Virtual Essay

I have chosen Herve Lefebvre as tyhe photographer for this assignment. He takes beautiful photos and the ones that I am most interested in looking at are his culinary photos. They are beautifully lit, at interesting angles and really make the food even more appealing than it already is. He does his subject justice in a big way. This is an example of a photo by Lefebvre:

Taken from http://www.foog.tv/?p=1046

Lefebvre using plating, design, and lighting to capture the food that he is photographing and make it stand out. Sometimes he will have items such as wine glasses or a kitchen in the background, but their outlines are blurred and they are just a backdrop for the food itself. He uses a variety of angles and takes his photos from varying degrees of closeness, adding variety and interest to each photo he takes. While all of the subjects may be edible items, it is not monotonous to look through them all.

Photo taken from http://www.imagelicious.com/services

The above photo was taken by Imagelicious Food Photography. I find it to be very similar to Lefebvre's style as it has interesting lighting and the background is simple and does not detract from the food itself. The lighting is bright as are the colours, drawing the eye right to the food itself. Lefebvre's style is prevalent in this due to the bright colours, the food being the main focus and lighting being used to especially showcase the food item.

Taken from http://www.vivianchung.com/blog/2010/05/food-photography-under-strobe-light-preset/



The photo you see above is taken from Vivian Chung Photography. On her website she shows two different versions of the photos, one is the original "raw" photo while the other is under a special lighting called strobe-1 preset. This instantly shows me that she is using lighting to capture a certain aspect of the food, just as Lefebvre does. Also, background images are used but only as a backdrop to the main focus and do not detract from the food subject matter. Lefebvre does this quite often in his photographs.

Taken from http://www.vadimdaniel.com/blog/food/decca77/

What instantly attracted me to this photograph as a possible influence by Lefebvre is the angle and closeness the picture is taken at, along with the brightness. As I had stated before, Lefebvre has used a variety of angles and takes his photos from extremely close or far. This photo is very reminscent of this style as it is so close to the food itself that you can hardly see the plate, let alone any background images. It is bright and colourful, showcasing the variety of colours and therefore textures on the plate. Lefebvre uses these techniques as well.

Photo taken from http://www.kathleenhinkelphotography.com/photos/food%20photography/

While this photograph does not have the same cleanliness to is as Lefebvre's normally do, there a couple of aspects to it that are reminscent of Lefebvre's work. The blurry background image is one of these aspects as you can see the fuzzy outline of wine glasses behind the food. The use of bright colours and bringing them out is another aspect. Finally, Lefebvre sometimes used the shapes and angles in the food to dictate at which angle he will take the photograph. This photograph uses the tall, upright stance of this dish as a guideline for a potrait photograph rather than landscape. It further uses this tall garnish in a great way with the photograph being on a slight angle but with the dish itself still anchoring it in the centre.

Photo taken from http://www.culinarysnapshot.com/

The whiteness of this photo instantly attracts me and makes me think of Lefebvre's style. Lefebvre's colours often only come from the dish itself, not from its surroundings or the plating, just as this photo has done. It draws your eye to the colours of the dish and the brightness of it, instead of everything that is happening around it. It makes the food itself the focal point, just as Lefebvre does.

Lefebvre takes beautiful photographs of food and does the work of a chef justice when he does so. Many photos are reminiscent of this style and use lighting, colours, and little background interest to bring the eye right to the food itself. Lefebvre's style may have been influence by other photographers, but many photographers seem to have his style and approach to culinary photography, as well.