Final Evaluation Unit - 8

I chose to complete two photo-shoots for my overall Aesthetic theme within my home, for my first photo shoot I wanted to create my own homemade ice cream using moulds of roses and harts, my second photo-shoot also took place within my home but I changed the type of subject used I decided to use commercial brands such as Haagen-Dazs, Ben and Jerry’s and ca’dor.

I also completed two other shoots which are based on my Unit 8 tasks, I had to capture images of my lunch over the holidays the aim behind this was to give me an idea of the challenges related to food photography. For my second shoot I captured images using Programme mode on my camera and then capturing 4 images of the same subject using different metering modes, Evaluative, Partial, spot and Centre weighted average I also had to capture daylight and nigh time photographs.

First shoot

I had to firstly create my own unique ice cream so I decided to make my own Asian style desert which is called Kulfi , I remembered that my sister makes soaps using heart and floral shaped moulds so I used it to create heart and rose shaped ice creams. I then had to think about the compositional aspects of the frame so I created harmonising colour tones to go with certain ice creams for example I used a vanilla ice cream with a coconut and a strawberry ice cream with a red jelly. The kulfi ice creams turned out perfect and the photo-shoot went well but I had to be quick because the ice cream was melting this did not stop me from creating my images. I wanted a white background so I cut open a large box and lined the sides with plain white printing paper this allowed me shoot my image with a white background similar to studio shoots.

Second Shoot

To improve the overall Aesthetic theme which is now homemade ice cream against commercial supermarket brands I had to capture images of supermarket brands such as Ben and Jerry’s and Haagen-Dazs, I chose this idea because many people support homemade desserts rather than supermarket brands because of health related issues. This photo-shoot went well because I used the same background with different coloured ice creams like chocolate and strawberry this allowed me to create many effects such as

• ·         Low angle
• ·         Sport Metering
• ·         High angle
• ·         Bird’s eye view
• ·         Depth of field
• ·         Centre weighted average
• ·         Contrasting colours
• ·         Leading lines
• ·         Rule of thirds

I placed scoops of ice cream onto a cone and captured the melting effect this was used to draw viewer’s attention to my images. I also placed chocolate biscuits with chocolate ice cream to create a harmonious effect. Moreover I placed different coloured ice cream together to create a strong contrast within my images.

When planning my photo-shoot I was confident that some techniques would work for example I planned on placing cutlery at the base of my image to create a reflective effect but I found that this did not work so I decided to scrap this idea most of my photo-shoot was trial and error I examined objects that worked well together.

I created six mock posters using my favourite images; I also created my own Bradford based business named Yeti Ice Cream. I used a wide range of text and colour styles to enhance the detail within the posters four main techniques I used were:

• ·         Colour Popping
• ·         Image Weaving
• ·         Overlay Texture
• ·         Borders  
• ·         Warp effect

Using these effects in Photoshop improved my editing skills and creativity; I think it made my posters eye catching and unique

The Photographer who motivated and inspired me to create images of ice creams was Gareth Morgans because I value the way in which he used leading lines to draw and guide viewers to his images, I also wanted to use this effect, at an early stage of my project I was not sure on which aspect of food photography to explore but after viewing his images I was motivated to capture images of ice creams I believe this saved me a lot of time.