Studio Strawberrys

This is a shoot I have done in the studio using a torch to try and play with some light painting that I found online (see previous posts) I wanted to create a red trail of light around the strawberry however this was quite unsuccessful. I lit these photographs with a torch light as I wanted to use it to highlight only certain parts of the strawberries.

What I managed to achieve was creating some macro shots of the strawberries with the focus on the details in the seeds and I also experimented with some styling as I included strawberry flavoured sweets and cupcake wrappers.

I think the cupcake wrapper shot looks too abstract to be used as a final because at first glance it is not possible to understand what it is this was pointed out to me in the crit that we had where I showed my  strawberry shots off.

Another few comments were made about being careful when using a shallow depth of field as I had placed the focus in slightly the wrong area that it should have been (more in the middle of the frame than the foreground)



My Outcomes

These are some of my outcomes for this shoot:


This photograph uses extreme macro to get up close and personal with the strawberry's seeds:

I then placed the strawberry into a cake wrapper to signify strawberry flavoured cake:

With this photograph I have taken more care to style the strawberries using a variety of props such as doilies, sweets, wooden frames and a chopping board. I like the effect of the bokeh effect in the first image however the exposure is incorrect. I think the most successful of this shoot was the final image because of the styling and the correct exposure, unlike the others this photograph was taken with a studio flash rather than the torch light I used for the others.

Styling

The tutor recommended we check out the book "Food Styling" by Delores Custer

I also noted a list of useful items that help in the styling and making of the food photographs :

• Reflectors
• Cloths
• White duct tape / White tac
• Cocktail sticks
• Spares !! (photo equipment, food!)
• Different lenses, extension tubes
• Portable Steamer (Fabric steamer - adds "smoke" to food)
• Cotton wool balls (add hot water, also creates steam/smoke)
• Cooking oil
• Plastic ice cubes
• Paint brushes (adding sauce to dishes)
• Glycerine (in a spray bottle with water creates droplets)
• Range of Backgrounds (sourced from antiques shops, charity shops, skips)
• Tweezers
• Scissors 

I also made a list of some possible garnishes that could be used on the products, using these would probably need more knowledge of the tastes and recipes so to know what would work in combination.

• Basil leaves
• Crumbs / Seeds / Rinds / Peel
• Spring onions
• Sauce (double drizzle)
• Berries
• Salt
• Micro greens ie cress
• Grated cheeses

Splash!

In this shoot I have set up a tablecloth in my kitchen (pinned to the kitchen cupboards and laid out over the counter like a roll of backdrop paper) then placed a bowl of strawberry milk in the centre of it. My idea for this shoot is to create a splash photograph that shows the strawberry dropping into the bowl so that the viewer gets the connotation that the milk tastes of fresh strawberries.

I am using a flash gun to light this set up, fired off using a wireless trigger so I can control it better and place it to the side (both to create side lighting and so it is not in "the splash zone") I have also set up the camera with my 100mm lens so that the camera can be placed out of "the splash zone".

My assistant will be dropping the strawberry into the bowl and I will be behind the camera.

Update:

It was a lot harder than I first thought to create these photographs as many many times (at least 95% of the time) we did not time the drop perfectly and the splash was missed so I ended up with nearly 200 photographs of just the empty bowl or with it flying through the air.

The few photographs that did capture the strawberry were not as well lit as I'd hoped, I think I have placed the flash too far back to be able to light the strawberry, so next time I am going to have to move the flash somewhat closer. At first my assistant was holding the strawberry by the stalk and dropping it the right way up, however this meant that when I did capture the strawberry it was mostly leaves and that did not give the impression I was hoping for. We changed this up after a few shots so the strawberry was being dropped upside down, this meant when I was timed enough to catch the strawberry it was showing it like I wanted.

I think I am going to continue this splash idea for my final piece in the food photography. I think I may change the container I used though and use one with a wider surface area so that less of the background and the container can be seen.


