organized because to your point, like to redo everything is just an exhausting thought. Yeah. So that kind of got my, you know, head in the right space of like, okay, like make sure you plan this out. You know, it just keeps the peace for everything and then, you know, you feel much better in the end, too.

Megan Porta (24:45):

So even if it’s just like a Word doc or something, like writing out, or like she did just little sketches, just having something as a guide because you don’t wanna have to go redo that because it, it’s like an ordeal right. To get set up and get the food prepped and you just wanna make sure you capture all of that.

Liz Capozzoli (25:04):

Exactly.

Megan Porta (25:05):

Do you capture little clips for, you know, like Instagram reels or TikTok specifically for those platforms while you’re doing video? Or do you just pull from, you know, your footage?

Liz Capozzoli (25:17):

Great question. Yeah. I typically pull from my footage. So to avoid having to switch between like my camera and my phone, like during filming or change the position of my camera during filming, I, I tend to just shoot everything in like 16 by nine format and I leave a lot of negative space outside of like, the area I’m working in. So I know, like, basically what that does is like, it allows for me to like, go back until into Fillmore and like crop out like that dead space. And then, then I can like format it into, you know, Instagram reels format and you know, the vertical formats for phone and stuff like that. And then I create like a separate file for, you know, each social media, you know, type that I wanna do. And, and I cut the, the whole video into like the, you know, amount of time that I needed to too. So I crop Yeah. Crop the entire video and then like format the time to kind of just save myself, give myself like double duty and just like get the most out of my content that I’m filming.

Megan Porta (26:29):

That’s smart and efficient and it does require that kind of forethought like we were talking about, but it will save you so much time if you’ve just got it there and all you have to do is a little bit of cropping. I think that’s a super efficient way to go about it. Do you have other tips for just like, going through the process or what to think through beforehand?

Liz Capozzoli (26:49):

Sure. Yeah. I would say my top tips definitely like, go into it calmly. Like, don’t, don’t put video on a pedestal because it’s, you know, once you get into it, it’s not as scary as, you know, most of us may think, you know, before diving into it. And the one of the things I learned was, you know, I was so careful to like, not make any mistakes, like filming like I, you know, just like always was so slow to like, move my hands and just make sure everything’s in the right way. Like, don’t be afraid to just, you know, be natural. Like, the most important part of video that people like to watch is, you know, just like the naturalness of it. Yeah. And approachable, you know, people, you know, we wanna Yeah. Feel like cooking with a friend. Yeah, exactly. So just take your time, don’t, don’t feel too nervous about it and just get started, get started with whatever feels comfortable to you. Yeah. If you know you wanna use your phone just to film you, you know, placing, you know, sprinkling parsley on, you know, a dish. Yeah. Like, do that, you know, just, just dive into it. Just keep it easy.

Megan Porta (27:56):

Thinking through it too much. Just like people can tell, people can tell it’s not natural. Yep. So I love that example of just like sprinkling parsley on a dish that’s so simple, but it’s, if you’re . that’s what you’re inspired by, do it and your users will resonate. Okay. What else do people need to know? Anything else we’re missing? Just for like setup or lighting tips, prep, food prep? Do you have anything with food prep, like getting everything set up?

Liz Capozzoli (28:27):

Yes. So I food prep everything, I put every ingredient into its own bowl before I get started. So with my style of video, I usually have like my mixing bowl in the center and then I just like come in with my hand on the one side and just dump the ingredients in one by one. And for that to happen, I need the ingredients all separated into their own bowl. So I invested just like, I don’t know, 15, $20 on Amazon. And I bought like a ton of like little glass bowls because it’s like, you know, baking powder needs to be in its own bowl and you know, salt needs to be in its own bowl. So it really, you know, adds to like the animations of the video and like showing what ingredients go into it. So when I’m filming, you know, I do have my office, like usually on my desk and countertop, like is usually covered in bowls because some of the recipes obviously have a lot of ingredients and it’s just like, it can get a little outta hand, but it really, really helps to just have everything there in front of you so you’re not running back and forth to the kitchen and, you know, you have your video on recording and it’s, it causes like a little extra stress.

Liz Capozzoli (29:37):

So definitely just prepare, do your storyboard, do your bowl prep, have everything ready for you.

