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Final Evaluation

Over the course of my negotiated project module, I have been working on an International Cook Book as a project given to me by the University of Worcester’s International team. Over the course of the past few months, I and my work partner Emma have been working closely with the team by attending numerous meetings to discuss various aspects about the cookbook and the approach we and the International team would like to take for this project. Emma and I have expressed our Ideas and thoughts and collaborated with them to get a final definitive outcome for the book. 

In doing this I have done a considerable amount a research into existing cookbooks and the photography that goes into them, in terms of style, composition, lighting, etc. Using this knowledge I have then been able to carry out a series of test shoots where I have been able to expand my skills and learn from prior mistakes in order to work towards taking my final Images. I have adapted and overcome various problems that I have faced such as taking lighting tutorials in order to effectively and safely handle big lights so that I can transport them into different locations in order to capture a certain shot. I have also experimented with new equipment such as the LED light kits and the 50mm prime lens in order to help myself capture better shots. 

In the end, when taking my final Images I have thought very carefully about things such as the composition, lighting, angling, focus, etc. As well as considering the safety of myself and others when managing different kinds of equipment, this being lights, camera, etc. I would then go on to precisely narrow down and organise my final Images several times until I came to two final Images per dish I was happy with. I would then continue to edit these Images in Photoshop to enhance the lighting, exposure, colour, etc. And correct any issue that made the Imageless satisfying. 

Overall I am pleased with the final outcome and believe I have learnt a lot from this project in terms of time management, adapting my skills, facing and overcoming my problems and working collaboratively with a team/client to achieve a final outcome. 

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Cook Book Pages 

Here a few pages of what will appear in the International Cook Book that I am helping to create. My work partner Emma who will put the cookbook together and design the illustration for it has put together a few of the pages for the book. The pages of the book share a common theme of presenting the dishes recipe and her Illustrative designs on the left page and then showcasing my photography on the right page, featuring my edited final Images. 

I am very pleased with the final result of the pages as it nice to get a sense of how the final cookbook will look and expresses much of the effort on both mine and Emma’s side towards creating this final product. 

Something that I particularly enjoy about the whole design of the pages is Emma’s Illustrative design’s in correlation to my photography of the right. I feel that the two aspects bind really well together to create something that feels pleasing to the viewer to look at and feels more Inviting. 

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Study: analysing photo’s across social media

Looking at Pinterest

I decided that a good site to observe some professional style photos would be Pinterest as it is known for its vast array of shared Images and the website is solely purposed towards Image sharing. 

I looked at a few Images on Instagram to explore different examples of food photography. Above are a few selections that particularly stuck out to me. 

What they did well?

Left Image - What I really enjoyed about this Images was the level of detail in the dish. The powdered sugar contrasts beautifully with the yellow Pancake and blueberries. 

Middle Image -  I felt that the composition of the dish for this Image was really unique as the photographer deliberately placed the dish off-centre which seems out of place but works well. 

Right Image - I felt that in this Image the artist has used a low depth of field as a means to add a dramatic interest to the background. The use of pink on white is also a satisfying contrast. 

What they did bad?

Left Image - I felt that something which could have been done better was the choice of background, due to it being white I believe it somewhat takes away from the white sugar of the dish.

Middle Image -  I think the fact that the dish is off centre could possibly affect how well the dish is noticed overall and how well the viewer Interprets it.  

How well did mine do in comparison?

Observing these Images I wanted to take into consideration just how well mine stood up against in comparison. In terms of things like composition, I think mine have been fairly similar in some regards

Reference:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/245375879672373512/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/530369293608257745/

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/576320083547749449/

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Examples of bad Images I have taken

Over the course of my negotiated project, I wanted to explore areas of the project where I believe I have not done so well. Exploring these bad Images is a good way to analyse and critique areas where I have made mistakes so I can learn from them and avoid them in the future. I will look at a range of areas such as composition, lighting, angling, focus and camera settings.

Image 1

For this Image I made one big and clear mistake, this being that the Image is far too overexposed. This would be the result of my camera settings were adjusted to a certain way that causes the Image to be overexposed, this is likely down to my shutter speed is too high and my aperture being too low or the other way around. 

