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iona32 · 8 years ago

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Project Brief:

For this project you will use all of the skills that you acquired during you 1st year, and combined with new skills you will learn these will enable you to build Creative Professional Photography Portfolio. This portfolio will play an integral part in deciding your future and will be used as a tool to enable you attain either your place in Higher Education or in the workplace.

You will invest much time critically analyzing of your skills and your awareness of the profession you will be entering to enable you to pass this project. Self-evaluation and reflection will be key to your success in this project.

Refinement and Reflection

I presented my photos Monday 4th December to my class and got some really good feedback. I explained which photos I liked better and which ones I didn’t really like as well as saying what I’ve learnt from this project and what I’ve taken away from it. I also mentioned vaguely the way I edited my images and if I had put them on social media at all.

I got told that lighting on a couple photos was really good and that the photos I didn’t really like (the first image and the 9th image), everyone else did like. I explained that I preferred other images to others and said that even though I might not have liked them, I think they are still better than my other photos.

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When editing my photos, I got some help on what I should change specifically so that helped even before the presentation. For the chocolate blocks in particular, I got told to make the white chocolate brighter so they actually look white instead of the dim and boring colour that they were.

After I presented, it got suggested that if I were to do this type of project again, I could make the photos into more of a story line. I like this idea because it would add a lot more context into my images. Giving them a story line would possibly make them more interesting and I only didn’t do it for this project because I was new at food photography and just wanted to start anew with it. I didn’t know much before this project and I didn’t just want to jump into something I might have been rubbish at. I would consider doing this idea more in a future project though.

I do think that my project went well. I’m okay with my final images even though I like some images more than others. I am proud of the images I took and how I edited them. I was most happy with the fact the fact that I could do this project in my own home. I felt comfortable there and I didn’t have to go out of my way to plan something that could have gone wrong which I liked.

Evaluation:

In this evaluation, I will be critically reflect my work and what I have learnt. I will be using Gibbs Reflective Cycle technique to do this. The headings are description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan.

Description:

I chose food photography originally for the main reason that I really liked food. I looked into food photography and realised that I would really enjoy doing it. I researched into it, found websites to help me and books too. It all helped. I looked into food photographers from today and in history and found some quite interesting things about all them. I not only enjoyed doing food photography but I did enjoy researching about it too. I liked looking into all the different aspects and styles that each photographer used.

After looking into it all, I began test shooting. I know I was quite basic at it first but I do think that I have gotten a lot better since the beginning of this project. I would definitely do this project again.

I had a lot of other reasons I chose to do food photography too, not just due to the food aspect. I liked the idea of doing something I hadn’t done before but was till within my comfort zone as then I knew I would be better at it than if I was doing something like fashion photography. I also liked the idea of doing something that no one else was doing. People in my class mainly did different styles of landscapes and portraits which are both great but I just wanted to do something different to them and my previous projects. I am glad that I achieved this goal and I am very happy with my final images.

Feelings:

Throughout this project, I’ve had lots of different emotions. I began feeling worried about this project and then I started to feel more confident when my work started to get better and I got better at food photography and the whole editing process. I remember getting really stressed out during this project. Whether it was over buying ingredients, blog work or even getting my bursary from college as that was messing up too. If I didn’t get that then I couldn’t do anything which would not help my stress levels at all.

Throughout this project, I have been enthusiastic about food photography but not so much enthusiasm came with blog work. I did get stressed a lot though but as it came closer to the end of the project, my stress level went down and everything was becoming a little more chill. I didn’t like being stressed because I panicked and tried to do as much as possible.

Once my photos were all edited and printed, it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I felt a lot better because I knew that from then on, I only had blog work to do. I just kept thinking that if I could get this done soon enough, I don’t have to worry about it anymore so I can just enjoy Christmas.

I do feel like I could have done better though. I feel like if I had planned out my shoots better, that could have helped. Also if I had put my images into a storyboard, I think that would have presented my work better and might have added more interest from viewers. I am proud of my final images as they are though.

Evaluation and Analysis:

I had quite a few different bad things happen to me throughout this project, some worse than others. The first thing that was really annoying was where I placed everything in my images and what things were in the background. This was a problem because if things were in the background that weren’t mean to be there, the image would look really messy and just wouldn’t look like very much of a nice image. I grew to take more notice of what was in my photos as my project went on which I am glad about.

Another issue I had within this project was money, I get bursary but if that didn’t come through then I struggled to either come into college or buy ingredients. Sometimes I had to ask my mum and then pay her back or sometimes I would just do a particular shoot another day.

Timing was another issue. My shoots depended on the amount of time I had to make the food based on how long it was light outside and whether or not I was at my friends house. Natural light from my kitchen window worked better than the actual lights so I tried to finish shoots before it went dark but sometimes that didn’t happen. Either due to having to go get extra ingredients or the times I was at my friends house.

