This project is part of monthly personal project series that I'm doing in 2023 to stretch my creative food photography and styling.
Each month I cook, style and shoot recipes from my favourite cookbooks. In February I chose Jamie Oliver recipes from one of his cookbooks called Everyday Super Food. This is a book I've had for years and still keep coming back to for it's relatively easy but healthy and tasty meals.
The food recipes I selected are foods that I find challenging to style: open wraps and pasta. I also chose a simple drink as I hadn't photographed one for a while and felt it was time to add some new shots to my portfolio!
View more projects in this series:
Jamie Oliver Recipes: Rainbow Open Wrap
I started with the Rainbow Open Wraps (pictured above) and went for a very light, bright and airy style. The wooden board and white wood surface worked well to contrast with the colours, yet keeping the rustic and care-free approach to putting this recipe together.
I also took the opportunity to do some product photography with the flatbreads. Shiny, plastic packaging can be difficult to work with, but I was lucky with the soft side-light which seemed to avoid any nasty reflections.
You can also see the St Clement citrus drink in the background of these images, as I decided to shoot two recipes on the same day and felt the colours of the drink complemented the food well.
I struggled at first to find the best light for the drink, but after some perseverance I found the perfect spot where the soft window light shone beautifully through the grapefruit slice.
I kept these shots pretty simple and just added a human element in the second image to make it feel like the viewer is being served.
I also played with a variety of flatly compositions and added some daffodils to create interest and height. I changed the backdrop in the two images on the right to create a softer vibe and put more of the focus on the food.
Having the product poking in at the bottom right mimics what sponsored posts on social media and blogs could look like.
Creative projects
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Jamie Oliver Recipes: Skinny Carbonara
Lastly, I prepared the skinny carbonara and styled it on a white tablecloth with a glass of red wine to give it a more sophisticated feel. I didn't have much time, so tried different angles and positions for the props for variety.
I worked with the hues of red and green, which are complementary colours to create some contrast and vibrance.
In the images below I added a wine bottle to show subtle product photography in this kind of scene. These images are also edited slightly warmer for a more inviting feel.
Food Photography Magazine
Finally, I put the images into a mock-up of a magazine to see how they would look in an editorial design.
I hope you enjoyed this personal project!
Which image is your favourite? Share your comments with me below.
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