Overexposure is definitely something I want to avoid in this situation as it can greatly deter away from the look and feel of the dish. For example in this situation, the vast cover exposure massively takes away from the vivid green of the kiwi’s, whilst also taking away from the detail of the white meringue. Overall it means that I am unable to get the same effect as I would usually and doesn’t meet the quality you’d expect to find in an official book.

To avoid this problem I will be constantly checking to make sure that my exposure is suitable level before shooting. This level can be checked on the settings within the camera I would be using. 

Image 2

Here is an example of where I have made a mistake with focusing on the Image. For most dishes, if not all, the key Importance for me was getting that nice, crisp focus that represents the quality of the Image and would always feel unsatisfactory to look back on an Image that I thought hit all the right areas but to find the quality was not up to scratch. 

For this Image above I was trying to mainly focus on the forefront part of the cornbread cake and whilst the quality in this Image may not seem too far off, I feel like it was something that I could have gotten in more detail. Fortunately, with a problem such as focus, the mistake is rather easy to correct as it is simply trial and error. Eventually, after this Image, I would take a few others until I got an Image/Images I was satisfied with. 

Image 3

To me, this Image was a bad example of how I had angled an Image poorly. As it can be seen at the bottom of the Image, the wooden board that the dish is placed on appears slanted and that is mainly down to me trying to take an overhead shot whilst using the camera freehand. The reason I would try to avoid freehand when taking overhead shots is for this very reason. It can make the Image appear much less satisfying when the dish seems wonky and off-centre. 

I have had a few Instances of this happening whilst taking overhead shots, particularly when shooting my Images. One way I would try and correct this issue would be to crop the Image a bit smaller to make the slant unnoticeable and if necessary I would rotate the Image to make it appear straight. However, in the future, I would like to try and avoid this issue altogether and I believe the best way in doing so would be to try and use a tripod or something similar that could stabilise the camera. 

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Unedited & Edited Images of the International Food Fair Winner

As an almost side task for the International cookbook, I was asked to take a professional Image of the winner of the international food fair. This was because the winner of the fair was to appear in the cookbook as the prize for their prize-winning dish. 

I was more than happy to take an Image of the winner, the International team who were in charge of the cookbook managed to fit the schedule of taking the winner’s photo into my time with the studio where I was already taking Images of dishes, which proved convenient. 

I experimented taking shots, having the winner stand in different poses with her dish clearly presented. There was initially almost a fatal error where the dish almost slid off the plate which could’ve been bad so I must watch out for this for any future shoots. Overall the Images turned out fairly decently. I even experimented with taking Images of the winner outside to get a more natural feel. 

In the end, I edited two Images that thought would be most appropriate to use, which are the top two Image shown above.  

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Photography Studio Images 4 (Edited)

Long Grain Black Rice

Left Image - I upped the exposure for this Image, as well as the white balance in order to light the dish effectively. I went on to lower the blacks filter and raise the contrast in order to help the black rice stand out better. I had also adjusted the greens and yellows of the saturation filter in order to effectively allow the celery in the bowl to stand out. 

Right Image - For this dish, I had neutralised the temperature in order to make the lighting appear more natural. I then went on to Increase the black filter in order to allow the long grain rice to stand out. I then clarified the Image a bit to further Increase the detail in the dish. One of the final adjustments I made was raising the blue filter in order to bring out the colour of the bowl the dish was present in. I then raised the yellows and greens filter to help the Celery stand out. 

Russian Potato Pancakes

Left - I raised the exposure and whites filter for this Image in order to effectively raise the visibility of the dish. The enhanced whites allowed the sour cream on top to remain dominant in contrast to the yellow of the pancakes. I had also raised the yellows and oranges saturation in order for the pancakes to stand out well as they are the main focus of the dish.   

  Russian Flat Pancakes

Middle Image - For this Image, I have focused mainly on enhancing the saturation for the yellows in order to allow the pancakes to stand out. The oranges and reds have also been enhanced to allow the Inner contents of the dish to flourish. I wanted the Inner contents to be more directly noticeable and this is the part of the dish I believe the viewer will see and be more drawn to, coming off as more appetising.  