I sometimes didn’t like how my food turned out so they would either be scrapped or I would do what I could with them, but I probably wouldn’t do anything with them. If something did go wrong then it was probably that I didn’t shoot early enough so I failed to capture the natural lighting or I was missing ingredients so I had to go out and get them before the shoots which took time, which led to not getting so much time for daylight.

One last bad thing was that I didn’t like stopping and starting making stuff to take the photos. I didn’t like the idea of leaving the mix or food just sitting there so I tried to be as quick as possible.

Thankfully, I had more good things to say about this project than bad. First off, I enjoyed this project. It was fun and I think I enjoyed it more because I simply liked the food I baking. I enjoyed eating the food afterwards and the making process too. I am really glad I chose a project where I got to include food.

I am happy with what I chose after all of it because I know I got better at it. If I hadn’t and just stayed at the point I was at at the beginning of this project then I don’t think I would have liked this as much.

I am glad at the fact that I got good responses on the social media that I posted on. I posted on Instagram and 500PX and am very happy as I got likes and a few comments telling me that I am good at food photography.

If a shoot did fail, I either scrapped it, tried again or I did what I could with it. I didn’t like scrapping an idea or shoot because the stuff I baked tasted really nice so if the images didn’t turn out good, it would make me a little sad or disappointed that I couldn’t make it work. I lost my confidence a little if something didn’t turn out right because I initially thought I could do it, even though if it went wrong, it wasn’t my fault. It was due to lighting/timing or money.

Conclusion and Action Plan:

If I were to have done this project differently, I would have put my photos into more of a story-line. I would take more photos and try to tell a story to viewers instead of just taking photos them being individual photos. I would also try to take photos other than brownies and other foods that would appeal to people with a sweet tooth. I did make a pizza at the beginning of this project but I didn’t like how it turned out or even tasted but I think that was just the source that I used. In the future, I would like to make pizza again but better, maybe pasta meals. But even if I don’t do that, I could always take photos of meals that my dad cooks as they can look quite nice too.

If I were to do this project again, I think I would definitely make it more of a story. Include the process more and try to get something across to viewers instead of just showing them a photo. I would like to make like a story board sort of look like I did in my Final Major Project last year. I think this would make my project better as it worked really well last year when I did it.

Another thing that I would do if I were to do this again would be to get better baking and/or cooking equipment as I would like to have more colourful or nicer looking things as the things I have right now are quite plain and basic colours. I think it would make my photos better. I would also like new baking tins and simple looking things as a lot of what I have at home, we’ve had for quite a few years so I would like to just update some things. One thing I would like to have is wooden equipment like a wooden chopping board or wooden handled cutlery. I like this idea because it would give my photos a theme and make them have a sort of natural aesthetic.

Task 5 – Presentation of Portfolio Project Brief: For this project you will use all of the skills that you acquired during you 1st year, and combined with new skills you will learn these will enable you to build Creative Professional Photography Portfolio.

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iona32 · 8 years ago

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Test Work:

For the following images, the first photo is the original and the second photo is the edited version. I will be using some of my test shoot photos for my final portfolio as I like a few of the ones I have taken. I they are good photos, I don’t see why I shouldn’t use them.

Shoot 1:

I did my first test shoot on the 10th of October, I went to a friends house and we baked cookies and made pizza. I took images of the process slightly and the final products, I edited them slightly, just small things like making them brighter for instance.

I tried to make the colours more vibrant but looking at it, I’m not sure if I like the final result. The original is bright, simple and I think plain. I don’t think it has much colour or depth. I tried to create these things by editing the image. To create the image, I thought it would be a good idea if the bowls and utensils were in a circle placed around the plate, I tried shooting it from above but it was too difficult to get the angle I wanted so tried to get what I wanted from a different angle. But I’m not sure I did.

I chose to edit this image because I wanted to make it have more depth, I wanted to make the colours more vibrant and I didn’t want it to be so plain. For the final image, I made the colours strand out a little more and I also cropped the image a little to make the cookies more centre than the other things in the image. I do like the final image better than the previous photo. I think I like the angle I took this photo better and how the fact that it looks all sort of placed. I also like the fact that I took it so I couldn’t see any wall in the photo, it’s just the surface and I think I like that in my images.

After editing this image, I think that I like the original more but I still like the edited version. I think the original image is brighter and the colours are better too. I cropped the photo and tried to add depth to the photo but I’m not sure if it turned out that way. I do like the fact that I cropped it the way I did but I don’t really like the colour of the cookie dough in the final image. I do like the angle I took the photo and I like where I placed everything. I think it works well but I do think I should have tried to get the the tin foil in the corner out of the image.

