Title: Recipe Book: Food Photography and Illustration

Software used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Word

Hardware used: Canon EOS 70D, Wacom Bamboo Tablet

For my recipe book, I have chosen to cover on French cuisine. Because of this, I have implemented traditional art styles and themes deriving from France. Initially, my inspiration to choose this cuisine came from a dish called ‘Ratatouille’, which would be recognized from the Disney Pixar movie of the same name. Hence, to include this dish in my recipe book, it would only be appropriate to base it on French cuisine.

As for the illustrations, I was inspired by the artworks of traditional Impressionist painters such as Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. This art movement has inspired the illustrations in other French cookbooks as well. As stated in my recipe book, they have also immortalized the cuisine I have chosen by successfully making use of colours and brush strokes to bring the best out of the food in their still life paintings. Thus, I implemented the same dream-like effect in Impressionism paintings into my illustrations to incite a homey yet inviting feel in the viewers.

For my setup, I used large sheets of white paper, glued to the wall and to cover the table. For the lighting, I used an LED lamp and natural light from the room. I did not use a tripod because it was not that difficult to take levelled pictures using the DSLR camera, and even if there were errors made, I could straighten the pictures during editing.

Whilst taking the pictures, I switched off some lights because the LED lamp was already strong, and this is what it looks like when turned on. I did not use equipment such as deflectors or reflectors since the lighting was already sufficient, or the white paper itself would act as a reflector. However, for darker or brighter photos, I would alter the settings on the camera, such as its ISO and aperture.

RECIPE BOOK