Lemon Meringue Shoot.
For this shoot I cooked some spiral potatoes which I had seen on 'Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast' which reminded me of David Loftus. The way I photographed the potatoes is inspired by Loftus' image of Jamie Oliver's potato wedges. By the time I had finished cooking the potatoes to go with my family's dinner, it was dark outside so I had no good lighting because there was no daylight. As a result, I improvised and used my Mum's chili growing lights that she uses as an artificial sunlight to grow her chilis in the winter. I positioned the plate of food on a chopping board, next to my Mum's chilis and I adjusted the light over the plate of food. I placed a few tea towels to cover the chilis and the table, so they wouldn't interrupt my photograph, and I took the photos in a similar composition to Loftus'. I also used the zoom lens, zoomed in for most of my shots. I took the photos using a Canon EOS 4000d DSLR camera, changing the settings dependent on the angle.
Original Image.
With this image, I tried to achieve a simplistic composition to capture the texture and form of the meringue, without any other elements overcomplicating the minimalistic approach. I chose meringue to photograph as the subject for this shoot because I think that it is arguably the most 'delicate' food in the culinary world, and this was my intention because I wanted to recreate Loftus' 'delicate' style in which he used his photograph. The form of the spiky meringue creates shadows, and a gradual ombre effect up the side of the spikes, which allows for more texture and colour. I think that the marble, white background makes the brown colours of the meringue to stand out, especially paired with the shallow depth of field that I used for this image. The square plate frames the meringue pie, which allows the bottom of the pie to be sat on a rule of thirds line which is pleasing to look at. The white of the marble and the plate connote simplicity which is elegant and beautiful and make the dish look clean and luxurious. Overall, I think that this image was successful.
Developments.
For this development, I decreased the temperature to make a cool mood – contrasted with the warmth from my other shoots. I thought that the warmth would be inappropriate to the delicate, simplistic atmosphere because the warmth suggests a rustic image which would not suit this elegant dish. I also increased the exposure and whites and then decreased the contrast, highlights and shadows because I wanted to achieve a studio-lighting look which would complement the bright, white colours from the background. I didn't crop the image because the dish was already composed onto the rule of thirds which was helpful. I also removed all the crumbs from the plate, to maximise the 'clean' and 'delicate' look. The increase in texture and sharpness allowed for the flakiness of the pastry to be vivid (every pastry chef aims for a flaky pastry) – therefore I intended to do this to achieve a professional look.
Original Image.
My intention for this image was to capture the concept of line – whilst still grasping the 'delicate' style of photography that is inspired by Loftus. For this specific composition within my shoot, I had to ask my Mum to hold the blow torch (on a low setting, to achieve the blue flame but low enough to not affect the colour of the meringue) because I didn't want to damage my camera or cause a fire hazard. I captured the blow torch in the top left corner of the frame, to achieve a straight line in the photograph to direct the viewer's eye along the photo to the focal point (lemon meringue pie). This allows the viewer to appreciate the 'delicate' form and structure to the meringue pie.
Developments B.
For this development, I edited it very similarly to my other image because I still wanted the cool, studio lighting. However, for this shoot I increased the vibrance of the image because I wanted to make the colour of the blue flame more lucid. I also increased the texture, detail and sharpening to increase the texture on the surface of the meringue – but also to increase the sheen of the silver blow torch. I wanted to achieve the shiny effect to highlight the silverware used, because silverware is also 'glamourous' and 'luxurious'. The increase in detail and texture also allowed for the details on the side of the pastry (the indentations from the pastry tin) to be more visible, this created shadows and depth to the photofraphy - allowing for a satisfying shape and form.
Developments.
For this development, I made the same meringue pie as the last shoot and placed it in the same location and on the same plate. My aim for this shoot was to recreate “Shoot B”, but experiment with the shoot by changing the orientation of the camera (vertically) to alter the focal point of the image - this shoot combines both styles from both “Shoot A” (the orientation and focal point) and “Shoot B” (the blow torch feature). I took the photos using a Canon EOS 4000d DSLR camera, changing the settings dependent on the angle.
Developments: Original Image
For this development, I tweaked the composition but kept the food, background, plate and camera the same. I readjusted the orientation of the camera to a vertical orientation, this caused the background to consist of just the plate and marble surface, which created a focal point to the centre of the subject (pie). I blurred out the background even more than the last shoot and focused the camera on just the pie, using a manual focus (instead of an automatic) and not the background. I also readjusted the blowtorch, when shooting, so more of the torch was in the frame – to emphasise the line effect. I am very pleased with my developments and I believe that these adjustments made the image look more 'glamorous' and professional – which was my intention.
[lightroom]: Developments.
[lightroom]: Developments.
For the development of this photograph, I cropped the image in (slightly) to make each side symmetrical and even (like Loftus' image). Next, I increased the vibrancy and saturation to intensify the golden brown colour of the pastry and the meringue. I also decreased the temperature and the whites for a 'cool' effect on the lighting – to allow for a more delicate lighting on the meringue. Finally, I increased the texture and sharpness to create a texture on the pastry and the surface of the meringue.