Initial thoughts

Upon looking at this assignment I had a couple of ideas that sprung to mind almost immediately. I am intrigued by crime, and although this is quite macabre I do find the mystery and dangerousness of the criminal mind quite compelling. My first idea was to shoot a crime scene, but only show signs of what happened, giving the viewer only a small amount of the the story. Snippets of information that are not often photographed, creating a scene of the unseen if you like, photographing discarded clothes and shoes in a wooded, desolate type area. The problem with this idea was that I felt it was quite hackneyed, and perhaps something that could appear regularly for this type of assignment. It would be a type of aftermath photography that unfolds the mystery of what happened in an unsettling way, but I felt this idea perhaps a little “overdone”. The second idea I had, was to take images of the childhood memories of a child that had passed away in unfortunate circumstances, creating a story through photograph that is not usually depicted. I thought of scenes like an empty swing, still moving without the little child, unmade bed, a table setting that is no longer used. Perhaps centring on the sadness and emptiness that would follow such a traumatic event. I had largely settled on this idea, and had begun to formulate how and where I could take the shots, obviously with isolation due to coronavirus playing a part in the likelihood of getting the images. It was at this point that I had my first assignment feedback meeting with my tutor through Skype and we discussed the ideas I currently had. My tutor suggested that with me being a “cook” that I could perhaps do something based around food, perhaps the putting together of ingredients for a dish, presented in a way that is not usually seen in that fashion. This set the cogs turning and I put my initial ideas on the back burner and I began to take down some notes and ideas in writing in my sketchbook. I am a keen food photographer and was planning to take some fresh images for personal projects. I began to work with my SB700 speed light and various fill cards, just with the idea of experimenting and playing with artificial light. I did not set out to necessarily take any images for this assignment and was more compelled to shoot some colourful food shots, particularly working over head with my 50mm, 1.8g lens. It is interesting to note this as once again I see that most of my work comes around very organically, it seems to flow quite freely, until I stumble on the exact way I want to portray the images. When I have a definitive and clear vision, I then begin to shoot with more purpose. I use my D800 for almost all of my food photography and initially paired it with the 50mm before the other ideas began to flow. It was through the taking of images that these ideas developed.

Research

The majority of my research for this particular assignment was not necessarily linked in any way, other than looking freely online at all types or styles of food photography. I use Instagram and Pinterest to research styling and imagery, and then utilise them in my own shots. I follow some great food photographers such as Joanie Simon, Rachel Korinek and Skyler Burt, perhaps they are not the most acclaimed but do have large social media followings. They also produce a wide variety of media that relates to food styling tips and shooting food. I spent quite a large period of time watching YouTube videos and tutorials some of which base around shooting the subject but also editing as well. I do the majority of my editing in lightroom and have learnt a vast amount through subscribing to various photographers on YouTube. I do see myself as now developing my own way of editing an image, drawing on the techniques I have learnt. I am also still looking closely at the work of Japanese photographers, in particular Daido Moriyama. A keen interest in monochrome photography and colourful food photography became the benchmark of the research for this assignment. Links to my research here – https://danieltowellocacontextandnarrative.photo.blog/assignment-2-research/

Execution

Whilst shooting other subjects I began to incorporate some ideas for this assignment. I took some shots of food while in the oven for an unusual approach, but these largely didn’t work. As I mentioned I was just keen to try anything and see where it would lead, and didn’t really have any clear plan. My setup involved the D800, tripod, 85mm 1.8g lens, 105mm macro, 50mm 1.8g and SB700 speed light. I worked with predominately dark backdrops, and always had some sort of fill card to play with the direction of light. Sometimes this would be white, other times back to create a darker, moodier look. The speed light was predominantly to the side of the subject, but I also took some images with the light face onto the subject. I also experimented with landscape and portrait scenes, some where I wanted to utilise the power of negative space, and found myself naturally drawn to minimalistic sets. Below are some of the setups that I have been using.

A large number of the images I shot using the self timer option, which I felt worked quite well, and gave me time to focus and setup the image and then be involved in the shot if necessary. I used a low ISO of 100 mainly, and also smaller aperture of around f11/f13 predominantly to capture detail. I also was exposing for the shadows and dark areas, underexposing the image so I could draw out the darks in post process, looking for that moodier feel and image. In the end I didn’t really use the 105mm lens, the entire set was photographed using the 50m and 85mm. For wider shots obviously the 50mm, and the 85mm is a superb lens for portrait style work. I also used my camera flash as the trigger for the Speedlight which I ran on TTL mode. For some of the images I also use my wife as an assistant, using her to press the shutter as I appear in the shot or work out the composition of the scene as I framed the shot. All the images were edited in lightroom and used a variety of techniques in particular the brush tool to dodge and burn in the shots.

Contact sheets

Final images

I have chosen not to name the individual images but compose a simple title for the set. I thought a bit about the title, but I prefer not to think about these things to long, I personally believe instinct and initial reactions to a series often are the truest in terms of relevance.

Flour, Water, Yeast

Reflection

On reflection to this set of images I am personally quite happy. The series proved to have various challenges and I really enjoyed working with light in this way. I have an empathy with food and would like to think this is evident within the series. I also feel that the mages are visually coherent and fit the brief of photographing the unseen. I am keen to develop this style of imagery further and can feel my voice begin to grow in confidence. That being said I still feel that I have a lot to learn when working with light but I believe that I am becoming more adaptable in various situations and also coming up with answers to problems I may encounter. One problem that occurred was that my radio triggers failed when I began to shoot some of the images, so had to use my camera flash as the trigger, but removing it from the exposure. I feel that my editing techniques are also developing and I am more confident with lightroom. Again I still have a tendency to make mistakes and sometimes overdo things such as warmth and saturation, particularly when it comes to colour images. I often find that when I come back to look at images I initially was happy with, I spot mistakes and then have to retouch the image. I sometimes feel that if I have to spend to long on an image then its not right in the first place, but I also believe that it can be down to the look and feel that you wish to portray. Whilst I went for a more dark and moody black and white edit for the bulk of the shots, I used a more visual shot for the “flour clap” and I almost wanted the flour to be a burst of light in the frame. I feel that the series works better in monochrome as the colours are predominantly black and white, other than perhaps herbs or skin tones. I would also say that the series defines the unseen in both that it shows food photography in a unusual way and also that the style hides information from the viewer. It is unseen photography of the unseen. Below is a colour shot from the shoot that I am particularly happy with but did not fit with this series.

I also removed the below shot as I didn’t feel that it fitted so well within the series.