Right Image - For the right Image I have heavily enhanced the whites filter in order to make the background and bowl contrast heavily with the pancakes and jam. I had also enhanced the reds and yellows saturation in order to make this contrast more effective. I did not want to over saturate the Image so I kept it at a moderate level. 

Pea Soup

Left Image - For this Image of the Pea Soup, It contained a lot of vivid colour so I wanted to make sure that made it stand out effectively and I wanted to get a nice level of saturation without under saturating or over saturating the Image. 

Chili Pepper and Rice

Right Image - For this Chilli dish I knew straight away that my goal was to prioritise editing the Chilli, in particular, to make that stand out the most. When originally taking the Image I knew that the Chilli would be the most significant part of the dish. To enhance the Chilli I would raise the saturation of the reds, I also tampered with the luminance in order to give the dish a different reflective nature. 

Pickle and Cheese

Both - For these Images I edited them very similar so I thought I would sum up the editing process of the Images in one. For this dish, I prioritised the bowl of pickles. I was specifically requested that it was important that I make this the focus of the dish. When editing the Images I started by making sure the temperature was fairly neutral to make the Image appear more natural. I then went on to heavily adjust the black of the pickle and the white of the bowl in order to get the dramatic black and white contrast effect. 

I did not want to take away from the main focus of the dish, so I only slightly enhanced the yellow and oranges colour to bring out the other dishes features. 

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Photography Studio Images 3 (Edited)

Chinese Vegetable Curry

Left Image -

Right Image -

Cornbread Cake 

Left Image 

Right Image -

Cornbread in Banana leaf

Left Image -

Right Image - 

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Photography Studio Images 2 (Edited)

Kiwi Pavlova 

Left Top Image - Originally this Image was very underexposed but since I had shot in raw nef, adjusting the brightness was very simple and easy. Once I had raised the brightness I had to adjust the whites, my reasoning for this was that the white of the meringue was quite powerful and needed toning town in order to not take away from the rest of the dish. In most areas the dish already looked quite good, I wanted to then edit the saturation of the colours.  I raised the saturation of the green to allow the Kiwi’s to be very noticeable, in my opinion, these were the most extravagant part of the dish, so it was important they stood out the most.

I also raised the black filter in order to effectively allow the black plate to contrast the white Meringue. I believe this helps the dish stand out more. 

Bean Fritter 

Right Top Image - For this Image, I have effectively adjusted the brightness in order to appropriately expose the Image, which will allow the viewer to better notice the Image. As well as this I have adjusted the saturation of colours such as red, orange, yellow and green in order to maximise these colours to make the dish stand out effectively. 

Chick Peas and Rice 

Left Image - For this Image, I have raised both the exposure and the white filter in order to expose the Image so that it is appropriately lit. I have also adjusted the saturation of mainly the greens and yellows in order to make the centre of the flourish. 

Right Image - For this Image, I approached the same style where I have adjusted the brightness and exposure in order to effectively expose the Image in order to the viewer to feel satisfied observing the Image. For similar reasons, I have adjusted the saturation of the greens and yellows for this dish. 

Chili and Rice 

Left Image -

Right Image -

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Photography Studio Images 1 (Edited)

Almond Biscuits

Left Image - For this Image, I raised the exposure and the white filter to make the Image visually brighter. The then slightly increased the clarity to tone the features of the biscuit. I want to then adjust the saturation of the colours orange and yellow to enhance the dishes features, particularly the almond nut and the biscuit. 

Right Image - Similarly for this Image, the aim was to essentially boost the Image exposure to liven the Image and then adjust the saturation of the colours orange and yellow to help bring out certain features of the dish.

For this dish, I also ended up slightly cropping the Image in order to even out the left and right sides as the right side had a slightly larger gap making it uneven and would overall make it less visually appealing towards the viewer. 

Anzac Day Cookies

Left Image - For this dish, I raised the exposure and slightly enhanced the clarity to bring out the dishes features. I then went on to raise the saturation and luminosity of the oranges to enhance the colours of the Anzac cookies making them standout the most within the Image. 

