Photographer- Nik Sharma

Nik Sharma is a chef in progress. His photography work, comes from his blog, in which he records all his latest recipes. He recently gave up his job in the pharmaceutical industry, to pursue his dream of becoming a chef and to explore the culinary arts. His photography, comes alongside his recipes, and has a separate section on his blog with his photography portfolio. He takes great pride and hard work to his photography as well as his recipes.

Moodboards- Nik Sharma

There firstly appears to be ingredients on a table in the foreground with Sharma as a figure in the background mixing the ingredients. The composition, is taken up by the subjects, and there is no space within the image. The subjects are placed slightly off centre to the right, so that the portrait includes the jars on the left side of the composition. Objectively, Sharma is seen to be mixing two types of ingredients together onto the work surface. The photograph captures the falling ingredients which shows the movement. The ingredients have the element of rawness to them being earthy colours and tones, this makes the photographs appear less stylised which contrasts the perfection of recipe book photographs. Sharma produces a natural style to his photographs. The difference in ingredients, to which you notice by colour, is complimented by the high contrast within the image. The lighting that is used, is one the drew me to his work. There is harsh lighting that has come from studio lights and flash, appearing on one side of the subject. Subjectively, the harshness of the contrast and lighting creates a moody and dark tone. I feel that Sharma uses this style to enhance the description of his recipes. The contrast reflects the flavours and the power that his food has, making the audience instantly intrigued. 

Responses;

For my first attempt at responding to the photographer Nik Sharma, I wanted to capture movement within the ingredients. I took various cooking utensils into the studio with flour and cocoa powder. I placed the light to the right hand side of the subjects to replicate the harsh shadowing that Sharma presents within his pieces. I proceeded to take photographs using the sieve and my hands to capture the movements. My camera was placed directly infront of the subject on a tripod. I used a fairly fast shutter speed to capture the falling flour and cocoa. I decided to play around with the ingredients myself, mimicking the mixing of ingredients similar to Sharma's work. My aim for this response, was to also reflect the dark and moody lighting that is created. I used the flash on one side of the subjects also with the model light being turned on. I focused my camera before taking the photograph and set it on self timer. 
I am pleased with the outcome of these photographs considering the movement, however, I am not overly satisfied with the lighting that I used. The studio light was turned on and also the model light. I feel that, compared to Sharma, the lighting within these responses do not seem as harsh and vibrant. In post editing, I edited these photographs by enhancing the contrast, however, I came across a few problems. When I darkened the image to enhance the contrast, I felt that the photograph became to dark and the colours that were presented were bold and covered a large area, making the background too overwhelming. I then decided to decrease the saturation of the image, so that the viewer could see all the detail within the photograph. The overall outcome of my response, is not as defined as I would have liked. 

My second experiment response;

Not being 100% pleased with my first response, I went back to re shoot these in the studio. This time around, my aim was to create better lighting, so that I wouldn't have to rely on post editing too much. I set up my camera in the same way as my previous shoot. The changes I made, compared to my first shoot were that I decided to turn off all the lights within the studio- the studio room light and the model light, therefore making the flash the only source of light to my subjects. Again, I decided to play around with the ingredients so that I could capture as much movement as possible. In post editing, I changed the brightness and contrast to enhance the dark mood, however, making sure that the subjects were defined and forthright within the composition. I personally like the angle to these photographs, showing the ingredients face on as it can create a relationship within the baker and the ingredients. I feel that the harsh lighting that appears in this series relate better to Sharma.