Portrait at a Food Shoot
I have attempted food photography a few times in the past and felt it was important to try and take my images to the next level during a recent shoot at Latitude 41° restaurant in Mystic, CT. I scoured the internet to find a tutorial site and came across a fantastic post by Lee Morris of fstoppers.com that gave me a great starting point: Lee Morris shoots Oak Steakhouse. When I first arrived I introduced myself to the new chef who was finishing preparations on the various dishes to be shot. I enlisted the help of the manager on duty, Lara, in order to get the table set appropriately. During setup I have been making a point of engaging those I will be shooting in conversation in order to find out about their lives, what makes them tick and hopefully finding some kind of common ground in an attempt to make them feel more at ease in front of the camera as well as uncover some genuine emotion. Since food can’t talk it was only natural to engage Lara in some light conversation and find out a little bit about her, how she enjoyed her management duties at the restaurant and how she balanced those duties with her family life as a mother of two. After getting my lights set up the food dishes were brought out one after the next in rapid fire succession. I had to work quickly and with focus in order to try and nail each shot as quickly as possible. I didn’t vary my settings much, if at all, for any of the shots and wrapped up the entire shoot in less than 45 minutes.
I quickly broke down my setup and as the food mysteriously vanished plate by plate (full staff on an anticipated busy night) loaded it back into my vehicle. Storm clouds had begun to gather during the shoot and as the wind picked up I took one look out into the harbor and was stopped short by the sky. I realized I had, if I attempted it, probably less than 5 minutes in which to try and get a shot. I made the decision to go for it. As I scrambled to unpack one light and stand a large cardboard box went flying down the alleyway. There would be no need to unpack the umbrella. I tried to envision what I wanted to achive in my mind and grabbed a 20 degree grid to use in my light modifier. The wind continued to strengthen and as I whizzed back to the setup location the question remained: who to shoot?! Where did the chef go? It was only natural decide on the artist behind the food I had just completed shooting as my subject, but where was he? A frenzied two minute search revealed he had gone to another venue to prepare for a large party. What now? The heavens would certainly open at any moment, there was no time left. What about Lara? Remember all that light conversation during setup I mentioned? Turns out that groundwork comes in very handy when asking someone to drop everything they are doing while preparing to close outdoor patios and rework dining arrangements to quickly pose for a 60 second portait session in high wind with a storm rolling in. Lara didn’t miss a beat. “Right behind you! Where should I stand? What should I do?” As I quickly answered her questions and dialed in my settings I found myself remembering the advice of Zack Arias from his OneLight Workshop DVD set I recently invested in (ZackArias.com/workshop) “aperture controls the flash, shutter speed controls the ambient; aperture controls the flash, shutter speed controls the ambient…” As I repeated the instructions aloud to myself over and over (I tend to do that from time to time) I finally found the exposures I was looking for and got off about a dozen shots before unplugging my strobe, folding the light stand, racing back to the car and shouting a loud thank you to Lara who, in turn, raced back to her duties. In an instant the sky opened and the rain poured down.
While I endeavor to become a better all around photographer and know I can learn from any type of shoot, I have found that environmental portaiture has become my passion. I intend to dedicate myself to improving at it and seeking out opportunities to practice whenever possible. As it happened on this night it turns out I found what I was looking for.
Until next time – CSH