Right Image - On the right Image I noticed that that the background was quite noticeably overexposed, however, I felt that this worked in the dishes favour making the cookies and the wooden board stand out more clearly. I decided that I would continue to raise the white to create a full white background. I then went on to raise the oranges saturation and luminosity to help further bring out the dish. 

Beef and Rice 

Left Image - For this dish, I have raised the contrast and exposure, in particular, to help bring out the dish. I have used the temperature balance in order to effectively neutralise the colours of the dish. I then started playing around with the black and white filters, which allowed a stronger contrast between the white rice and the darker contents of the meat and sauce. 

Right Image - Similarly for this dish, I have adjusted the exposure to allow the Image to become more presentable. I then altered the contrast, along with the blacks and whites filter in order to strengthen the contrasts the contents of the dish. 

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Food Fair Photo’s 3 (Edited)

Ritz Carrot Cake 

Left Image - For this Image, I have decreased the warming effect to neaturalise the colour. I have then slightly enhanced the clarity to further define the dish. Using the saturation filter, I adjusted mainly the oranges and reds in order to make the colours strong for the carrot cake. Lastly, I used the spot healing tool to get rid of a few extra crumbs that fell on to the sheet in order to make the Image seem more clean and professional.

Right Image - For this Image, I have decided to slightly raise the temperature to add some warmth to the Image. I felt this dish may benefit from a slight yellow tone as the idea of the dish is to be hot and welcoming. As well as this I also adjusted the clarity slightly to add definition and raised the saturation of the oranges, red’s and yellow’s in order to make the colours stronger for the carrot cake. 

Apple Pie 

Left Image - For this Image, I have naturalised the temperature, whilst also raising the exposure to make the Image brighter. I then decided to raise the dishes saturations, focusing mainly on the oranges in order to appropriately bring out the Apple Pie’s features.

Right Image - Similarly I have the same thing for this Image by adjusting the temperature and exposure to make the Image appear more natural. Then I went on to adjust the oranges again to help bring out the features of the apple pie. For this Image specifically, I have had to use the patch healing tool in order to correct a problem Involving the background where some of it was partially black which distracted from the original dish. The patch tool allowed me to blend some of the existing backgrounds over the black in order to correct this. 

Cookies 

Left Image - For this Image, I have focused primarily on bringing out the features of the Cookies through the use of the sharpening tool by raising that to around 50 to maximise resolution. I then adjusted the clarity slightly to also help bring out the dishes features. I felt that sightly raises the temperature to add a warmth effect helped the Idea of the Cookies being a traditional dish that Invited the viewer in. 

Right Image - For this Image, I have more so neaturlised the colour in this Image so that we can see the dish more for what it is. Doing this allowed me to raise the exposure accordingly and then adjust the saturation of primarily the yellows and slightly the oranges to maximise the dishes colours making it stand out well. 

Baklava 

Left Image - 

Right Image -

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Food Fair Photo’s 2 (Edited)

Protein Bars 

Left Image - For the left Image I edited the temperature to neutralise the colours. From then I raised the white filter help contrast the brown of the protein bar and the white of the plate, I felt that this made the dish stand out more. I then raised the saturation of the orange colour to help bring out the inner features of the protein bars. 

I also used the clone stamp tool to eliminate some of the grey backgrounds as I felt it took away from the quality of the Image.

Right Image - For the right Image the process was fairly similar where I equalised the temperature and raised the white filter in order the allow the dish to stand out from the background.  

Domino Brownies 

Left Image - For the left Image the aim was to liven the colour. I enhanced the white balance make the Image generally more bright and noticeable. I raised the saturation of the oranges to help bring out aspects of the Brownies. Lastly, I used a spot healing tool to get rid of unnecessary crumbs around the plate.

Right Image - For the right Image I raised the exposure to help bring out the Image as well as neutralising the temperature to make the Image appear less warm. I raised the white filter/yellow saturation to help bring out the star shapes. Finally, I enhanced the black filter to better bring out the brown colours to make the brownie itself stand out and become more appealing. 

