Personal Shoot 16 - Work Diary

In this shoot I decided to go back to using chocolate in my shoot to create an animation as this is not something I did in the previous shoot. I got a big bar of mint Aero chocolate as i felt that the green colour would make the photographs more colourful and interesting. Overall I felt that this shoot turned out really well however with regards to the animation less movement in each picture would have created a smoother animation however I did take every precaution to prevent this during the shoot however it has still remained an issue. 

I was pleased with the is animation as it had the least movement out of all of the animations and I think that it has good lighting and composition. To improve this animation I would incorporate more colour by perhaps having a different angle so that you can see the coloured wrapper or the inside of the chocolate.

I also really pleased with this photograph as the focus is really strong and clear on the centre square of chocolate. I think the back background also gives the photograph a really professional and advertisement feel to it and with regards to colour, composition and lighting is a very successful photograph. 

Overall I found this shoot went really well however to improve I would use brightly coloured chocolate and consider arranging it different ways just to get some more diverse outcomes and photographs. 

Personal Shoot 15 - Work Diary

For this shoot I looked at previous shoots and decided that I would like to complete some more shoots that are very bright, vibrant and colourful. I then thought that jelly would be an effective thing to photograph to meet this shoots aim. I think this shoot went really well as I got some really effective bright photographs however there were some issues with the shoot that I wish to improve upon. For example when you look closely at the green jelly it is split which creates a jump between the jellies in the animations which I would rather want there. 

I am really pleased with this animation as it works really well despite the fore mentioned issue with the green jelly. I especially like the colours, composition and lighting of this photograph however the shadow on the background is slightly different in each photograph.

I was pleased with this photograph because the colours of the jellies are all very vibrant and bright and all flash with each other. To improve upon this photograph however I would space the jellies equally apart and consider using more colours to get an even more interesting photograph.

Personal Shoot 16

Personal Shoot 15

Final Pieces

Animations from all shoots

Overall Evaluation

Overall what I have really enjoyed about this unit is choosing exactly what I was to photograph while still having the techniques to learn in order to give more experience and techniques to use for our personal shoots. For my personal shoot I chose to look at food photography as there was endless ideas for shoots and foods to photograph. I could also use a range of both location and studio shoots and end up with unique professional photographs. For this project I mostly used the close up lens with a boom set up in order to get the brightest lights possible to show the shapes and colours of the photographs. I found that brightly coloured foods made the best photographs as they stood out and create very eye-catching and enticing photographs. Textured foods under the boom created interesting and detailed photographs. At first I decided that I would actually make the food in which I would photograph however after making a few items I found it was far less time consuming to buy the products and had just as positive results.

The definition pages meant that before starting any shoot I had an idea of what all of the words related to food photography meant which helped me to understand what my aim for each shoot was. I found four photographs from existing food photography and looked at all of the different features which make up the photographs and what makes them attractive and enticing. I also looked at the dictionary definition of food photography in order to understand the actual definition and then came up with my own interpretation of the definition to make the work personal to my project. For the image banks I found and annotated six photographs relating to each of the techniques and twenty five photographs relating to my personal project. By finding and annotating twenty five photographs for my personal project this allowed me to gain in-depth ideas for my own shoots and understand the requirements for food photography shoots. For the research log I found 20 different photographers who work in the food photography industry and researched them and there work. This helped me ensure that my work was presented professionally and continued to give me ideas for my own work. I then chose my favourite three photographers and looked at there work in more depth looking at how they would influence my work and what I liked about their work. Doing this with five photographers meant that my work had lots of different varieties of influence. With the techniques image bank this gave me an idea of what I was intending to achieve before starting so this made sure that all of the work was more successful.

After every shoot I would make a work diary discussing the points that were successful from the shoot and what could have been improved. By doing this I could decide after each shoot how best to improve the shoot for next and in order to end up with the best possible work. Work diaries also helped me expand on work that I had already done as by looking back at my own annotated work it was easier to see how work could be expanded to make it better and more detailed. To improve my work diaries I would make sure that every aspect of each photograph was discussed to ensure that all areas were covered.

After I had finished all of my personal and techniques shoots I connected my work to five different photographs. By doing this I could see how well my work fitted into the food photography industry and  how it connected from the work produced by others. To improve my connecting essays however I would look further into the meaning behind each photo and connect on more than a visual level. My connecting essays looked at the photos detail and meaning in comparison to that of a professional which allowed me to choose the best way to improve my work and whether it fitted into food photography.

Creating the print techniques allowed me to practice and experiment with the different features of photoshop and also improved my skills throughout the project. However to improve this section I would try and use even more varied and difficult features to make the work more interesting and unique. I mostly just did one thing to a photograph and then called it finished where as I would like to in future look more closely into each print technique and create an effect relevant to the photo itself.

Since the beginning of the project I feel that i have made huge progress in all areas of photography especially in planning and developing shoots. With regards to editing I think i have made huge improvements with using software such as photoshop which at the beginning of last year I was completely new to and the start of this year was still a novice. During this project as well as learning the techniques I also learnt how to create animation which are some of my favourite pieces of work from the project. I also feel that this project has improved my composition and layout of my work resulting in generally improved photographs.

Overall I have really enjoyed this project and the work set throughout. What I have enjoyed the most is the choice of what to shoot while still learning new techniques that can be used throughout my own personal shoots. To improve this project I would try and develop all of my shoots as much as possible just so that I have explored every area of food photography that is possible.