I prefer the original out of these two photos as it is brighter and has more in the photo. I tried to make it neater and tidier but I don’t think that worked. I made it darker which I regret and cropped it to make less of a mess in the photo. I also got rid of the couple of crumbs that are underneath the plate in the original photo which I regret as I now like it in the first image.

Shoot 2:

My second shoot was on Friday 20th October. I made ice cream and chocolate cake but the chocolate cake turned out wrong so that’s why theres isn’t an end product photo.

Out of these two photos, I prefer the edited one as I made it brighter, I made the colours pop and the shadows better in my opinion. In the original, it looks bland and pale and I wanted to make it the opposite. I don’t like how there is ice cream on the edge of the container as I wanted it to look tidy even thought the mess does add to the photo. I didn’t get rid of it though as I thought it would have made the photo look fake like it’s too tidy which I didn’t want.

I chose this photo to edit as I like the angle but I also wanted to get rid of all the scratches on the edge of the bowl and to make it look more clean I guess. I ended up making the chocolate look brighter and a little less like chocolate I think. I do like both images but I think I prefer the edited version.

I like this image overall because of the angle and the way the whisk looks. I like how the cake mix has been caught around the whisk and I like how I took it so you can’t really see anything other than what’s in the bowl. When editing the image, I knew I wanted to make the chocolate look brighter so you can see the texture more and I think I managed to do that but I think the colour is a bit off now. Out of both the photos, I think I like the edited version more.

Shoot 3:

I did my third shoot on Wednesday the 25th of october. At first, I tried making rainbow pancakes but that didn’t work out, I don’t think I cooked them properly and even if I had, the colours hadn’t turned out like I wanted them too. I had never made pancakes like these in the past so for a second try, I just made normal pancakes and put some things on top.

I chose to edit this photo because the angle from above works really well and I wanted to enhance the colours and make them pop. I cropped it when editing to remove bit of placemat in the top left corner and I think I edited it well. I think i am getting better at editing my food images and I am happy with my final image. I do prefer the edited one out of these two photos. I like how I also made this image so you can tell what the context is.

I edited this photo as I wanted o use it but it looked a little dark and a little bland so I made it brighter and I made the food look a little more appetising. I didn’t crop it at all as I liked the size of it as it was but I did take out a couple marks that I didn’t like in the original image. I do prefer the edited photo as it is brighter and looks nicer overall to me.

I wanted to edit this image as I took it at quite a different angle but if I could get rid of one thing, it would have to be the reflection from the window on the counter top. I cropped the image to focus on the pancakes a little more and to get rid of the lighting and I think it worked mostly. I made the colours more enhanced and tried to focus on one thing more by getting rid of the background mostly. I do like the edited one more as in the end, it looks more appetising than the original.

Shoot 4:

I did my 4th shoot on Friday 3rd of November, I made a big round brownie at my friends house.

I prefer the edited version on this image because it doesn’t make the brownie look so orange. I tried to make it look not so orange and making it look more like a brownie. The original looks too bright and straight in your face where as the edited on is dimmer and less shocking to the eye which I like.

I like both of these images because the original is really bright and everything looks good and natural but in the edited version, you can see everything and it is focused on those three things because its cropped. However, the brown sugar in the second image is a little dark but looking at both images fully, i do prefer the edited one.

Shoot 5:

My 5th shoot was on Friday 10th, my friend and I made chocolate cupcakes which I thoroughly enjoyed eating.

I like both of these images. The original is zoomed out so you can see more of the surroundings but the edited one is nice because it is lighter and has a close focus on that front cupcake. After looking at them both, I think I do prefer the edited one because it’s lighter and you can see everything a little more clearly.

I edited this image because I love the angle but it was too dark. I changed the exposure to make it brighter but I do think the brown colour isn’t as nice as the original colour. I do like both images but I prefer the edited version as you can see it clearer because it’s brighter.

I like both of these photos because the original has nice colours but it isn’t bright enough overall. I edited it to become what it is now. I cropped it a little to makes the main focus more clear and I changed the exposure to make it brighter so you can see everything more clearly.

I edited this image with the help of my tutor, Dan. He taught me a few more tricks to improve my images when I edit the. He told me to use this image in place of some other images from this shoot and I agree. This photo has ended up a lot better and a lot brighter. The original image was dark and horrible.

Shoot 6:

Wednesday 15th. This shoot turned out a little dark unfortunately but I do like the way they turned out once I edited them. A couple of these photos will definitely end up being final images. I made brownies for this shoot and I’m glad I did, I’m thinking about making them again.

I love this photo, both the original and the edited version. I edited it because I knew that some colours could be more vibrant and would improve the image. I think the outcome is great and I absolutely love it. I like that the focus is the chocolate with the eggs behind it. The other ingredients around them adds to the photo making the final image better.

