PROJECT TITLE
No Cake without a Knife
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
As a child, a really important hobby of mine was baking. Over the past years, I’ve mastered cake recipes and cake decoration, through lots of trial and error. I’ve made various flavors with different types of fillings, and have baked cakes for quite a lot of events. A cake of mine that has been really popular is a white cake with Chantilly cream and fresh fruit, such as strawberries and peaches. I will definitely be making this cake along with a Chocolate mousse cake.
Food, along with photography, are 2 hobbies of mine that I want to always improve in the best way I can. Food is a subject that has worked very well in commercial photography. Many people take photos of their food, and they want the photo to look like how it tastes. As many people say, you first eat with your eyes, which is a very true sentiment for most.
Through my final project, I want to depict the comfort that comes with baked sweets in a series of photographs. I want to create a couple of different cakes, with different environments that can really spark the essence of the subject. Part of my theme would be the social aspect of cake, sometimes cake is used in a tea party, or a wedding, or many other types of events. Mainly because when there are desserts, there is usually someone with you.
The technical issues of this project would be in regards to portraying the fidelity and taste of the food, through realistic and high resolution images. The use of colors should resemble, or remind the audience of the subject’s texture: soft, light, smooth, and the other many ways you can describe a good tasting cake. I also want the images to be slightly overexposed and bright, as well as have a softer, warmer tint. For me, visual storytelling is incredibly important, which is why I will be adding props and various materials to make the photographs create more of a narrative.
OUTCOMES
- 7 images of 3 or 4 decorated cakes with related props
- Taken in a self-built studio in my home
METHODS AND MATERIALS
- Camera
- Lens
- Soft Lightbox
- Table
- Decorated Cakes
- Props
REFERENCES
The Visual Feast is a book that provides many photos, and writes about the details of contemporary food staging and photography. This book has dozens of references and helpful tips in food styling and lighting for contemporary photography.
Still Sunday & Co is a food styling and photography artist that takes photos of various foods, but her phenomenal cake and desert photos are what speak to the mission of my project, through her use of technicality and storytelling.
Pat Doherty is a contemporary painter that paints cakes and desserts in very colorful and saturated paints. https://www.patdohertyart.com/collections/31035