Megan Porta (29:43):

It is a pain, but you’ll be happy to have that prep instead of like, oh crap, I missed an ingredient. Have to go back and do that. Okay. These are really good little tips for people. Just, you know, anyone just getting started or anyone who maybe is doing it, but just needs a little bit of extra encouragement. How long do you spend for each video and how many recipes? Like, do you create video for every recipe?

Liz Capozzoli (30:08):

I try to, sometimes it doesn’t work out perfectly with my schedule, but you know, I will go back and add video later if I need to which is totally fine. So yeah, so I try to create one for each recipe. I would say it takes me, you know, depending on the recipe, of course, just speaking to like maybe like chocolate chip cookies for example, something like that might take me an hour to film, like the mixing part and like the dough and you know, placing the dough on the baking sheet. And then I will film after the, the cookies are baked, I will also go ahead and film like a little like intro outro scene where I have like the cookies, you know, nicely styled on a platter with little, you know, linens next to it and cups you know, a cup of milk or something. So I will kind of stylize like a scene at the end and I’ll use that as both my intro and outro for that video too. So, you know, that might take an extra hour to film because I, it’s a little more stylized and I want it to be like specific, you know, I might break the cookie apart and show like the melted chocolate and you know, kind of add a little style to it too.

Megan Porta (31:20):

Yeah. And you recommend doing videos for every recipe? What if that seems very overwhelming I think for a lot of people. how necessary is that, do you think?

Liz Capozzoli (31:30):

Sure. I would say, I mean, it’s not totally like necessary for every recipe. I’d say start with, you know, we’re in this business to like help people with recipes, learn how to cook. So if there’s a recipe that you get a lot of questions on or you know, you, it might be a little hard to always translate in the in instructions, like how to make it, like, start with those recipes, start with the harder ones or ones you get a lot of feedback on or questions and you know, start there. Okay. And then, you know, you can build it out over time. Like I said, it’s always easy to just go in and add video later, whether you’re adding it to like your media vine player or you’re just embedding a YouTube clip, you can always add that back in your post.

Megan Porta (32:15):

Yeah. One last question I just thought of. How do you deal with styling kind of on the fly? ? Do you style your videos, like you do your photography and then, oh, also, do you do photos at the same time or do you take your process shots from your video? That was like two questions. Sorry.

Liz Capozzoli (32:31):

Sure. That’s okay. So I definitely, I style my like top-down videos, like very basic because like I said, like I kind of have that dead space around it. So I don’t put a lot of like props or anything around like the top down footage. But I will do that for the intro outro. So not much styling goes into that part otherwise. And then for photos, yes, so I do, I try to do the photos in between takes of the video. I just find that’s, you know, I have everything out. Yeah. Like I’m working on it, like it’s easier. So what I’ll do is I have like my camera overhead on like a CS stand, so I’ll be recording and then when I’m done with that step, I might, you know, I’ll turn the recorder off and then I’ll, you know, refocus the camera and take a, you know, a photo. So I’ll do that, get the mixing bowl, and then I’ll do that like intermittently between like the steps of the video. And then when I’m filming the outro and intro with the stylized photos, I’ll film it first and then rearrange stuff to like start doing photos and I’ll just like go right into like my photo shoot for like the final blog images.

Megan Porta (33:42):

Okay. Yeah. I have heard people doing it different ways. So like, I like the way you do it, that’s kinda what I did too when I was doing video. But I’ve also heard people simplifying a little bit and just grabbing clips from their video. What do you think about that for process shots?

Liz Capozzoli (33:59):

Sure. That’s a great choice too. I’ve definitely done that in my day. The one thing I have found, it’s, it can be tricky sometimes to get like, I don’t know, to like, I, at least with filmora, it’s, it’s hard to get screenshots of like with, you know, of the shot with like clarity. So I struggle with that a little bit. I don’t know if it’s different with like different video programs. So yeah, I, I have done it, but usually I just try to remember to stop filming and like take a shot you know, take a photo during the process it’s easier for me.

Megan Porta (34:30):

It is easy to get caught up though in the filming. This happened many times. I remember Yeah. When we were doing, I was like, oh no, I didn’t take the process shots. You just forget. And that’s why those storyboards are kind of important to have them just there visually. Like, okay, I need to take a photo of this process. But yeah, I think whatever process you just, you land on, you just kinda get in a groove with it and there’s no like one perfect way to do it necessarily. you just have to, you know, get started and see what works for you, right?

Liz Capozzoli (35:01):

Exactly. Yep.

