N-Photo - The Nikon Magazine - USA (2019-07)

Do you get photographic
inspiration from other cookbooks?
Not really. I think my inspiration
comes more from Pinterest and
Instagram. I use them quite a lot.
Sometimes, I will have a picture in
mind and do the whole set and get
everything setup. For instance, my
original image of poached pears is
without anyone in it, that’s a pear in a
dish on its own. With the blog, I like to
have different angles and different
positions, and once I’ve got my
actual picture I’ll just play around

• so there’s pouring shots of the
  pear, then it’s cutting shots and
  sometimes my best pictures will
  come from that, just having fun.

There seems to be two main types
of images: looking from above and
from the sides. Is there a specific
reason for this?

The top-down shots are very popular

for food photography. They are not

my favourite form of styling. I prefer

a shallow depth of field to my

pictures – for a top-down

photograph you need to have the

whole image in focus. It is a different

styling technique. I will use that a lot

for the recipe books I shoot for my

US publishers, because that’s a style

they like. It’s also a preferred style on

Instagram. It’s easier to look at

because it’s quicker to look at a

picture that’s taken from above.

I prefer to do more straight-on work,

because I like how the shallow depth

of field looks.

Are there other angles you

try to include in a shoot?

I like to have people in the picture as

well. You get a warmer approach and

more welcoming feel from that.

Another popular angle is the three-

quarter angle, so imagine you’re

walking towards a table and you’re

looking down as if you’re about to sit

down. It’s a very natural approach

when looking at a picture. That’s

really nice for dishes that have a

lot of interest at the top and on

the side of the dish as well.

Which lenses do you prefer to

work with mostly?

Above: Citrus

slices, an exercise

in playing with

vertical lines,

circles and

contrasting

colours.

Camera: Nikon D850

Lens: 24-70mm f/2.8

Exposure: 1/100 sec,

f/5, ISO1000

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use it wisely

THE N-PHOTO INTERVIEW