Wednesday Task- September 30th

For this task, I have decided to photograph cupcakes. However, because it is close to Halloween, that will be the theme.

 These images will be shot in the kitchen studio so I get the feel of where the cupcakes were made. I want to use the natural lighting from the window as it will emphasis the feel of a kitchen. Also, because greens, purples and oranges come hand in hand with Halloween, I don't want to use artificial light as I think it would be too harsh. I want to avoid harsh light with bright colours as it will pop the colours too much to the point where its the only part of the image you can focus on. 

My main focus is obviously going to be the cupcakes however, I do want some other objects in some of the other images to give different feels and looks. For one of my images I want a model to be in the left hand side of the frame with her back to the lens. The cupcakes will be located just to the right side of her so they are easily in the frame. By doing this, I think it will give a really nice feel to the images. I might also include a jug of milk with a glass, as it ties in with cake but also gives a little more to look at in the images. 

The photoshoot will take place on Wednesday 7th October, at roughly 1:30pm as it will be the brightest time of the day. Also, my model is only available after 1pm. The kitchen studio arrangements will have to be sorted out between me and my tutor. 

The camera I will be using to shoot with will be a 100D canon with a standard 18-55mm lens. I will also be using a tripod to eliminate any camera shake however, I wont be using my tripod for every image. I will also be using a light meteor  to know what aperture I need to be on. 

As well as doing my main photoshoot of the Halloween themed cakes, I also want to do another one contrasting with this. Perhaps a pink and girly shoot. 

Sunday Dinner

By shooting portrait, it allowed me to get at least a part of all the different foods on my plate. The depth of field also emphersised all the different textures, with the Yorkshire puddings being the main focus. 

As my kitchen isn't well lit, I shot next to my window however, my kitchen is located to the back of my house and by the time I actually shot, it was roughly 5pm, which meant the sun was in the front of my house so the lighting isn't as good as I would've liked. Because of this, the contrast in colours isn't as bright as I wanted them to be. Not only in this one but in all the images. 

For this image, I wanted to try get the birds eye view image however, because my camera wasn't directing above the plate, facing straight down, it didn't exactly go as planned. 

The cabbage had the most interesting pattern on it so I thought a close up of it would give a varied picture selection. Again, I wanted it to be bright but when I lowered the aperture, it looked over exposed. The built in flash made a glare on the plate & took away the intricate detail. 

I also wanted an 'action' image of someone pouring gravy over the plate and although it does give a little more detail into the image, it didn't turn out as well as I hoped. I wanted to create a high quality splashing of the gravy onto the food but the lightening not only didn't work for the colours but it also lowered the quality of the images. 

Oh Crumble!

Contact Prints;

Edited Images;

This image was shot in the kitchen studio using natural light from the window. The peach biscuits were purposely placed in the middle as they are different from the blue and white and I knew, if I  placed the peach at either end, it would look out of place. I like the simplicity of the image however, it's till has detail to look at. For example, the depth of field gives an almost 3D effect to the image. Also, there is no noise in the background which keeps the main focus on the biscuits. 

For this image, I tried getting a birds eye view of the biscuits but because I shot free hand, it didn't work as well as I hoped. However, if I reshot I would use a tripod to get the correct position. This again was shot in the kitchen studio using the natural light coming through the window. The lighting makes the colours nice and bright without being so harsh. 

Because the last image of the Birdseye view didn't work as well as I wanted, I placed my camera slightly lower on an angle. Again, this image was shot in the kitchen studio using natural light however, the lightening is a little dark for my liking. The shadows of the biscuits, especially the middle ones, just creates such a darkness to the image and because I wanted these biscuits to have a bright and clean feel to them and the shadows just take that feel away from the image. 

I chose to evaluate this image because it has some positives and negatives. I chose to crack the peach because it contrasts again the white and blue. Also, the crumbs on the image are in focus. However, there wasn't as much crumbs as I would like and when I rubbed the two pieces of biscuit together to create more, they were so tiny that it wouldn't even make a difference. The lighting again is natural, from the window in the kitchen studio. 

Again, I wanted these images to have a homely, light feel to them. This particular image i like because of the contrast in lightness and darkness. The top of the pile of cookies are lit by the natural lighting the kitchen studio. The bottom is hit by the shadows of the top cookies, creating shadows on the chopping bored so it draws your attention around the image and into the crumbs. 

This image is probably one of my favourite as my idea is fully portrayed. The main focus is on the cookies as there isn't any noise in the background. Also the natural light hits them perfectly to show of the textures and contrasting light and dark Browns of the cookies. The shadows created are noticeable but they aren't harsh, only creating a 3D effect to the image. 