Megan Porta (35:02):

Yeah. Anything else we’re missing? Liz? We covered a lot about video, why we should do it, kind of nitty gritty tips, editing, lighting equipment. What are we forgetting?

Liz Capozzoli (35:15):

Oh my gosh. I’m trying to think of anything else. I don’t know. I think another important piece, and we kind of probably already covered it, but keeping in mind too, like video performs differently on different platforms. So also tying that into like your goal of like the video you’re making. So, you know, things on TikTok perform a lot differently than things on YouTube and we wanna keep our audience in mind as well, even though it’s like we’re speaking to, you know, our niche audience of course, but you know, different engagements, you know, perform different differently on the platform. So I know with like TikTok it’s, you know, a lot of it is, you know, shorter videos and you know, real life videos, like people tend to like that a lot. So it’s just like finding your groove, you know, putting all these pieces together and putting that goal in mind to like what you wanna accomplish for this, you know. Whether it’s just like putting in further instruction on your blog or, you know, building your following or whatnot.

Megan Porta (36:21):

Or just a new creative endeavor that might turn into exactly something fruitful for your blog. I mean, I think that’s actually the best reason to start doing video because it’s no pressure, you’re not doing it like, I have to please these people. They’re waiting for me. They’re expecting this perfect video. It’s just for you. And that’s like the goal right there when you do stuff for yourself.

Liz Capozzoli (36:43):

I love that. Yeah.

Megan Porta (36:45):

Alright, well thank you so much, Liz. This was so fun. We haven’t talked about video in a long, long time here on E Blog Talk, so this was very timely. I think we needed to do a little refresh. So thanks for your time today.

Liz Capozzoli (36:57):

Sure.

Megan Porta (36:58):

Do you have either a favorite quote or words of inspiration to leave us with?

Liz Capozzoli (37:01):

Absolutely. Yeah. So there’s so much I’ve learned over the years, you know, through reflection, a different quotes and inspirational stories. But I think my favorite one that sums up at least most of my blogging journey is comparison kills creativity. When I started learning more about, you know, food photography and video, I remember hearing advice, something to the effect of you need to have your own like video style and photography style. And I clearly recall like panicking over that idea similar to the shark tank. Yeah. Like, what is my style? How do I find a style? Like what you know will work for me and like, what do people wanna see? And, and I had all these unrealistic standards because I kept comparing myself with other blog content. And even though like I really admired it, like my photos and videos like always seem to fall short of everyone else’s. But you know, like my advice is to just like, don’t do that. Like, just stop. You have to remind yourself that you’re your own unique person and like that’s amazing and, and that’s what makes your blog special. It’s you. So it’s fine to always take inspiration from others, follow, you know, stylistic guidelines and, and set goals to achieve a certain level. That’s all, that’s all great. But don’t fall into the trap of well there’s this better and I’m not, you know, doing as well or I need to copy exactly what they’re doing to succeed. It was really, once I began to embrace my unique style, which by the way like just naturally developed over time, it wasn’t like I set out, you know, for one particular style. That’s when my blog really took off and allowed me to have the breathing room to, you know, let my creativity flourish knowing that I could just be myself versus having to copy someone else.

Megan Porta (38:50):

Oh my gosh, that was so well said. I love all of that. And you know, I love that you said that about the style because I think we all get tripped up a little bit thinking where is it? Like where do I find it? Yeah. I have to go searching for it. Where’s this style of mine that everyone’s talking about? And it’s not something that you find right now, it’s something that evolves. It’s, it’s like a journey for you and like you’ve just gotta, it’s start where you are and be real and keep, keep showing up and being creative and all of that. So, but you said it way more eloquently than I did, but that was beautiful. A perfect way to end. We’ll put together show notes for you Liz, and those can be found at eatblogtalk.com/owlbbaking. Tell everyone where they can find you.

Liz Capozzoli (39:33):

Sure. Yeah. So I am on Instagram, I’m on TikTok, I’m on YouTube Pinterest of course. And yeah, they all have my Owlbbaking username so you can find me there.

Megan Porta (39:42):

Awesome. Everyone go check out Liz. And thank you again, Liz, for being here. And thank you so much for listening today, food bloggers. I will see you in the next episode. 

Outro (39:55):

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Eat Blog Talk. Please share this episode with a friend who would benefit from tuning in. I will see you next time.