Friday, 29 August 2014
Tips on Food Photography
1. Get the right kit: you can use DSLR camera, as the quality is good.
2. Try not to use a flash: as the flash will flatten the food dishes.
3. Always carry a tripod: this to make sure that the images do not have any unwanted blur. Any exposure longer than 1/60 of a second could really do with a tripod.
4. Choose props carefully: the viewer may only notice them on a subconscious level, but the choice of table cloth, plate and cutlery all subtly contribute to the mood and success of your shot.
5. Find the best angle: some foods may look better photographed from a higher angle, but then other foods (such as tiered cakes) need to be photographed from a lower angle.
6. Trust your instincts when a composition isn't working: if you don't feel the composition is working then it probably isn't, break down the set and start again and approach it with a different angle or idea.
7. Don't let the food sit around for too long: the longer the food is out, the more tired and unappetising it looks.
8. Honour the accident: a bit of mess adds charm and can make a recipe more approachable to the viewer.
9. Give it a spritz: misty sprays of water on fruit and veg make them look as though they have been freshly plucked and gives them the look of life.
10. Be prepared: carry around some props wherever you go, as you might come across a wild strawberry (for example) and would need props to put it on and photograph it.
Alastair Hendy
Alastair Hendy
Tuesday, 26 August 2014
History of Food Photography
Food has been used as 'subject' in photography and the methods, equipment and overall style within this genre have changed since the early days of still lit photography.
Before looking at food photography, we should look at still life paintings. There are many key aspects used by still life painters that have been taken up by contemporary food photographers.
For example, aspects of realism, painterly skill, effects of light, composition and arrangement, allegory (a story, poem, or picture which can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.) and meaning, and indicators of lifestyle and class were all elements of modern still life painting that are mirrored in commercial food photography today.
Still life paintings of the 17th century to draw attention to food as having 'natural beauty', which was distinguished by still life painters of the 16th and 17th centuries.
Still life paintings were commissioned by the wealthy, so the commissioners had more control over the paintings than the painters themselves. The painters were required for their skill, which was assessed by their aesthetic choices and their meticulous arrangement of objects.
Food was often used as the subject matter, as it allowed painters to meet everything the commissioners wanted from the paintings.
Rome and cities of the Netherlands and Northern France were the leading regions of still life painting, focusing on tables loaded with a variety of fresh food.
Spanish still life focused on just a few kinds of food in a small area.
In England, there were many conventions in the display of food and drink in still life paintings, there was no human interaction at the table, seemingly making the food more attainable to a viewer.
Dutch painters of the 17th century piled delicious food on glorious table coverings.
Paintings like these were used to reinforce the idea that having plenty in the larder was a sign of wealth, since they displayed indicators of class and status associated with the wealthy at the time, a significant historical point when then assessing contemporary food photography.
The key aspects mentioned earlier carried over in the 18th century.
Most cookery books in the 19th century started off using drawings for illustrating the food, but by the late 19th century black and white photographs began to appear in the early printed cookery books, however the process was slow.
As photography became a popular medium, advancements in printing techniques paved the way for easier production.
Friday, 22 August 2014
Rick Foulsham
Portrays more of an artistic take on food photography. Images taken are more like images that you'd see in a gallery rather than a food magazine.
Thursday, 21 August 2014
A History of Food Photography in the 1990s
In the 1990s, the aesthetics of food photography was completely revolutionised by Australian magazine editor and food stylist Donna Hay.
They used shallow depth of field so that there was only a part of the image in focus, instead of having everything in focus.
The backgrounds of the images tended to be very minimal but with bright and vivid colours, so long as the food was the centre focus of the image.
Many art directors and photographers pioneered the technique of a shallow depth of field, this was influenced by the Donna Hay magazine.
As there was only a small part of the image in focus, this meant that food stylists weren't needed. Also photographers could use natural light with a wide aperture, allowing food photographers being able to work anywhere and not just in the studio.
1980s harsh tungsten lights were used. There was a progression, in the 1990s, to the use of a single soft box instead. Which then moved onto photographers using natural daylight in the late 1990s. This style moved to the UK around 1997.
The demand for food photography greatly increased since release of the first issue of BBC Good Food magazine.
The 1990s technique of selective focus greatly contrasted with the 'everything in focus' technique of the 1980s.
By having the blur in the photo, the dish appears softer, less concerned with objectivity and more with artistic impression.
By the late 1990s, people were no longer interested in un-illistrated books.
The use of a shallow depth of field, gave the images a soft, natural look. However, the Donna Hay style was being used excessively. While selective focus was good and useful, it was being used and abused throughout the industry as readers were unable to identify what the food actually was, as the style was being used excessively without much understanding of how to use it properly.
The extreme use of this technique receded slightly since then.
A shallow depth of field allows text to be incorporated flawlessly.
In the last decade there have vast changes in food photography. Digital cameras eliminating Polaroid tests and shooting everything perfect the first time. Digital manipulation allowed backgrounds to be changed in Photoshop or stray crumbs removed in post-prodruction.
