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 Marie Torio is a NY based photographer specializing in food, restaurant, interior and editorial. Her website where she can be reached www.photosbymarietorio.com and her Instagram photosbymarietorio. |
| The phrase “less is more” couldn’t be more fitting for what I have to share with you today. As warmer weather approaches, we’ll soon have an endless amount of luscious fruits and vegetables we will be using in our day-to-day cooking and meal prep. I decided why not focus on just that and let that one ingredient shine through the lens. In this series you will see that I chose to showcase a batch of blackberries, apples, mandarin oranges and colorful grape tomatoes. Let's start with the beautiful blackberries. I felt the best plating would be something in a white finish so the color and textures of the blackberries would truly pop. Remember to pick your favorite window that provides the best natural light. Adjusting the focal point to either selective or auto tracking is important to achieve a photo like this. I purposely chose to add my focus to the front of the blackberries and wash out the background in order to create depth. Quite frankly, I wanted the first few in the front to be more in your face. Hold the shutter button until it’s focused on what you want and like what you see in the viewfinder. Next up is the group of apples. I selected the pink lady apples. Mostly, because it’s all we eat over here, I decided to give them a wash and wrap them in a burlap cloth but not dry them, because I wanted the drops of water to remain on the apples as I took the shot. A little tip, keep a water spray bottle nearby in case you need to give the ingredient a little pick me up. It adds freshness to the subject. I kept the surface light so that only the color of the apples is what stands out in the image. I also feel like placement is key. I don't like to over stage; in time as you keep taking photos your own style will develop. I aimed to have one apple to the side, the other straight and the other two in the back leaning against each other. I like to take photos that seem to come together organically. The next one is the gorgeous group of stemmed mandarin oranges. I walked by the fruit stand twice already thinking how I wanted to photograph them. I made the purchase, brought them home and got behind the camera before my two year old gobbled them all up. Here I decided to do an overhead shot next to my best window (can you tell I'm trying to drill this??… Look for that window!). I picked a wooden board that I have as a prop and placed the lines vertically to draw the eye from top to bottom, arranged the oranges in a way where you can appreciate the color green on the stems. Again, when I set them up I do it in a way where it looks effortless. Final one is the colorful group of tomatoes. I shot these on a light colored surface and then decided to take another set of shots on a purple napkin. I just fell in love with the rich purple color, the way the light hit some of the creases of the fabric and the variety of colors the tomatoes had to offer goes without saying. In conclusion, what can we learn from all this? Keep it simple, always look for natural light, stage your ingredients in an uncomplicated way, keep discovering your style and let that ingredient shine! Happy shooting!! |
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