Meet Judy Pan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Judy Pan.

Hi Judy, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.

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 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!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Life always tends to throw some bumps at us. Although I am the type of person who loves to keep her plate full, there are times when I feel burnt out balancing my full-time job with social media.

In order to maintain a good following and keep everyone interested, engagement is a must and sometimes I fall behind when there are other priorities that need to be addressed. Not to mention, the algorithm is always updating and there are times when something I posted that I thought would receive a lot of engagement ends up falling a bit short of my goals.

Not to mention, new social media expectations pop out every now and then from TikTok to Instagram Reels. Even though this can be a bit disgruntling, I always try to stay positive because no matter what happens, I’m still sharing what I love doing!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I enjoy taking photos of 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 other than being able to frame photos well is my creativity, my ability to make clients feel comfortable and look comfortable in photos, and my editing abilities. 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 creative shoots (levitation, etc.)

In regards to editing, although many clients have told me that they like the original RAW photos pre-editing, I can always make the photos look even better. I am very adept at using Lightroom/Photoshop.

I am very detail-oriented. For portraits, 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” look of the subject.

I am easily contacted through email and my Instagram accounts. For food-related business inquiries, my email is foodooboos14@gmail.com and for portrait/event photography my email is jpanphotographyx@gmail.com. I would love to connect with more people via my social media accounts on Instagram and TikTok!

Would love to support each other.

What do you think about luck?
I feel like luck tends to have a role in everything! I can post photos all I want or engage with as many people as possible but luck is always going to be a factor no matter how small. What is most important to me is knowing I am always giving everything my best effort to not have any regrets later. More luck comes as you put in the hard work and expose yourself to more opportunities!

Contact Info:

• Email: foodooboos14@gmail.com
• Website: www.jpanphotographyx.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/foodooboos
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/jpanphotographyx
• Yelp: www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=g910P0PfeYPKXGtfGgi9wg&utm_source=ishare&fbclid=IwAR2J6DycB7JxIhyTpvYBdMh_ZKnM3wkusJDJHtdc8yCgazPwSClE7jaA2f0
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@foodooboos

Image Credits
@foodooboos and @jpanphotographyx