I like the way I edited this video a lot, it sort of reminds me of Christmas due to the flour down the side of the bowl as it looks like snow. I chose to edit this photo because I like the angle I took it at and I think it’s one of the best photos I have taken so far. This will definitely be a final image because the image stands out to me, I love the way it turned out and out of all the photos iv’e taken, I like this photo the best.

With this image, I tried to get a half and half look, I got the idea from a photographer I previously looked at. Half of the photo is the end product and on the other side is the mess that created it. I like the pattern of the mess but not so much the colour of the chocolate brownie itself. I do like the overall turn out though and I am glad that I took this photo at the angle I did.

I chose to edit this image because it’s a different angle and it has a bit of everything in it. The end product, the knife that cut them up and a little mess in the background. I’m happy I took this image the way I did and I knew I wanted to edit it as soon as I looked back at it to make it brighter. This shoot was quite dark which I will learn from in the future. I also like how you can see the context of the image.

Shoot 7:

I did shoot 7 on Friday 24th and Sunday 26th, I made jam tarts and a Malteser cheesecake. Some of the photos were originally dark and some turned out great. The cheesecake was really bad because it ended up falling apart when I took it out of its tin, it still tasted great though. I think I am quite close to my production plan but i’ve moved away from it a little but just sticking with deserts. I did this because I like them more and I enjoy making them and eating them a lot more.

I really like this image, I like the angle, the depth, the colour and the context of the image. It has a lot in the background and I think that adds to the image, the jam jar is the main focus but that’s what adds depth. I edited this image to make the red brighter and to add more depth. It definitely worked. I love the result, I didn’t have to crop it because it was already at the perfect size.

I edited this image because I was unsure of what it could be. I’m glad I did edit it because the colours are more vibrant and the stand out, the angle is different to my other photos as this one is portrait which I think is important. This shoot was incredibly messy but that adds to the photo and sort of gives me a christmas feel which I like. I do like the end result and am glad I edited it.

I chose to edit this image because I liked the angle and wanted to make it brighter as it is very dark. this is something I still need to work on unfortunately but i’m glad I could make it work when editing it. It bothered me that the cheesecake didn’t actually end up staying together but i’m happy I got this image.

Shoot 8:

I did shoot 8 on Tuesday 28th, I made basic buns with vanilla butter cream on top. The original photos were still a bit dark but I think I edited them well but I’m not sure I like them enough to be final images.

I wanted to edit this image because of the angle but seeing it after editing, I think it’s too close and not good as a final image. I do like the focus but it’s not quite what I wanted it to end up to be. I think I could have edited it better but after knowing that I wasn’t going to use it as a final image, I sort of lost a little interest in the image.

After editing this image, I thought that it was too yellow and too cluttered in the background. When taking the photo, I thought the layout would have been good but looking at it now, I cans see that too much is going on in the image. I do like the angle and the focus though but this wont be a final image.

I like this image because it’s straight from above, I’ve added context with the recipe to the top left. It doesn’t have much depth but I think that’s due to the angle but I still like it. I edited it to make it brighter so I can see it clearer and I also cropped it and made the top edge line up with the line on the board below it.

Also on Wednesday 29th, my class had a critique session with out tutors. We had to produce the certain final images we had so far and to see what others thought of them. I showed a variety from all the images I had taken and got some really good feedback. I got told that I need to watch my backgrounds as they get too cluttered. I also got told to make sure the right things are in focus due to the jam jar photos where that was in focus and not the tarts.

Shoot 9:

On the morning of Friday 1st, I decided to make more brownies as I thoroughly enjoyed making and eating them last time.

I wasn’t too keen on this image but my friend said that I should edit it and use it so I did. To me, this photo is a bit simple and I don’t see the greatness to it but i’ve been told it’s a good photo to use as a final image so I will. I like the way I edited it as it’s not so dark anymore. It seems like it’s in more focus too.

I like this photo because it is at quite a strange angle and the focus it quite odd but I like it. The colours stand out and make the image look slightly festive. I edited it so it was brighter but other than that, I just sort of messed around with it because I didn’t know what else I wanted to change.

I really like the angle of this photo and the focus of it too. I edited it but didn’t change too much. Just little edits to the exposure, contrast, highlights and things like that. This image will be a final image for my portfolio.

I think I wondered a little away from my production plan as I went towards dessert recipes more than actual meals. I didn’t mind this as it sort of gave my project a theme. I didn’t really follow my mind map as I didn’t do half the ideas.

Task 4 – Project Portfolio Test Work: For the following images, the first photo is the original and the second photo is the edited version.

#food #foodphotography #photography

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