Homework - Food Photos

Raw - 102210

I had to do something new for my class this week.  I had to photograph tomatoes. 

Every week we get different assignments that push us into new directions.  This theme for this week is food.  My main instructor is a product photographer specializing in wine.  His photos are amazing and I highly recommend you visit his site to see his work.

Rick has an incredible eye for detail.  He notices everything.   After seeing his work, I can see why.  Every molecule in the photo has to have a purpose for being there.  The amount of pre and post production work needed to create one good food image is huge.  The use of color, texture, design, composition, and flavor must blend into an outstanding image.

For this assignment I had to photograph a raw tomato or a group of them.  After that I had to photograph a prepared dish with tomatoes.  I learned a few things from this.  It is hard to make food look good.  It is hard to find a perfect background and set of dishes.  Rick has thousands of plates and utensils in every color, shape, size and pattern in a warehouse of props.  It is really amazing.  I had only a few plates and napkins to work with.  The plate for the image below is from my picnic basket.

Prepped - 102210

I learned that food stars have stand ins.  I used some of the lower quality ingredients to make a mock up and test lighting, composition, presentation and concept.  After getting that set up, I brought in the star or hero food and was ready to get that done in as few shots as possible.  It is important to get them done fast so the food looks fresh.

Piernas bonitas

I noticed lots of flaws in both sets of photos.  I photographed the whole tomatoes on the aqua hood of my truck (the same hood that Andrea graced).  I thought I had cleaned the hood, but every bit of lint and dust is highly visible.  For the prepared food photos, I had issues of wrinkled napkins, bread crumbs, fingerprints in the cheese balls, and other challenges. 

I loved doing this assignment, but learned a lesson.  I am not a food photographer.  I do not have the attention to detail to make this work become art.  Rick will have no competition from me.  I enjoyed the creativity of using strobes, reflectors and props to get everything just right.  I want to explore using similar techniques, but having male and female models as the subject.

I enjoyed sharing a moment that Brett Weston also experienced.  After Edward Weston photographed the famous pepper from Pepper Number 30, Brett ate it.  I enjoyed eating my subject as well. 

Bon Appetit