Quiche 

Left Image - For this Image, I neutralised the temperature to get rid of the warm features. I then heightened the exposure as well as boost the whites to help overall brighten the Image. I wanted to then slightly boost the clarity to help bring out the features of the Quiche more. Finally, I raised the saturation of the yellows and oranges to help better bring the Quiche to life. 

Right Image - Similarly to the left Image I neutralised the temperature to decrease the warm effect. I then raised the exposure to enhance the brightness of the Image. I then went on to raise the saturation of the yellows and oranges to further bring out the colours of the Quiche. 

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Food Fair Photo’s 1 (Edited)

Bread Board 

Left Image - When editing the left Image I slightly adjusted the temperature to give it a slightly warm effect. My reasoning for this was to make the dish have a more Inviting look to it. I slightly adjusted the white in this Image to make the partially white cloth stand out more. The clarity was also slightly adjusted in order to define the details in the bread a bit more, I did not want to over do it as it can make the Image look unappealing.

 I then move on to adjusting the colour saturation, firstly I adjusted the saturation of the orange to make the bread stand out more, this was the most Important subject in the Image so I wanted to make sure this was the most noticeable part of it. I boosted the saturation of the yellows quite a bit as well to Illuminate the butter a bit more as this is also a part of the Image i want to stand out quite a lot. I then slightly adjusted the saturation of the greens and yellows to slightly bring out the Interesting table cloth as it added some key Interest to the Image.

Right Image - For the right Image I changed my approach here and adjusted the temperature to give a more neutral look to it. I then went on to slightly adjust the exposure as well as white and black filters. Finally I adjusted the saturation of certain colours such as the orange and yellows to help bring the dish to life. I was trying to give the dish a more softer, lighter touch here that made it appear more natural. 

Boiled Rice, Pork and Fish 

Left Image - For the Image on the left I started by slightly adjusting the temperature to give it a warmer look. I then adjusted the exposure and contrast slightly to make the Image more visible. The whites in the Image were slightly boosted to give contrast between the bowl and the dish. From here I started to adjust the colour saturation. My focus was to boost the orange colour of the Image the most as this was the largest percentage of the dish, I also boosted the luminosity of the orange colour to bring the colour out even more and have it be the most eye grabbing part of the Image. 

For this Image one of the problems I faced was having small bit of food scattered around the bowl that generally made the dish less appealing. I decided to fix this problem I would use the clone stamp tool to copy an area of white within the bowl and paste it over the bits of food, which was really effective. 

Right Image - For the right Image, there was somewhat of a similar process where I adjusted the temperature to give the dish a slight warm effect making it more appealing visually. I then slightly boosted the exposure to make the Image brighter and more noticeable. Finally since the dish was shot in macro I only had to focus on the colours of the dish so I raised the saturation of the colour orange to make the rice more noticeable. 

Cakes 

Left Image - For the left Image when editing I wanted the Image to stand out more so I I started by slightly adjusting the temperature and tilting the colour slightly to make the colours appear more neutral. I decided to slightly adjust the brightness as well as the contrast to make certain features stand out. To make the white Icing of the cake stand out more I adjusted the white filter up to further make this stand out as well as upping the black filter to make the chocolate chips further stand out. Next I wanted to further define the colour of the Image so I decided to boost the saturation of all yellows, this made the cake contrast more with it’s surroundings making it more eye catching towards the viewer. 

For this Image another change I made was that I used the clone stamp tool and copied the background of the top left of the Image, to the top right of the Image. My reasoning for this was there was a dark grey in the top right of the Image that looked out of place. I felt this change was necessary to make the Image appear more professional. 

Right Image -  For the right Image I applied a similar process where I slightly adjusted the temperature and colour tilt and get a more neutral colour. From then on I slightly adjusted the brightness, contrast and ex exposure to get a clear, nicely exposed Image. From Here I again adjusted the white and blacks filter to help Illuminate the Icing and chocolate chips for them to properly stand out on the dish. My next step was up the saturation contrast for the yellow colour to allow the cake to stand out more, making it more appealing to the viewer.

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Images Shot in the Photography Studio (Unedited Images 5)

Chili Pepper and Rice 

Left Image - For the first Image I aimed to capture the dish close up in order to make the Chilli pepper the key centre of focus. Using the 60mm prime lens I was able to capture just the Chilli in focus whilst the background and rice remained out of focus creating a dramatic depth of field. 

