This is a special assignment:

One that will include a person and some food. Make it serious, make it fun… but make it interesting.

I know there are people shooters in the group, and there are table top shooters… as well as food and still life shooters who are finding that part of the photographic world to be of interest.

So here is a bit of something for everyone.

The idea is that you are going to shoot a cook and their ‘famous’ recipe. And you can shoot it whichever way YOU want to. Either the cook with a finished food item, or the ingredients for a dish all ready to be created.

People with a product – still life with people. For art direction, it is your call.

Let’s say we are shooting a wonderful apple pie. If it is the cook shot, the pie is being held by the cook, or it is on the table next to the cook, or the cook is holding a plate with a slice… or something even cooler than those oft seen images. Something we haven’t seen before. Something NEW, something fresh.

If the shot is the recipe, then there may be some apples and flour and cinnamon all laid out nicely on a cutting board or similar background. Or it could be something no one has ever seen before in the layout of the items to make an apple pie. There would be hands in the photograph to indicate the cook’s involvement.

And it doesn’t have to be apple pie… that was just for illustrative purposes.

Careful planning and even more careful styling can be a big winner for you on these kinds of shots.

Landscape or portrait for this one.

Color please.

(SPECIAL NOTE: If you simply cannot find a person, do it as a still life… but let us know the recipe when we chat on the webinar. Remember, you can use just someone’s hands working to be the shot if you can at least find someone who will cut on a chopping block for you… heh. (Beware of sharp objects… 🙂 )

Lighting Considerations.

Note how many of the images above show light coming from the side or back. We would normally backlight product/recipe work, but when people are involved they would block all the light. So consider large scrims to the side, or window light. Fill is, of course, your call, but remember that deep shadows can be a problem for magazine printing (the inks get too dark and unattractively ‘muddy’.)

Images Deconstructed:

Examples:

What will you do to make a more interesting shot than what the art director is expecting. Shooting with deliberation means planning every inch of what is in the camera frame.

Bon Apetit!

 Some Examples from Last Season: