An Excuse to Bake
We had made plans last week to spend the day in Hershey Park. But then we looked at the weather and the forecast was for up to one inch of rain. Several summers ago we ignored the weather and went anyway — we learned our lesson. With the trip postponed until later in the week, and the rain falling in sheets outside, what else could we do but bake a chocolate cake?
Of course my REAL motive for baking the cake was to put together a still life that looked like it wasn’t pulled together: a casual still life, informal and seemingly “found.” Can you see the flour “spilled” on the counter? Yes, I am a messy cook, but let me tell you, that was sprinkled in just the right place. Every detail of this was reviewed, shot, moved slightly to the left, shot again and then moved to the right… you know the drill. Getting that “thrown together” look is harder than it seems — so many little details that are easy to overlook until you look through the viewfinder. The frame condenses the scene and then you notice things.
Behind-the-Scene
Because I’ve been doing most of the classical-style still life set ups with the softbox, I decided this would be a good time to bring out the umbrella for a change.
That giant six-foot umbrella barely fits in my living room, let alone my tiny kitchen with a very low ceiling! You can see how the poor thing had to be bent and twisted to fit the space. But since it’s such a big modifier it creates a big light which in turn makes for a very soft light.
In the BTS shot, the flash is on camera left but in the picture up at top it is at camera right. At some point in the shoot, I switched it from side to side but then I only took the BTS picture at the end and I choose one of the arrangements from the beginning of the shoot because it looked the least composed. But, I’m sure you get the idea.
An Alternate Process
Now the featured image edit is pretty straight forward. I find myself preferring clean editing these days. But, hey, I like to have fun too and I can get pretty wild and crazy with the split toning at times. I was inspired by Kim’s use of the tone curve in her KK_Serendipitous Lightroom preset so I began experimenting. Pulling things around in the lower end of the red channel (and using a bit of yellow/red split toning) I came up with this alternate processed image.
What do you think? It kind of reminds me of flipping through my mother’s Southern Living cookbook collection from the 1970s.
What a great post Jessica…I have not visited your blog page before but you do beautiful work…oh my, I’ll be back..such a great end result photo also…I’m taking lessons here…first, tripod, and then light…I would never know how to use that…I think that’s why I say I’m a natural light shooter…LOL
Thank you for your visit to my blog…I love your comment about the coffee and loneliness…
Have a beautiful week.
Thanks, Cheryl! I’m so tardy in getting my replies up! I hope you have a great week too! : )
Love seeing your “behind the scenes” Your work is fabulous!
Thanks, Diana! You’re very kind. : )
It’s nice to meet you, Jessica. Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting. It’s always fun when one gets visitors and they leave a comment. First, I really like your behind scene look and explanation of your lighting. I learned a few things as I use natural light most of the time. Also, I think you’re right above the photo looking like it belong in the 70’s. Lovely and creative work.
Thanks, Kris! It’s fun to play with the vintage look, isn’t it? But then I always think about my childhood photos stuck in that coloring and just can’t bring myself to purposely apply it (without creating a couple of other variations) : )
What a fun post Jessica! This is my first visit to your blog…The first image, I seriously thought it was a true thrown together shot, then I scrolled and saw your set up, umbrella and all! It looks like unstaged, and I love the touch of split toning you did. Hope you get to visit Hershey soon.
We did get to Hershey, Beverly and it was a perfect day. I’ll probably get some pictures up soon but I kind of kept the camera tucked away and just enjoyed the time with the kids. For the most part. At least until the light got really interesting…
My first time here as well, Jessica. Love how you’ve put this together and shared your process! Really enjoy your photos …. have been wandering around a bit and soaking them up. Thanks for your comment on my post…. 🙂
Thanks so much, Janet! I’m so glad you came to visit. : )