Right Image - For this Image, my main aim was to position the angle to an overhead shot so that a majority of the dish was in focus. Using this angle I was able to keep the Chilli pepper as the key source of the Image. 

Pickle and Cheese

I was mainly trying to explore different angles with this dish, but primarily trying to keep the focus on the Pickle aspect of it as this is what the dish maker requested. I decided to place the dish on a wooden chopping board as it created a nice aesthetic composition, this allowed the white bowl to nicely contrast the brown wood. 

Left Image - For this Image, I took the approach of using a slightly high angle shot so that I could clearly present the pickle in the white bowl. I wanted to potion the shot so that the Pickle was the only thing that remained in focus and everything else in the background remained defocused to create a dramatic effect. 

Right Image - For this Image, I tried a similar approach to the left Image using a slightly high angle to clearly present the dish. As mentioned before I wanted to explore numerous angles of the dish, I tried this angle in an attempt to keep more of the dish in focus but having that slight bit more focus still weighted towards the Pickle. 

Bean Fritter

For the Bean Fritter’s I was trying to capture them in a way that presented the Fritters, the smaller beans and the Celery. 

Left Image - 

Right Image - 

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Images Shot in the Photography Studio (Unedited Images 4)

Russian Flat Pancake 

Left Image - For the left Image of this dish I was Interested in capturing the dish as a whole, the creator had bought in some complimentary jam and marmalade to go with the Pancake, which I thought would go well placed in a jar right next to the Pancake. Admittedly the singular pancake on its own didn’t hugely stand out and didn't offer a substantial amount of Interest but with the addition of the jam, it really helped bring the dish to life. I thought the use of a high angle would be a great use of capturing all the black dotted features that appear on the Pancake and that this dish was best captured in full focus. 

Right Image - I did quite the opposite for the right Image as I did the left Image. My aim was to test how the dish looked to form a side angle with the centre in focus. I thought that it offered an interesting look but didn’t fully capture what I was aiming for. 

Russian Potato Pancake 

Left Image - For this Image captured the dish from a high angle that captured the pancakes clearly. I positioned the Image so that the dish was the centre of focus.

Right Image - For the right Image I decided to add more Pancakes to give the Image more depth. I decided that the sour cream might add some key Interest to the Image if I placed it on the Pancakes as it added some Interesting contrast. 

Kiwi Pavlova 

Left Image - For the Kiwi Pavlova in this Image the aim was to capture the dish as a whole. I positioned the Image side on to perfectly capture all the detail in the meringue shell as well as the features in the Kiwi. I felt that in this Image the Kiwi was what added the most depth to this Image as it stood out the most in terms of colour. 

Right Image - I wanted to see how the Pavlova would look as a single slice on its own. I felt that in doing this I was able to Isolate the dish better which allowed us to focus more on its features and the inner contents. 

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Images Shot in the Photography Studio (Unedited Images 3)

Cookies 

For this dish I had previously taken Images at the students union hanger at the food festival but I wasn’t massively pleased with the Images I had taken and I felt I could do better. I requested to Amanda if it were possible to recapture the cookies and have the contestant bring some in. The contestant was more than happy to bring the dish back in, which I am grateful for. 

Left Top Image - So for this recapturing of the dish, I was keen to try harder in order to capture the dish well. For this one Image, I had capture I wanted to be creative with how I captured it. I thought considerably about the angle I took it in, using a slight Deutsche tilt method in order to captivate the viewer. I used three cookies keeping it rather simplistic and isolating making the dish stand out. I placed the cookies on a white background as it contrasts well with the colour of the dish.

Pea Soup 

Right Top Image - Since the contents of this dish were placed in a bowl it felt necessary that I approach capturing this Image from a high angle to capture contents more easily. This dish was particularly Interesting due to the vivid nature of the yellow soup along with the green Peas. I arranged the dish in a way that collected the green Peas towards the centre of the dish. I felt that drew the viewers focus on one particular spot as opposed to multiple areas. 

