As I look at the edited photos on this particular shoot, I am quite proud of myself simply because this is my first food shoot.
My client needed photos for her website and she had been advised by her web designer to put her phone camera away on this one. Hear, Hear.
I showed the photos to family and it was great to hear them say that some of the photos made them feel hungry!
I learnt a couple of really useful things on this project, as always, and it was a very gratifying experience.
An unexpected challenge I tackled was the distraction of hunger. I had to hold back the hunger which progressed as I continued with the shoot. The caterer brought out dish after dish after dish for me to photograph (and of course each dish had to be checked, explained and arranged for best representation before being photographed) while I just got hungrier because the food smelt so good! I do not know how the caterer managed to get all that done! Some of it was in the oven or on the hob while I was there and some had been started in the early hours of the morning prior to the shoot.
I hope you like the African elements which I introduced in the background of one or two of the shots to complement the origin of the dishes. I needed a subtle reference but nothing that would take away from the main focus. I would have to say that the two bowls with the ripe and unripe plantain chips are on my list of favourite compositions as well as the photo featuring a square plate, yam, avocado and fish.
The vegetable mix is amazing. Don’t know the name of it – I will have to refer you to Choolincho Foods where all of this wonderful food is made and can be ordered. She doesn’t even know I am writing this… smile.
Another one of my favourites is the glass bowl of ‘puff puff’ which is the West African name for deep-fried doughnuts.
But my all time favourite – elegant and intriguing, has to be the bowl of brown soup with the peppers on the board.
I am happy to tell you that I went home with lovely packs of food which kept me going for a couple of days.
Have a great time.