Last semester, my friend Gabriel Barreto--a 16-year-old professional photographer--was asked by Casa Gourmet to take pictures of all their products (over 400). After being asked, Gabriel contacted my friend Andrea, treasurer of photography club, and Karen, a member of the club, to see if they would like to help him shoot the pictures. He also asked me if I would like to be the "food styler" and although I had never really styled food before, he said that I would be perfect for the position because I had so much experience decorating cupcakes. So I decided to give it a shot, and around December of last year, we had a meeting with Claudia, the restaurants owner, to understand what type of pictures she wanted, when she need them for, what days we could shoot, and how much all of it would cost. We agreed that since so many products had to be photographed, it would be best to shoot over several days in summer.
Before I knew it, it was summer, and our first shooting day had finally arrived! We worked from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. To be completely honest, my favorite part of the experience was being able to see how the restaurant worked "behind the scenes". There was an entire area designed for the preparation of the food, another for the decorating of the desserts, and a final one for the packaging. And while I thought the restaurant was only a story high, it was actually a lot bigger because there were offices were the owners handled all of the businesses logistics.
After having chosen the best space to work in, we set up all of the lights and I was amazed by how much equipment you could use to simply take a picture of a dessert or a meal. Once the lights had been set up, the desserts we had to shoot first were brought up (it was so hard not to eat them because they looked so good)! The first picture was definitely the hardest because we had to modify the light until it was perfect. But after the first picture, it was simply a matter of changing the desserts and placing them in the right angle for Gabriel and Karen to take the picture. Claudia and I, on the other hand, were in charge of placing the dish in the right position, making sure that the plates decorations complemented the dessert and making sure that the right plate was being used for each picture. We were also able to give our opinion about each picture and suggest ways in which Gabriel and Karen could photograph the desserts. It was definitely a long day but I had an amazing time and I got to enjoy of some really good desserts at the end!
Before I knew it, it was summer, and our first shooting day had finally arrived! We worked from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. To be completely honest, my favorite part of the experience was being able to see how the restaurant worked "behind the scenes". There was an entire area designed for the preparation of the food, another for the decorating of the desserts, and a final one for the packaging. And while I thought the restaurant was only a story high, it was actually a lot bigger because there were offices were the owners handled all of the businesses logistics.
After having chosen the best space to work in, we set up all of the lights and I was amazed by how much equipment you could use to simply take a picture of a dessert or a meal. Once the lights had been set up, the desserts we had to shoot first were brought up (it was so hard not to eat them because they looked so good)! The first picture was definitely the hardest because we had to modify the light until it was perfect. But after the first picture, it was simply a matter of changing the desserts and placing them in the right angle for Gabriel and Karen to take the picture. Claudia and I, on the other hand, were in charge of placing the dish in the right position, making sure that the plates decorations complemented the dessert and making sure that the right plate was being used for each picture. We were also able to give our opinion about each picture and suggest ways in which Gabriel and Karen could photograph the desserts. It was definitely a long day but I had an amazing time and I got to enjoy of some really good desserts at the end!