The bowl was placed on a standard wooden board to make up for an Interesting background, along with a standard metal spoon to add some depth to the Image. 

Cornbread Cake (Sweet) 

An Interesting looking dish made out of cornmeal, traditionally prepared using Banana leaves to enhance flavour to the dish. I used a black plate in this Image to nicely contrast the bright yellow of the dish helping it to stand out. 

Left Image - For this Image, I approached taking the dish from a high angle to accurately capture the dishes features. I placed some of the Banana leaves on the dish to give the Image some more depth and creativity, this Inclusion of the leaf seems to add more to the Image in terms of tradition and tells us more about where it is from. 

Right Image - For the right Image, I wanted to experiment with the dish by cutting out a slice of the cake and photographing just a single piece. I figured that in doing this would allow me to explore more creative angle and focus on different aspects of the dish, including the inner contents. 

Cornbread in a Banana Leaf Package (Savoury) 

A very fascinating dish, that consisted of cornbread, meat and a range of vegetables. The dish is then wrapped in a Banana leaf and steamed over a period of time. This dish had a lot to work with and I wanted to approach it in a number of different ways. I figured for the final Images, the book would show a small montage of the dish, an Image of them in their packaging, an Image of one in its packaging and one out and then a final Image of them out of their packaging fully. 

Left Image -  For the left Image I decided the capture the dish resting on an unfolded Banana leaf as I felt it added a certain aesthetic to the Image. I then caught the dish from a high angle a bit off centre focusing mainly on the cornbread packages.

Right Image - For the right Image I attempted a closer approach, focusing on the contents of a single opened banana leaf package. I focused the low depth of field on the dish, which created a blurred foreground for dramatic effect. The wooden spoon I added to the shot to Improve the overall composition. 

Long Grain Black Rice 

For the long grain black rice dish, I thought this would be best suited being placed into a small bowl as the dish was Interesting in terms of looks but there wasn’t much to it and figured that placing it into a small bowl would help compact the dish more so I could focus more directly on it. 

Left Image - For the left Image I went for a Deutsche tilt method for Increased dramatic effect. I captured the shot at a mid-range to show both the bowl and the contents clearly. 

Right Image - I tried to think somewhat out of the box with this Image, thinking how I could be creative with the Image. I thought that capturing half the bowl side on would look abstract and unusual in a way that caught the viewers attention. 

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Images Shot in the Photography Studio (Unedited Images 2)

Cheesecake

For the cheesecake dish, I really appreciated the concept and somewhat seemed out of the ordinary. When capturing this dish I wanted to do so in a way that captured its beautiful features.

Left Image - For the left Image I decided to capture the dish on a checkered tablecloth, I felt that this gave the dish somewhat of a picnic style theme to it that I believe worked to the audiences viewing pleasure. I positioned the dish in a way that considered key focus to just one of the glasses and has the other one in the background blurred due to using a low depth of field.

Right Image - For the right Image the aim was for me to make the dish appear more isolated whilst using a similar technique as the left Image in that I would focus on one glass at the forefront of the Image. I personally liked this use of isolating the Image more as I enjoy how much the dish contrasts with the background.

Chickpea Curry

For this dish I spent a while trying to set up the composition of the Image, thinking carefully about positioning as well as what I placed the food in and what I placed it on. In the end, I figured a large, almost flat like bowl would be the best to present the dish. I would use a traditional style tea towel as a background for this dish as it seemed to work well with the theme of the dish as well as being suitability contrasting. For this dish my camera settings were not 100% accurate and caused some of the Images to be underexposed, however, this can be easily adjusted in Photoshop. 

Left Image - For the left Image I would capture the Image from the side at a high angle to clearly present the features of the dish such as the rice and the chickpea. 

Right Image - For the right Image I wanted to get an overhead shot, so using the free held camera I carefully tried to place the dish in line with the towel in the background. 

Chilli, rice n beans

For the chilli and beans dish, my main focus was trying to prepare the dish in a way the organised different sections of the dish into layers so that they contrasted each other. I feel like this would make the dish neater and appealing to the viewer.

