Assignment 2 - final

Final Report

Gourmet

I and Cristina went separately on the location, it was hard to me to choose a precise place for the shooting, so we pick up two different compositions and choose one after we had to submit the pre light plan. We decided to take the picture on the floor for graphic and color reasons: better for the text, not to disturbing to keep the attention on the food, graphically more interesting with the lines on the floor, textures on the floor and nice colors matching with the tomatoes and parsley of the plate.

1-      We are using available light as fill only

2-      We did not need a long lens for the compression reason, but I used my 18-200 to give me more liberty for the composition and shoot a little bit zoom out to give us choice for the crop.

3-      I used 5.6, sharp enough, we did not needed of dept of field

4-      We shot at 8-10/100 really, slow, but we had a tripod and a remote for the camera to make sure everything was on focus

5-      Yes we had enough of available light

6-      Yes we had enough strobe (using the modeling light). The only ‘’problem’, we had is to keep the softbox as fill also and add the kicker stronger, but without making strong and awkward shadows.

7-      Not too much light ... maybe you will find that the kicker is not strong enough, but I prefer it less contrast, but still with textures.

8-      The technical problems were : not enough extension cords because the switch plate were out of used....... so always check those switch AND make sure you have extension of extra. The challenge here was not really testing with the light before but I think we did it well without running out of time. Just a question of precision and patience, moving the lights. I bring some metallic paper, so it helped to give another kicker on the pastas. The polariser filter gives us less highlights on the plate, but kept some of the pasta, keeping the texture.

9-      Color balance; grey card. With the with plate, it’s not a challenge for this assignment

10-   We had the equipment we needed, including a light meter (which were very useful)

After we placed all the lights as we wanted, we ordered the final plate, placed the chicken pieces and tomatoes where we wanted them to be, using spoons. We also cleaned the floor before put the final plate and clean the plate itself where there is no food, less complicated after in post production.  We put the bread on the side in diagonal, give more dynamic! Finally they had some green garnish as I wanted to match with the floor, so we put some on the plate!

If I would have the time to re-shoot it, I would play more with the kicker and reflectors to give more texture or maybe another composition to try more things, with maybe a snoot instead of a grid for the kicker

Note to myself: always bring some elastic in my bag. Shooting with zoom lens is a pain when you shoot from above... by chance I had one!

prelight report

I liked the concept of the first picture (on the ground) because of the colors and lines (and really easier for the text) but I am going to use the second choice with the restaurant in the background because it give more ambiance and less complicated (for the reflections on the ground. I am not sure the polariser filter is going to be effective). Also it is more ‘’classic’’ for that kind of work.

Pre-Light information

1-      Camera position: 3 ft from the ground looking down on the plate, about 2-3 ft from the plate.

2-      Subject position: on the table. I need to see in the background the tables and tungsten lights (making one line). The subject is sharp, but everything else is out of focus.

3-      Long lens at around 150mm at maybe f/8. 200 ISO

4-       Lights : available light reading = I don’t have it really precise, its around 1/20 at f/5.6-8 ... available light really low but its going to be my fill light.

5-      Additional lights: one softbox (thungsten) as my main light and one thungsten with a grid for a kicker.  The softbox enough strong to give me f/8 at least. And the kicker at 4:1 ratio. An umbrella only for the background (but not necessary) at the minimum.

Report

1-      Available light is the fill because I cannot control it or change it.  The softbox is the main to give a nice light soft and an even illumination (balance). I will add a kicker to give more texture, highlights and contrast. I will maybe add a light in the background just to give an ambiance, but really not strong.

2-      I will take an 18-200 lens to give more compression of the picture and it will add more softness to the background. It’s going to keep the perceptions’.

3-      The aperture is going to be around f/8. I want all my plate sharp because a client wants his product on focus everywhere. But the background and the table can be out of focus to give more attention on the subject. Also, there are lights in the background and its going to be beautiful out of focus.

4-      The shutter speed can be slow because the food is not really moving. I will need a tripod for this assignment for sure. Its going be around 1/30 or more. I have to be aware of the food; pastas are flattering really fast.

5-      Yes I have enough available light, because it has to stay fill light. I just have to control the main one

6-      Yes I have enough strobe. I am going to only keep the modeling light so tungsten lights. It’s easier to work like that for product because of the mix of the colors of lights and because food is not moving, I don’t need to have flash. I don’t want to light too much the background because of the text of the magazine, I want them clear.

7-      I don’t have too much light, in that case I am really in control of lights.

8-      I will need a good tripod and a polariser filter to correct the reflection issues. I will need to work fast with the real plate because of the texture of pastas.

9-      Because I am using only tungsten lights, I will take a shot with a grey card on the spot.

10-   Equipment :

-          2 profoto kit

-          1 small softbox

-          1 umbrella

-          4 stands

-          5 extensions cords

-          1 light meter

-          1 grid (10)

-          Polariser filter

-          Tripod

-          Little white card (as reflectors)

-          Grey card

-         

Special requirements:  We have the permission via Valerie.  I did a research about what should look the pasta with ‘’brie sauce’’ (White-beige creamy look).

I am going to ask to the cook to add some herbs or green decoration to the plate to add more color with the brie sauce and the tomatoes (the cook was not looking really sure to have some).

Polaroids - food





   

Final Image

Report

What work well : The temperature were on my side, with nice clouds. The fact that I was sure how to light the place, I was confortable with the shoot. Most of the teams were shooting in the morning so the place were almost empty, so it was easier to deal. We had all equipment we needed and the model was there at the right time.

What did not work: I was there at 12:00, but because Mathieu were very late with the flashes, I started to shoot at 2 pm. I had to do it really quick because I was affraid that the light change and because we had to leave at 4hr30.

I changed the light in the back and instead of place it at the left, I placed it at the right and I did multiple exposures with 2 differents set up so it could be easier to correct the little things in post process. So it gives better results in the background instead of having a bright spot. (thanks Val for the comments at the shoot)  I used the same settings that I described in the pre-light report, but I used a 50 mm lens because I prefer the quality of this lens (sharp and brighter).

Post process : I corrected the thungsteen lights and the white balance. I did 2 masks with some different exposures. The light problem I got is that even my screen at home is calibrate, I don't have the same result at school with the Mac......  I hope the result is not going to be that desaturate as the result I have on my labtop.

 I totally forgot to submit the picture tonight in the dropbox at school because of the shooting in applied studio.......... I have no choice to put it tomorow....