Outcomes :

These are two of the successful images alongside a close in crop of the same image. I think the close up ones are more successful as the splashes on the bowl are quite distracting.

Sweets - Thinking Ahead

photographs from the link below

http://solent.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/Sweets-in-water-droplets-by-Patrick-Lindsay/G0000IkRO1fYM6ug/I00005_blATihkt0

http://www.kalory.co.uk/2013/06/packshot-photography-in-studio-for-sweets-in-the-city-making-of/

For the second half of this brief we must create a series of photographs that relate to each other, one possible route for this is sweets as there are so many different sweets available and ways that they could be shot. I also think that the colours and the details will be great to work with and I could get some excellent portfolio photographs.

I started thinking about what I could use while I was on the bus and came up with a list of props and a list of possible sweets.

Possible Props:

buttons

cellophane

string

jewels 

cupcake wrappers

doilies

ribbon / bows

coloured backgrounds

fishing wire (tie up the sweets so they are hanging)

Sweets

haribo

millions

gummy bears

skittles

jelly babies

smarties

lollipops

gobstoppers

fruit pastilles

strawberry laces

fizzy laces

Don't Let me in the Kitchen!

So over the weekend I went into the kitchen and I baked some cupcakes (or well tried) so that I could try photographing them on a location. I wanted to create the kind of look that felt as though it was a family baking time and this includes the typical mess of cooking with children (even though I made that mess all by my self!) 

My cupcakes didn't quite turn out as pretty as I'd hoped, they looked a bit flat and small but I still tried to photograph them all the same and I like my outcomes all the same. I also decorated them with icing and sprinkles (which is what made the mess).

My Outcomes:

Wine Splashes (sort of)

Influence

http://ibakeheshoots.com/impress-friends-splash-photography/

Image from "I Bake He Shoots"

This photograph I found on the website "I Bake He Shoots" and it inspired me to create my own photograph of this as I was already experimenting with splash work.

My Outcomes

Not quite the same as I set up on the kitchen counter at home using a table cloth pinned up to the cupboards as a backdrop and only used a remotely triggered flash gun to light this scene. Other lights that can be seen reflected in the glass are the kitchen lights behind the camera and the window light. 

I used Powerade in my glass to get the blue liquid and I had my assistant drop frozen ice cubes into the glass from above, the ice cubes had green food colouring in as I found that when the ice cubes could not be seen inside the glass it looked a little strange as to why the glass is splashing whereas with the inclusion of ice cubes it made more sense. I experimented with using plain ice cubes, food colouring ice cubes, milk ice cubes and diluted juice ice cubes however the milk and most of the coloured ice cubes had not frozen overnight so they could not be used.

I also found that because of my framing the left over splashes were contaminating the background (as seen in the green glass photograph) and for my next shoot like this I would have to change my framing so the bottom of the glass was not visible.

I like the idea of continuing this but I do not like the outcomes from my shoot as they look too messy and unprofessional, I am going to experiment more with this idea and I think I am going to change colour of the liquid and dilute it so that the ice cubes become more visible, plus i am going to look at adding something to the centre of the ice cube so that it is more visible as well. I will also need to rearrange the backdrop so that in the glass reflection the edge of the counter is not visible (the black curved line is the floor of my kitchen and the white underneath is the tablecloth on the background).

Fun With Fruit

http://photography.about.com/od/photographybyoccasion/qt/fruitinwater.htm?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=shareurlbuttons

Photograph taken from the website (link above)

Fun with Photography - Fruit in Water

This website hosts a number of useful photography related articles and this article features a new way to photograph fruit - drop it into water this will be fun to try and do although I think that getting the look right and catching the timing of the fruit will be difficult.



More Bubbles in fruit

Photograph taken from the website (link below)

This is a great way to show an appetizing side to fruit, using fruit slices placed in a container of sparkling water creates the bubble effect. I want to try and experiment with this idea and even if I do not get chance during this project it is something I am going to try anyway.

http://www.boostyourphotography.com/2014/01/fizzy.html