Review of The Cotton Bag Company’s #TheFoodieBag

#TheFoodieBag contains useful props for taking photographs on the go!

I was sent #TheFoodieBag by the Cotton Bag Company to review. All opinions are my own.

If you are someone like me who enjoys taking photographs of food on the go, you will love this bag!

For anyone who doesn’t know The Cotton Bag Company, they produce a variety of ergonomically designed, environmentally friendly, reusable bags . They recently launched #TheFoodieBag which is essentially a bag of kit, specifically for foodies or anyone who loves sharing photos of food on Instagram.

The bag was created in collaboration with phone photographer Matt Inwood, and stylist Sophie Purser of Black Velvet Styling. It is a large, lightweight, 12oz cotton zip up bag with an internal zip pocket and mesh divider.

Yes, it is a rather large bag, but it sits well on the shoulder with wide comfortable straps, and there is plenty of space to add anything else you may need.

The bag contains some great props for snapping shots of delicious dishes. You will find:

• a 15-inch 5 in 1 pop up photographic reflector (containing gold, silver, black and white panels) and diffusor. These are very useful to have, as reflectors bounce light onto the subject and help eliminate shadows, while the diffuser softens the light and reduces the glare.
• 4 beautiful photographic A2 backdrops (at approx 60×42 cm) from Sophie Purser’s Black Velvet Styling
• 8 postcards with useful tips from Matt Inwood for taking great photos using your phone camera.

The backdrops are great quality and lie flat when unrolled. They are made from strong wipe-clean paper sheets and can be mounted on solid panels. They are A1 size (60×42 cm), half the size of what I would normally use (2×3 ft or 60x84cm), but they are great for portability, trying out new ideas by playing around with different colours, and for those zoomed in photos.

The postcards have photographs showing styling ideas with handy tips by Matt Inwood on the reverse. Matt has been running popular phone photography workshops for the last few years and shares his expertise with tips such as how to use light, think about composition and choosing your background.

I love how everything fits comfortably into the bag and it can be stored neatly. I love the backdrops most of all but I feel it would have been great if they had included a portable light.

The bag is priced at £39.95 incl. p&p and would make a perfect gift for foodies and aspiring photographers.

If you purchase one, I’d love to know what you think in the comments below.