Sharing my recent Personal Project exploring the Elements Of Nature combining it with Food Photography.
Hello everyone. For the last few weeks, I am on a work break. I have been working throughout these past months. Thankfully even due to COVID lockdown, I had work. For that, I am most thankful to my clients, who trusted me and my work.
As I approached my business's year anniversary, I thought it was the right time to take a break and evaluate my work.
Lockdown led to the idea:
For me, the lockdown was the perfect time to connect with nature. Even though I didn’t go out, I spent my time in my backyard. The most wonderful part of my backyard is a huge tree. It covers and shades most of the yard. When we got the house, this tree was a highlight.
I spent my days hanging out in the backyard, watched the days go by, and observed the seasons change.
This gave me an idea about incorporating the Elements Of Nature And Food.
Now how would that work was my next question? This is how I went about it.
Categorizing the concept:
I divided the concept into five main categories:
Earth
Water
Air
Fire
Metal
For each element, I went with a color palette which represents the element. For instance, in the case of Earth- I went with brown and green tones.
Next, I decided on the kind of light I wanted to use to highlight each of the elements in connection to food.
I will go more into details of each element below. Let’s begin.
Earth:
“The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment, and feeling truly alive. ”
Camera Settings: ISO- 200, 60mm macro lense, f/9.0 and 1/5 sec shutter speed.
The Earth Element is all about stability and groundedness.
For the earth element, I chose to go with brown as a background depicting the soil/earth. The wooden plate as well as the additional layer of the earth element which cradles what was growing.
The green leaves of Arugula are the element showing the fertility of Mother Earth. The natural emerald green represents the zest nature provides to us.
In terms of light, I used natural light and small focus light on the left side of the image to highlight the greens and the brown tones.
The spray of water is an additional element to convey the freshness and lively nature of the Earth Element.
Water:
“I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding”
Camera Settings: ISO- 200, 60mm macro lense, f/5.6 and 1/30 sec shutter speed.
Water is the energy of flow and flexibility.
For me, water is all about its fluid nature. The way it easily flows and adjusts to its environment. With its persistent pace, it can change the surrounding. I think this applies to our life as well.
While working on the water element. I chose this Blue Drink as my subject. The blue represents the water element in itself. I have added ice cubes to enhance the fluid nature of this element.
I went with a natural backlight to enhance the blue color of the drink and the highlights in the glass. For the added layers, I used rock salt to garnish the rim of the glass to which depicts Ice. Now the ice is an essential component of water, isn’t it?
Air:
“Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something.”
Camera Settings: ISO- 200, 60mm macro lense, f/14 and 1/6 sec shutter speed.
Air is filled with the energy of movement and change. It can be as gentle as a feather tickling your face or as wild as the powerhouse to rip off the roof.
For this concept, I wanted a light, dreamy, and airy mood. I was inspired by a windy afternoon. The pleasant wind blowing and gently touching my face was an experience in itself.
So I went with a marble vinyl backdrop which gave a feel of amongst the clouds. The mirror acted as an illusion of clouds. A delicate balance between fantasy and reality.
I have used artificial lights, a softbox, and one focus light to illuminate the scene. My love for Abstract Photography is at it’s best in this image.
Now tell me, is anything as light and airy as the above image.
Fire:
“Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire. ”
Camera Settings: ISO- 200, 60mm macro lense, f/13 and 1/5 sec shutter speed.
The fire is the energy of passion and vitality. It involves lighting up everything from within to the fullest.
The fire element was quite challenging for me. I wanted to bring out the emotion of passion and vigor through the image.
At first, I went with a red backdrop, but it was conveying more of the passion, I wanted vigor and vitality as well.
Hence I went with the orange backdrop. The orange color of the cherry tomatoes with the orange backdrop made a perfect match. For the additional texture, I used some water spray.
In terms of light, I have used a natural backlight and then added a spotlight from the left side. The result was these hard shadows coming from the cherry tomatoes and the water droplets. These hard shadows are the depiction of the burning flame.
Metal:
“Metal is the feeling of being an outsider, but still being part of something huge. ”
Camera Settings: ISO: 200, 50 mm macro lense, f/5.6 and 1/15 sec shutter speed.
It is the metal in the earth that gives it its inner structure and value. Metal allows us to shine, to be brilliant, to inspire. Metal also has a component of flexibility as it can be remolded many times. It is one of the essential elements of our daily lives.
For this element, I was looking for colors that represented a particular metal. In the above image, I have incorporated Gold/ yellow and orange tones in egg yellow and vegan pork. The Copper in the brown tones of the dish. And Silver/ steel in the fork and knife along with the textured backdrop. And finally the White gold in the water glass with ice.
I used natural backlight to enhance the water glass highlights and the food resulting in a beautiful contrast of shadows and highlights.
I thoroughly enjoyed doing this project. Incorporating these elements in photography was kind of an eye-opening experiment.
I hope this project inspired you in some way to view food and the elements of nature are all connected. This is my artistic representation of both subjects.
Here we come to the end of my today’s post, my latest Personal Project- Elements Of Nature And Food.
You can check out my earlier personal project here on Bold Color Food.
If you like my work and are looking to collaborating or just want to say Hi, send me an email at Hello@deepikahaldankar.com or use the Contact Form.
Wishing you all a wonderful day ahead. Keep exploring. Keep Creating.