Left Image - For the left Image I captured the dish as an overhead shot. My reason for this was the black plate on the white background. This added a deep contrast which made the dish appear as more dramatic. Along with this, we have the strong red of the Chilli and this shot allowed me to easily focus on the Chilli as the main centre of the Image. 

Right Image - For this Image, I tried capturing the dish more macro style, going closer to the dish and focusing on the key aspect of it, this being the Chilli. I liked this shot as we can clearly see the detailed features of the Chilli making the dish more attractive to those who like spicier foods. 

Chinese Vegetable Curry

I felt the Chinese Vegetable curry would benefit most from being placed in a large white bowl as the dish had many colour features to visually wow the audience with. I thought a lot about the composition of this Image using chopsticks as a signifier for the audience that this dish is of Chinese background. I felt the blue cloth placed under the dish helped reinforce the Chinese aesthetic. 

Left Image - For the left Image, a low depth of field was used where I primarily focused on the contents of the dish and some of the chopsticks in order to create a dramatic effect. I felt that using a high angle in this situation allowed for the viewer to almost feel as if they were the person eating the dish, making it appear even more so appealing.   

Right Image - Similarly to the left Image, I approached the positioning from a high angle to present the dish clearly. I used a macro style to capture this Image as it allows the viewer to better to see the dish in more detail. 

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Images Shot in the Photography Studio (Unedited Images 1)

Almond Biscuits

The Almond biscuits were a delicious looking dish with a unique shape to them. I enjoyed positioning them along with the addition of the almonds being scattered around them. I felt this helped bring the dish to life.

Left Image - For the left Image I used a high angle as I wanted to really capture the dish fully as it had a lot of Interesting qualities such as the shards of almonds scattered on the surface. I wanted to position the biscuits in a way that kept a majority of it in focus, I liked the Idea of having both the biscuit and the almond seed in focus as the seed offers a key point of Interest with its strong contrasting orange colour.

Right Image - For the right Image, I wanted to try for an overhead shot the biscuits to capture the full dish. I was exploring a range of angles and felt an above angle portrait shot may look quite Interesting along with the beautiful flowery tablecloth that I selected to go with the dish. 

Anzac Cookies

The Anzac cookies are a traditional Australian/New Zealand sent over to the troops during World War 1, with both a rich history and delicious taste, these were a great dish to photograph. 

Left Image - For the left Image I photographed the cookies on an old wooden style chopping block. I thought this helped the dish stand out and enforced that sense of traditional food. The white cloth in the background further helped both the chopping block and cookies stand out above the background. For the cookies themselves, I decided to position them at a slight angle to present their cracked features to allow them to stand out. 

Right Image - For the Image, I wanted to capture the cookies from side view to capture them all in focus. I believe this made the dish appear more appealing to the viewer. Something I’d like to attempt in post edit is to up the vibrancy of the cookies to make them more visually colourful. 

Rice and Beef 

The rice and Beef dish was a nice looking dish that had a beautiful contrast between the white rice and dark brown beef glazed in the sauce. 

Left Image - For the left Image my aim was to position the camera that captured the dish head on from a high angle. I felt this captured a lot of the dishes interesting features. I placed sprinkles of rice over the Beef to add some contrast to the Beef to make the dish come across as more appealing. 

Right Image - For the right Image, I captured the dish side on and cut some of it off. I wanted to go for a more artsy, signature style that looked more professional as well as capturing key elements of the dish. 

Domino Brownies 

I had previously photographed the Domino brownies. But one thing I had regretted prior when photographing in the hangar is that I did not take the Brownies out of the pan to photograph them so I asked Amanda if she could ask the contestant to bring them back in so I could do a re-shoot. I was much happier with the reshoot and think they now look more appealing for the cookbook. 

Bottom left - 

Boiled Rice, Pork and Fish  

This dish was another dish that I decided to re-shoot in the photography studio as I realised that I could have captured it better than I had previously. This dish was also the dish of the winning contestant so I wanted to make sure that it was a high-quality Image.

Bottom right - For this Image I decided to place the dish in a white bowl that had a blue rim. I felt the dish was best presented in this as the white contrasted nicely with the strong orange colour of the rice. I decided the best way to present this would be a high angle overlooking the food to clearly present all the features.