We recently connected with Judy Pan and have shared our conversation below.

Judy, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?

I manage my own social media :) One of the main things I like about managing my own page is it’s something I made myself that I can display to the public. I’ve had times when peers or business owners ask if I have a team who runs @foodooboos with me and my answer is “no, I run it all myself” all content is my own. However, I do receive a lot of help every now and then from friends who are brave enough to hand model for me and especially my boyfriend who not only hand models, but also gives a lot of good feedback on photos I’ve taken and business-related words of wisdom. Sometimes if I want to be in any shots I ask for some help whoever is with me as well!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

Hi! My name is Judy and I am a part-time Food Influencer and Photographer. I run @foodooboos (my food page) and @jpanphotographyx (my portrait/events photography page) as my personal business pages, and I am also the social media manager of a few restaurants in the DC-MD-VA area. I enjoy photographing anything related to food (whether it’s a product shoot, casual dining, catering events, etc.) as well as people (individual portraits, couple/family shoots, small-large events).

Story of how this all started: I’ve always taken photos of food prior to eating just for fun (Snapchatting to friends, etc.) with my phone to the point where some of them would roll their eyes 😉 It wasn’t until I bought my first Fuji Camera during my last year of college and my friends recommended I make an Instagram to showcase my cooking recipes did I ever consider making a food account. During the time I finally made up my mind to open an account, I had strong cravings for Korean tofu soup Soondooboo (more commonly spelled with “u” instead of “oo”) so I came up with @foodooboos. It all started on December 31, 2018 when I ate some pretty aesthetic Shakshuka in a Seattle Cafe @Eltanabagels, took a nice photo on my camera, and posted my first photo.

When I first created @foodooboos I didn’t realize that this fun hobby would expand into something much greater. I’ve had the opportunity to meet and build lasting friendships in a community of amazing, talented, and supportive, food (and photography) instagrammers in the DMV and even in other states and countries. After constantly posting photos, new doors opened and my food collabs journey began when @novafoodking reached out to me about joining @dmvfoodiecrew where I met and made many friends. I also became a member of @zipkick and Yelp Elite. After some time, individual businesses began reaching out to me directly via Instagram DM or email and what started off as a side hobby became a side gig and an integral, enjoyable part of my life. It’s been a wonderful journey being able to support small businesses and making new connections. As what my friends hoped however, I do share the occasional recipe post!

I enjoy taking photos of both food and people as represented by my two Instagram accounts @foodooboos and @jpanphotographyx. I also make TikTok Videos/Reels (also @foodooboos) consisting of music videos or voiceovers to introduce restaurants/businesses/products.

Something that makes me stand out for both my food and portraits photography other than being able to frame photos is my creativity. As Instagram has been focusing more on reels I find creative ways to keep up with what is trending. I’ve found myself transitioning from mainly photos posts to introductory videos > voiceovers > short videos synced to music.

Along with my creativity I am very dedicated and meticulous when I edit photos. Although many clients have told me that they are satisfied with the pre-edited photos I take, I am confident that I can always make the photos look even better. I am very adept at using Lightroom/Photoshop. For photos of people, I always check for unwanted dust on clothes, hair fly-aways, anything that may distract from the subject. For food photos, I make sure to “clean up” anything that would make the food unappealing (ie. Crumbs on the table, awkward positioning of a piece of cheese, anything that distracts from the food itself). All the while, the edits I make retain the original “natural-ness”of the subject.

For my people shoots specifically, I make clients feel comfortable and look comfortable in photos. Many clients who had initially reached out saying they feel “awkward” in front of cameras, leave a shoot with me feeling confident and no longer camera-shy. I also love to experiment with artsy shoots (levitation, etc.)

I am easily contacted through email and my Instagram accounts. For food-related business inquiries, my email is [email protected] and for portrait/event photography my email is [email protected]. I would love to connect with more people via my social media accounts on Instagram and TikTok!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It feels really rewarding when I create something and am able to show it off to others and receive useful feedback. Positive feedback definitely boosts morale, constructive feedback helps me improve as a person, both pros! Another rewarding aspect is the connections I have built though @foodooboos and @jpanphotographyx. Connections include long term friendships from people all over the world and also professional connections who provide opportunities that I never dreamed of having if it weren’t for creating these public pages. On a weekly basis, businesses reach out to me saying how they like my work or some even say “portfolio” and would like to work with me whether it’s through a photoshoot or creating content to post on my page. It’s really cool how the more work I put in to the pages the more opportunities are reaching out to me as opposed to me having to seek my own opportunities.

It’s also super rewarding to know that I’ve had an impact on helping small businesses grow. There are many businesses who have reached back out after I featured them on my page who tell me things like they gained over 200 followers in a week and are still gaining or that they gained over 100 customers since I posted about them! It’s always nice receiving these kind of messages because it’s a more tangible way of knowing how much of an impact my page has had. It’s also exciting having worked with big businesses as well such as Dunkin Donuts, Pizza Hut, and even getting to meet celebrity chefs at private tasting events like Peter Chang!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Engaging with other accounts is definitely one of the biggest keys to building an audience on social media. Since the day I first started my Instagram account I never stop liking/commenting on other creatives’ posts. It’s time consuming but definitely worth it. It’s also quite fulfilling because you get to see what other’s are creating and gain inspiration! When you show interest in other peoples’ work they will show interest in yours! :) Through engagement I have made so many friends in the foodie and photography community. Engagement aside, some other useful things that helped me include: Ensuring the content you are creating is high quality (framed well, no blurriness, well-balanced lighting) and eye-catching, keep up to date with what is trending (any particular cuisine, music, etc.), featuring “special” menu items that you think your audience will be “wow’d” by rather than posting a “generic plate of fries”, posting at times you find your audience engages the most, etc.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jpanphotographyx.com
• Instagram: foodooboos / jpanphotographyx
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/jpanphotographyx
• Yelp: www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=g910P0PfeYPKXGtfGgi9wg&utm_source=ishare
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@foodooboos

Image Credits
@foodooboos / @jpanphotographyx