Before we begin to photo shoot, planning is
quite important. One needs to know what you plan to do. The best place to get
ideas and inspiration is to study the good pictures and try to understand what
make it stand out. Pinterest has some beautiful pictures where one can be
inspired. You could deconstruct the picture to help you understand the
decisions the photographer had made while creating the photo.
let us study this picture for example : photo credit: Lara Ferroni
Points to be noted while reading a
photograph
What is appealing about the photograph?
Who is the main character?
What do you think the story is?
Can you identify the direction of light?
What props do you see in the photo?
What can you tell about the harmony and the
balance of the photo?
How is the space used?
Can you identify the camera angle and where
was the camera in relation to food?
How is the background?
What can you say bout the location of the
food photos?
Knowing and understanding all the details
then you can plan your own photo shoot.
To prepare for photo shoot, start by
creating a list of shots that includes all the possible combinations of camera
angle, depth of field, prop arrangement, food styling, framing and everything
else that you would like to capture during the shoot. Write down the list of
all possible shots that you would like to capture. Will you like an overhead
shot? What about silverware, one without any napkin? Another from different
angle? List all of these down. Also make a list of what you do NOT want to use.
This will help you not only when you are
ready to shoot but also save time in looking for things the last minute.
Next step is to sketch your shots. Sketch all the possible ways you would like
to photograph the subject. Creating a sketch helps you visualize the frame
before you start creating a photo. The process of sketching begins with
identifying the main subject, then secondary or supporting characters like
props, lights, angle and other things that are essential to the story.
Then you are ready to shoot.
On the days, when you are not prepared and
you wish to click pictures instantly, you may click a bad picture then go to
photo editing app to do the post processing of a photograph.
If you wish to add copy then you have to
create positive and negative space. Positive is
space occupied by food and other things and negative is the blank space
around the subject where you can add copy script.