This image was shot in the studio using artificial light. I chose to shoot the biscuits from the back so I could catch the icing dripping down the back for extra detail. I placed the biscuits on an angle so I could get all the biscuits in. The light colours work really well with the white background and muted brown of the chopping board as they aren't really contrasted. 

Again, this image was shot in the studio. This is probably the image that I like the least due to the darkness and the  contrast of the cookies. I could've used a lower aperture however, the overall image is a contrast to the rest of the images that I took. 

Because I was shooting in the studio, I wanted to include a person in my images to bring it to life. I chose to put this image in black and white because this laugh was natural and I wanted the 'iconic' laughing image. I shot landscape so there wasn't too much body of my model as that would've drawn the attention away from the cookie. I also had her looking towards the left as I didn't want the image to appear flat.

 As well as shooting this image, I shot her the opposite way just to show you how it would've looked portrait, with more of her body and a forced smile and expression. 

Extra photoshoot

Contact Prints;

Edited;

Research & Cafe culture

Research;

Contemporary;

Twitter-  @foodporntho 

I chose this image because I love the arrangement. I like how the main focus (the waffles) is located in the middle of the image but the toppings are throughout the full image. The blueberries are in the front of the main focus and also in the back. Again with the strawberries, they're in the back. Also, the cream on the top of the waffles are also on the knife in the foreground of the image. I love the simplistic colours used such as the whites and browns with pops of bright colours. Even though the colours are very contrasted, they don't take the focus away from the waffles. I think the lightening used is natural window light which ties in with the homely feel of this image.

The colours of this image caught my attention. Not because of the amount but because of the arrangement of the contrasting colours put together. For example, the reds of the tomatoes/chilli's against the greens of the avocado. Another thing is the lining of the preparation. Although it does look quite messy, the lines of the avocado and the meat makes it look more put together than it actually is. Again, I think the image is lighted with natural window light coming from the right side of the source. I know the lighting is to the right because of the loss of detail in the food because of the harsh light. For example, The eggs to the top right are very illuminated, to the point where you almost can't see the yellow of the yolk to the white of the egg white.

http://www.packshotfactory.co.uk

Packshotfactory mainly caught my attention because of this simplicity of its dishes. This image in particular caught my attention with the darkness of the piece of slate used as a plate. As well as the harsh red of the sauce against the green. Personally, I think this combination of colours adds a lot into a very simple image without being too dramatic. I think the light source is artificial as, if it was natural, there wouldn't be a line of the light going down the middle. Perhaps even a lightbox was used as the lighting isn't harsh in the slightest.    

A lot of food photography is shot either at a low angle or front on. However, this image has been shot using a high angle, to the point where it is directly above the food. I like this because you get to see everything. However, sometimes when this angle is used, the food can look flat though, they avoided this by using artificial lighting at the top to create shadows. This worked especially well as the puddings were round.

Historical;

Arcimboldo;

When researching historical food photographers, the only thing that I could find was pictures that were quite newly shot, but edited to look a lot older. So, I started looking at artists instead. This particular artist caught my attention because he makes people out of food. However, when I looked closely at this image, it looked like the food was purposely positioned that way to almost re-create muscles, to an extent.

Again, this image is similar to the previous but different in a lot of others. Firstly, it's a side view. This for me looks more thought out as you have to get the sizing of the nose correct, so it looks realistic. The deepness of the eye socks, the wideness of the face. It has to be more thought out to create what was intended. Also, this image looks a lot more fenimin. Although the first image had flowers coming down over his chest, his posture and the fact that the artist has created an Adam's apple. However, this image is a lot more softer overall. 

Primary research;

Contact prints-

For this image was shot at krispy kreme in leeds. I really wanted to capture the different textures that were on this doughnut. The flaking of the icing, the crumble of the oreo bits to the smoothness of the chocolate. The light was artificial as it was in a counter of the shop. I really like the glare from the light on the glazed base. This image was shot in Krispy Kreme in leeds.

This is the same image but shot a lot closer to emphasise the detail.

Whilst researching contemporary photographers, I came across Gray Box studios. One image in particular caught my attention as he has movement in one of his images. I really wanted to recreate that type of image however, because i was shoot on a bridge camera, I couldn't select multi shots therefore, couldn't get movement in the shot without it being completely blurry. One of the things I do like about this image though, is the reds and greens as they contrast with each other but also compliment each other. This image was shot in the Trinity Kitchen.

Again, because I was using a bridge camera, I couldn't get the right exposure I wanted. I also couldn't focus on the parts I wanted to focus on. The angle I shot at is unflattering to the muffin and the plate makes it almost look miniature, in my opinion. I would usually re-shoot in these circumstances however, because it was shot in Leeds, it would mean going back there.

Moodboard;

Images that inspired me;

Gray box studios