Over the last couple of months, I’ve been ordering food and desserts via Zomato quite recklessly. Having convinced myself to allocate a part of my budget to a “mood-swing” kitty, I needed more to make it “worthwhile”. Hence, I decided that before I took a bite, I would photograph it as if I were photographing it for a client.
The white background has been a staple in product photography for a long time. Depending on how the photographer lights it, interesting results can be seen. I wanted to maintain consistency of aesthetic throughout the series. After I photographed the first pineapple pastry, I knew I wanted to keep the “look”.
I took a photograph of the setup, noted the EXIF values and gleefully ordered dessert after dessert.
Then Lindt Chocolate made an appearance. And my favourite Sushi and my spectacles made an appearance and finally, I included the Pixel Watch 2 in the same series. I tried to incorporate the food packaging in the images as well. The look and feel of the images is the same, but the shadows because of the packaging, add a little bit of differentiation.
The white background is Strathmore Paper, which Mohawk sent to me MANY years ago. I use them sparingly and carefully and during this series, I went through two sheets of paper and was upset about it. I guess, even after so many years, my scarcity mentality, when it comes to stationery, is alive and well. I don’t mind it – I appreciate the value of simple of things.
While I was able to justify the expense of time and money for a few weeks, eventually, I decided to pause the series for now. I started photographing this series towards the end of the winter season. As we progressed towards the summer season, I realized I was eating more cool salads and ice lollies than heavier desserts. This presents a new challenge – how to photograph quick-melting ice and still making it look clean like the above images? Here’s hoping that I get to it at some point!
