Saturday 13 August 2016

Food

Over the years I have tried to broaden my photography. I've posted the results on this blog.

I have shown you portraits, of models, family and friends. And the head shots I did for a company website. The candids taken during my cycling. And the motor sport shots, that started this photography journey.

There is still so much to experiment with. Landscape, animal and food are some I have either not tried or have just had a few attempts at.

Food is the subject of this post.

I use to work for a publisher of, amongst others, food magazines. I would help the photographers, make sure equipment was working, show them new pieces of kit or software etc.

I could see it wasn't as easy as you'd think it was, flicking through the magazines.

I have tried it myself. The first hurdle is styling. I can cook pretty well. But it is the presentation I struggle with. By the time I have finished cooking, I'm just too hungry to give much thought to how it looks.

Food photography is as much about presentation and styling as it is about the process of photographing the food.

You really have to think about what you are trying to say about the food, what you want to focus on, if it's for a magazine where the text will go.  And how the photograph will fit on the page or pages.

For me I just wanted to produce pictures that showed off my technical ability and my cooking.

The first part of the process, the question of how to light it, the angle I should shoot it from, the composition and eventually how to process the raw file to produce a pleasing result. Was perhaps the easiest part.

The styling was harder. How to present the food. If it wasn't interesting to me, why would anyone else be drawn to my food.

The results below were from some time ago, I need to find the time to cook and photograph.

My favourite food is from the Caribbean, which means I like cooking it, but it gets eaten quickly. More discipline needed.

I would very much welcome your comments.










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