HONEY, GARLIC AND CHILL PRAWN SKEWERES ANALYSIS OF STYLING CONSIDERATIONS
When styling the dish above, Honey, Garlic and Chili prawns, there were many styling considerations that contributed to the final product. Some of the components considered while preparing this dish for photographing were, how the food included in the dish was presented, whether a garnish is needed, whether any props should be used and what type of lightning will be used. All these components play an important role in the presentation of the dish. When styling my dish I considered the colours that my foods produced. The prawns are a vibrant orange colour, which provides a fresh appeal to the dish. I contrasted this with the bed of lime green lettuce, which appears under the prawn skewers in my photograph. The dish is styled neatly, which conveys a crisp appeal to dish making it appear fresher. To add height to the dish I used the bed of lettuce as a prop to make the prawn skewers sit on top of the dish and appear more full, plump and therefore fresh. In my photograph because of the angle taken and the height that I have achieved with the bed of lettuce, the prawns appear larger then they would in real life. Overall the dish was styled to make it the meal visually appealing and enticing to the viewer. When styling this dish I choice not to include a garnish as the prawns themselves have flakes of chili and garlic on them from there marinate. They also had darker areas scattered on them prawns from where they had been cooked which added texture and colour to the dish. These forms of “garnishes” added colour and interest to the dish. When styling my prawn dish I didn’t use to many props, as I really wanted to put the focus on the juiciness of the prawns. The props that I did use were a basket with a bed of lettuce sitting on a layer of paper towel sheets. I used a black background to make the light colours of the dish pop. These few props I used helped to add texture and colour to the dish making it more visually appealing and interesting. They helped to create a theme of a modern casual Australian meal, without taking the attention away from the dish. When considering lightning for my dish I focused on enhancing the prawns and giving them a lightning, which made them, appear more fresh, juicy and full of flavor. I used a harsh artificial light from above the dish, which worked perfectly creating a glistening effect on the prawns, which makes the prawns appear juicy and fresh. All of the above styling considerations were a crucial part of the styling process when I was preparing the dish for photographing. Without considering some of the above components the desired look for the meal could not have been achieved.
FETTUCCINE WITH MUSHROOM BOLOGNESE ANALYSIS OF STYLING CONSIDERATIONS When styling my main dish Fettuccine with Mushroom Bolognese, there were many styling considerations that contributed to the final product. Some of the components considered while preparing this dish for photographing were, how the food included in the dish was presented, whether a garnish is needed, whether any props will be used and what type of lightning will be used. All these components play an important role in the presentation of the dish. When styling my fettuccine dish there were many aspects that I had to take into consideration. The colours of this dish are very warm in contrast to the Prawn dish. Where the prawn dish has a fresh crispy appeal, the fettuccine has a warm and homey appeal. To emphasize these warms reds and oranges I used red props such as the tomatoes and bowl to highlight the red tomato residence in the sauce. This dish is not styled “neatly” in the sense that it does not appeal “perfect”. It is styled to appear like it would in reality “not perfect”. I did this on purpose as it catches the eyes of viewers, and makes them see it as something that they could too cook. In an effort the add height to my dish I added a clump of mashed potatoes underneath the fettuccine. This makes the meal look more filling and wholesome. Because of the way I have set out the dish and the props used with it, it makes the bowl showing a serving appear as larger. By having the pot of fettuccine in the background and the focus being on the bowl of fettuccine, it makes the dish appear as larger and more filling. I styled this dish so that it appears as visually appealing, the kind of dish that when you see the picture your mouth begins to water. When styling this dish I decided to use a garnish of some small cut up basil leaves. The small green basil leaves scattered amongst the top both the bowl and the pot in the background add contrast and create interest within the dish. By adding the small green leaves to the dish the overall appearance and appeal of the dish is improved. It adds texture, colour and interest to the dish and represents the theme of the meal, highlighting the fresh produce used within each recipe. When styling my fettuccine dish I used a variation of props. The props I used were the fresh produce (vegetables), white tablecloth, larger red pot, fork and the red bowl. The fresh produced placed in the background is used the add colour and interest to the image as well as representing the theme throughout the book (the used of fresh produce). The white tablecloth placed under the dish adds contrast to the dish, having the white under the juicy red dish makes the food really pop. The fork seen in the red bowl with fettuccine swirled around it is used to make the dish appear as real. It shows the viewer that it is not just a prop it is real. The red bowl and pot used in the dish are used the highlight the red tomatoes used to make the dish. They highlight the fettuccine and make it appear brighter. When considering lighting in this dish I wanted the dish to appear juicy and hot. For this reasoning I used a artificial light from directly above the dish. Having the light above the dish made the fettuccine appear slimy and moist, which was the desired affect. It created a shining effect on the fettuccine making the dish appeal moist and fresh, therefore visually appealing. All of the above styling techniques were taken into consideration when styling this dish to make it look visually appealing, warm and fresh. Without all these components thought out properly the dishes desired appearance could not have been achieved easily.
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Swiss Chocolate Moose ANALYSIS OF STYLING CONSIDERATIONS When styling my dessert Swiss Chocolate Moose there were many styling considerations that contributed to the final product. Some of the components considered while preparing this dish for photographing were, how the food included in the dish was presented, whether a garnish is needed, whether any props will be used and what type of lightning will be used. All these components play an important role in the presentation of the dish. When styling my dessert there where many aspects that I needed to take into consideration in order to make the dish look as appealing as possible. The dessert featured a variety of strong bold colours. It included white, brown and red, all colours that stand out brightly on their own. To make sure the photo was balanced I made sure strong colours were balanced out well. With the strawberries I added a pile of strawberries to the side to balance out the boldness of the strawberry garnish featured on the moose. This dish is presented not entirely in a neat way, but this was done on purpose. By grating chocolate and scattering it all over the dish it shows that it has imperfections, that it is real. This image of a real dessert entices viewers, as they believe that they too are capable of making this “real dessert”. In this photo the food, in particular the strawberries appear to be larger then life size. This makes them seem more full and fresh. This fresh and perfect appearance draws viewers in. All these aspects contribute to ensuring that this dish appear visually appearing in an effort the entice viewers. On this dish I chose to use garnishes to add interest and texture to the dish. More then one garnish was used to make the moose appear as appealing as possible. The whipped cream acted as a flavor-‐adding garnish, which brought a new element to the dish, and lightness. The strawberry added colour to the dish and provided contrast making the dish appear more interesting with the variety of textures. And the grated chocolate added a realistic appeal to the dish as well as adding yet another texture which made the dish appeal exciting and desirable to the viewer. When styling this dish I chose to go for a rustic country theme, which fit in well with my modern Australian menu. To achieve this I used props. The beige/brown rustic looking plate beneath the moose was chosen to help communicate this theme whilst at the same time show of the moose. In the top left corner of the photo there is a pile of strawberries and Toblerone chocolate scattered. This was done to draw attention to the fresh produce used in the dish, which is a theme, that it constant throughout all 3 courses of the book. When styling my dessert I decided to use an artificial light from directly above the dish. This was because of the angle of which I took my photo from. Because I wanted to photograph the dish from above a lighting from directly above the dish was best suited as it reflected off the moose perfectly giving it a moist glistening appearance, which was the desired look I was going for. This showcases the dish making it appear visually appealing. All of the above styling decisions were taken into consideration when styling to moose to ensure that appeared visually appealing to the viewers. Without taking many of these aspects into consideration to dish would not achieve the desired appearance.