Still-Life Photography: Product

The second of our mini modules focuses on product still life photography. Again we went into groups of 3-4 into the studio to shoot some packets randomly selected by Richard.

The first task was to shoot a golf ball sitting on a tee in front of a white background. What a day to be alive.

And then we got our package to shoot. 

If that doesn't get you excited about photography then frankly I don't know what will

Nairn's..Because you're worth it

Still-Life Photography: Food - Purple Pig Yarm

The 3rd food shoot is for an American style burger restaurant chain based in Yarm. They wanted to put out a set of images weekly through social media as a competition for customers if they shared the post. Offering £100 worth of vouchers towards a meal seems to be the way to go if you want over a thousand shares on limited facebook followings.

Each of the venues has a set of similar lighting, but the layouts vary a great deal. So I shot mostly with these in the background side on for a set of burger, steak, dessert, drink and platter specials. The same equipment used as for the previous 2 food shoots using mostly the 85mm lens.I was waiting for the food from the chefs and in the end it took just over 3 hours to complete the set.

Still-Life Photography: Stuart West

http://www.stuartwest.co.uk/

One of my favourite still life food photographers is Stuart West. His style is always consistently fresh looking with minimal items added to each image. Just enough to convey a message in a commercial context.

Most of his work appears to be for editorial rather than just product advertising with aspirational touches added with set pieces constructed environments. the rustic but not run down look familiar to higher end lifestyle magazines.

Excellent use of lighting to create what can look like natural or a subtle combination of both.

Still-Life Photography: Food Canteen And Cocktails

www.martingrantphoto.co.uk

My second food shoot was for a new bar opened up by the owner of another club I do event photography for. He needed some images for his website. I wanted to get some more drinks done after not really being happy with the ones from the keys but I felt they should be done at night to get most out of the ambient light of the venue so just concentrated on the food and deserts.

Quite unconventional cutlery is used as they serve everything in what looks like camping equipment. Although this may add to the feel when you are a diner it offers more of a challenge to present the food for images on such oversized plates.

Same set up used as in the keys except I went with a 24-70 lens as I wanted to get more of the surrounding table in each shot to include some of the personality of the venue.

The images used on the website were cropped tighter with just a hint of the surrounding items. Some of the light coming in from the window changes on some of the shots, even though with placed up a white perspex sheet I think it could have done with another to block out more of the natural light, Saying that the shadows cast on the desert in a glass image do add to the drama a little and for me improve it.

Still-Life Photography: Food - Keys Darlington

I was asked by a nightclub that I shoot event photography for to come in and do some images for their new restaurant website. I agreed on the understanding that although I had not done any food shoots live before I would give it a go. The results are mixed and some work clearly better than others.

The setup:

Nikon D7100
Sigma 85mm lens
Tokina 11-16mm lens
Tripod
Nikon SB 700 flash gun
Light stand
Soft box
Remote trigger for camera

I followed advice from a book from CCAD's library called "digital food photography 2" I kept it to just one light as this seemed the easiest to control with limited experience. Using a big reflector at the front to push some light back onto the subjects.

The shoot was done around mid afternoon in winter which did cause some problems with the natural light and white balance. As it neared dusk the right-hand side of the images got darker being next to a window. I was compensating this with longer exposures but really I was only adding more of the orange lights from the room and not really making it any better for post production. All food shots were taken with the 85mm lens set at quite a wide aperture, between f2 and f4.

It was pretty much a baptism of fire. The manager who has since left told me during the brief he would be there to look over everything and organise each dish as it came out etc. This didn't happen at all and i was left at the mercy of a young waitress just bringing them out from the kitchen as the chef saw fit to send them. Good communication with the kitchen staff is imperative to both make your life easier and to get the results they are expecting from what really should have been a full days shooting not just 2 hours.

The second part of the shoot was to feature some of the newly furbished kitchen area. I put the Tokina 11-16 lens on the camera and attached the flash to the top for these to get more environmental type shots

Finally some drinks which were done in about 5 minutes. There isn't much I can say other than I should have spent much longer preparing the surface and insisting they made them more watery to let light through from behind. Shot identically as the food with softbox from behind and 85mm lens.

Still-Life Photography: Food

The first of our mini modules was to go out and buy some food to get images of.  Working in small groups of 3-4 we set off and each bought some fruit and veg. My group set up in the studio with a single light placed behind a glass sheet set upon some trestles.

Compositionally this is my favourite from the shoot. The double glass reflection adds a little bit of drama and the light penetrating through the freshly dissected pepper and lime pieces gives the image some life. If I were to do it again I would perhaps have used either extra lighting from the sides or some bounce cards to more texture to the sides, like what has been achieved with the highlights from the flash across the ridges at the top.

Similarly, this shot could have done with some extra lighting from the sides and front although I feel it works pretty much ok without it. I have noticed there seems to be two divided camps with some prefering to have food and drink looking illuminated and the other where it looks more natural. I'm swinging toward the more natural but I get that it means the images could appear dark. 

The last was a littel hurried and could have had more time spent it. Although as a fine art piece I think it works well being realistic. As a commercial image it would have had to have been presented much better. Any defects wouldn't be allowed if it was used to sell fennel for even Aldi.

Still-Life Photography: Introduction

Irving Penn, Salmon, Tofu, and Fig

The basic principles of still life photography are to create a scene of inanimate objects and present them in a way that is both pleasing to the eye compositionally and deliver a message of sorts. Carried on from the paintings of the same genre, the use of lighting is imperative to catch the viewers attention so the detail can be absorbed.

The application of the images created ranges greatly between both fine art and commercial use. Although similar methods of semiotics is applied to both to convey a message I feel the main difference is you would rarely see a negative narrative used in a commercial sense. Unless it had an element of humour, say a tongue in cheek reference. Fine art has much more freedom to be more critical and provoke a reaction from the viewer.