The flash replaced the tungsten lights.
Food photography shifted in 2004 when Marks and Spencer's memorable television campaign pushed 'food porn' into the spot light. It wasn't just the use of a shallow depth of feels and a clean white background, it became the use of seductive voiceovers accompanied with oozing chocolate puddings, drizzled sauces and meat being craved. Leaving you wanting more.
Saturday, 16 August 2014
Friday, 1 August 2014
The Trends in Food Photography in the Late 20th Century
Food photography in the 1980s shifted from mere illustration to lifestyle, reflected by society when many had a higher disposable income. THere was a trend os very heavily dressed lifestyle shots.
Presentation Matters !!
Twenty five years ago magazines and cookbooks focused on the ambience and lifestyle, rather than just the single food product.
In the 1980s, everything in the frame was glossy and in focus. November 1989 the first food magazine in the UK was launched, BBC Good Food magazine, which published a number of recipes from multiple cookery TV programmes. This is significant as before the launch of this magazine there had never been any magazine dedicated to food alone. The picture content was rather minimal however the magazine was filled with glossy food advertisements in order to fund the magazine through its first issue.
After the first few issues in 1990, funded by bigger budgets, the magazine expanded its picture content. The cover always had a white background, with the food shot in a studio, showing a single dish, sometimes with a side or a decorative plate.
After the magazine had been running for five years coloured backgrounds started getting used rather than a plain white background. Also with not only one dish but the use of multiple dishes were shown on the front cover.
The emphasis on 'lifestyle' seemed to be key to food photography at this time. the importance of food and prop stylists was part of the significant transition into better faulty images, where sets were dressed beautifully to accompany the dishes.
The studio flash had been invented in the early 1970s, it was expensive to use the flash to light food, particularly on an editorial budget.
Food stylists and their handiwork is crucial to food photography as an art form. Using substitutes to achieve an aesthetically 'perfect' image, some people say, can be misleading to a consumer but the aim was always to strive for aesthetic perfection and not reality.
The time and effort put into food photography to make the food last long enough for the photographer to capture the best possible light and setting. As food wilts, cracks, melts, and changes colour so food stylists have to work to each element's particular life span.
This visual consistency in arrangement that forces us to liken such food images to still life paintings ini the 17th and 18th Century.
Food Photography in the Late 20th Century Cookbook
Rationing was abolished in 1954, new food trends started to emerge with processed, fast meals, significantly changing Britain's approach to home cooking.
photography George De Gennaro began taking images of food in the 1950s. He commented in a magazine called 'Food in Focus':
"in those days, the pictures looked as though they were taken from the top of a ladder, six or eight feet away. and the food was so artificially doctored up that it gave the profession a horrible name"
Food photography was not taken seriously as an art genre.
George De Gennaro was directly influenced by still life painters and as a regular contributor to "Better Homes and Garden" magazine in the 1970s.
He chose to capture food from a different angle, coming in close and capturing movement.
The price of colour reproductions greatly affected how many colour pictures appeared in cookbooks and magazines.
Much easier and cheaper to produce line drawings than colour photographs.
At the start of the 1950s cookbooks tended to have illustrations and black and white photographs. What some magazines and cookbooks would do, is they would have every photo done in black and white, and then at the beginning of each chapter they would have a coloured image, as this was much cheaper to do as colour printing was so expensive.
1960s, colour photographs seemed to be more prevalent, seen in Mrs Beeton's "All About Cookery".
The aesthetics of food images at this time are interesting to consider. Ice cream was substituted with mash potatoes and papier-mâché mock ups were sometimes use instead of really poultry. this was due to the heat of the studio lights but as cameras and film speed and sensitivity improved, more genuine food products were used.
Food trends were reflected in current trends in society, particularly by the rise of cookbooks in the mid-20th Century.
Before 1977, nothing had been written on the significance or importance of food photography and the symbols used in advertising photography. Roland Barthes wrote an interesting analysis of Panzani advertisement highlighting the importance of images used in advertisement.
He looked at the food image in terms of signs and how we decode that sign, referring to the associations given by the choice of props, colour and composition. It is the actuality that seems to be the general rule for food photographers when producing images.
There were radical changes in food photography in the late 1970s to the early 1980s, transformed by Japanese colour printing which gave much better clarity of colour to the images.
These technical advances modernised colour printing, more yellow used meant that blank ink reduced, making the coloured images brighter and bolder.
The technique was so significant that in 1982, homemaking guru Martha Stewart in sited not only on Japanese printing, but also on photographs of every dish for her first book, "Entertaining". As a caterer she knew that the viewer's sense of taste was heavily influenced by the look of the food.
It was at this time that magazines were made focusing just on food, started appearing in the late 1980s.
Food photographers take influence by still life paintings, in terms of realism, effects of light, composition and arrangement.
I haven't done much research over the last few weeks.
Today I plan to do research of how food has changed every decade- looking at the development.
I am on holiday for the next two weeks but will try and do some sort of research whilst I am there, then when I get back I plan to finish all the research that I need to do.
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