Food Preservation & Sustainability

Food Preservation & Sustainability

I am currently working on a project which I hope to be part of my final degree project I am always very keen on starting my projects early which gives me time to gather ideas the project includes looking at the different changes we have had with food over many years and by documenting everything on my blog through a photographic journal while following a check list. I will be looking at how the wastage of food has effected so much around us that we now need to breed and farm animals so much more than we use to while also growing much more crops to feed society's ever growing population. I will also be including ways in which food preservation and sustainability can help our society overcome small but frequent problems.

Some of the sources I will be looking at include:

Online Sources which will include videos & articles as you may see on the right hand side of my blog here are some Food Preservation/Wastage videos.

The Centre for Sustainable Communities - free seminars which will be held at the University of Hertfordshire.

Making space for food in Hatfield and London - http://www.uh-sustainable.co.uk/events/2012seminar1.php

Survival books which will Specificly include food survival and food foraging.

Reflection

Throughout this Blog I have tried to include the ways in which I work to make what I do much easier for me. I have shown this by included great preparation tips such as creating tick/check lists and showing you the equipment I use at home to make time for what I do since timing is everything. I have included a few of my favourite photographers such as Chase Jarvis and Penny De Los Santos to show where I get my inspiration for what I do and to show how their workflow and imagery has changed me as a person into creating work which is unique and stands out. I have added previous photography work from the past as well as new work to show the differences within my work since my portfolio/website work has a much more clean modern look to food where as the work I do for university projects has a much more deeper meaning behind it to create a unique idea behind it and to show people something they may have not seen before. When creating work I often like to think of what I have created not to be the best I can do because this will give me a push to create something even better the next time round. I often post my work onto my Personal Blog so that people can take a look and evaluate what looks good and what looks bad this for me is very helpful when it comes to creating my final outcome within my work.

As you will see from my website and business cards making yourself known and putting yourself out there is very important to me since this is what will get you the attention from other people who may potentially hire you or be interested in buying your work. I have shown research through a variety of posts some being video research and some written both of which I believe to be important.

As I have developed my photographic knowledge I have gained an insight into the photography world which I never thought I would from technology to ideas and the history of photography. Recently I have been looking at food preservation since this is what I would like to focus my final project on and I believe that I have shown this in my previous work also but I would like to take it that one step further to create something different. As the population grows so does the need for food and I believe the way in which weather, wastage and food prices have changed will have a big impact on us traditional preservation methods and new methods are often overlooked by many people some may not have the time and some the resources but I believe that could change and I would like to create an idea for my final project relating to this.

Most Recent Work - Natural Habitat

My most Recent work includes a project which I had to come up with myself and since at the begging of this project we were focused on John bergers why we look at animals I decided to continue looking at this from a photographers perspective and by using food. For this paricular project I came up with the idea of looking at meat on a plate in a different way by looking at where the animal comes from and its own natural habitat.

These are some of the final Images in which I came up with each picture has a short summary of what is included within the image and its relation to the animals habitat.

Fish Habitat - Sand, Kelp (Fish, Brown sugar, Dill Herb)

Pig Habitat - Mud, Straw (Pork Sausages, Melted Chocolate, Wheat Cereal)

Lamb Habitat - Field, Hay Bale (Lamb Chops, Melted Chocolate, Herbs, Wheat Cereal)

Cow Habitat - Field, Trees, Nature (Minced Beef, Melted Chocolate, Herbs, Brocolli)

Jasmin Schuller

Very recently I found a photographer who created a series of pictures entitled Sweet Meat the idea is so simple but very effective and stands out from the other food related images because of what is involved in creating it. You have probably guessed what it involves from the title itself but I am going to tell you anyway. The final images consist of raw meats that are styled to appear as desserts and they do exactly that. Jasmine has been exhibiting the collection everywhere and has been featured in Russian Esquire and De:bug.

Here are some of the images from her series Sweet Meat.

Ref: www.jasmineschuller.com

Photography Tips I Use

Below are some of the types of tips I follow to make my life easier when taking pictures in the studio. I find these very helpful since sometimes they can be very simple things but can often be forgotten.

Choosing a setting that enhances, but doesn't distract from your food. Pick a simple, plain background or tablecloth.

Holding still. In low-light situations like restaurants and kitchens, long exposures will register any camera movement as blur. Use a tripod whenever possible

Take lots of pictures. Move around the food and see what angle looks best: down low to see the food head-on? Up high to take in the geometry of the presentation?

Get in as close as you can. Use the macro setting on your camera if it has one. Fill the frame with the food, so the viewer can almost taste it.

Don’t forget to take pictures of the process. Sometimes making the food (chopping, cooking) can be as interesting as the final product.

Work quickly. The faster you take pictures of the food, the fresher it will look. Cold, congealed meat and wilted salads just don’t look good.

Check the edges of your plates and glasses for stray food, and wipe away any smudges. Use sauces and garnishes to add colour to drab shots.

There are many more ways to make your life easier when in the studio but these are just a few as examples to show my ways of working in the studio.

Personal Blog/Social Media

My personal blog and social media accounts are very useful to me in many ways not only to show people my work and update them on what I am doing but also to gain critical analysis from others to make my work better than it may be. I am a strong believer that nothing in life is perfect and for me every piece of work I create can always be better, this is why my Personal Blog and social media allows me to do this by sharing with friends, family and fellow photographers so that they can tell me what may be missing from a particular image or idea. Below I have included my Personal Blog for you to visit if you would like to see it.

www.hhamitphotography.blogspot.com

Business Cards

Business Cards are very important to me as a photographer since many people can forget you this is a way to ensure that if somebody would like their photo taken then all your information can be found on one card for them to contact you. Since I am mainly interested in food photography for me business cards are more useful to hand to companies but I have included that I am also a freelance photographer which states that I am open to taking any type of image if needed such as a portrait as I have done in the past for friends and family.

Below you will see how my business card currently looks please click image to see a larger view.