Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Food Photography-A whole different avenue for me


I've spared people from all the food photos I take on my iPhone, and avoid posting them on any of the social media networks. Why? Well, there have been plenty. Photos of meals I've cooked for dinner. Food I've ordered from a restaurant. Even other interesting meals I've noticed at another table. I always stop and think, "Who wants to see what I'm eating?" Besides, if something looks appetizing to one person, it might look repulsive to another.

That said, I took a four-day food photo class at the International Center of Photography in Manhattan this week, and even though studio photography has never been very interesting to me I thought I'd give it a shot. Overall, I wanted to see if I could produce some shots for myself and pursue another kind of avenue business-wise, while still continuing my specialties that I cover for a living.

It can take a couple of hours to prep and style the shot, adjust the lighting, etc., before you even put any type of food on a plate or take your first shot. Not to mention the hours later it can take to edit and work on the images on the computer after you have photographed your subject.

It's a whole different avenue for me, but one I look forward to venturing into.

Thanks for taking the time to take a look.


--Jack

Day one of shooting a breakfast scene.

Day two in the morning consisted of photographing pasta.
Day two in the afternoon--while waiting for dessert to
come out of the oven I set up some vegetables.



The food stylist prepared a berry tart at the "shooting kitchen". A peach that was used for another pie is visible in the foreground.

Once cooked the tart is cut up into pieces for students to style and shoot.