Behind the scenes at a sweet photoshoot
I know I always keep blabbing to you about photoshoots and how that works but I thought for a change to give you a small behind the scenes look at one of the shoots we did this week. In a lot of cases I cannot share the photos with you as it’s for a publication or a customer who doesn’t want the photos to be strewn all over the internet, but this time the photos were for stock and therefore I can share with you whatever I want…. 
Cupcakes all over
The idea for the shoot was to give the feeling of a girly (kids) birthday party with lots of pink, lots of cupcakes and lots of other sweet treats. We had planned the shoot for a while now and we is Femke (and Eddy in the morning) from sfeercatering Heeerlijk. As guest helpers we had Pauline from Uit eigen streek en Vivian Hulsebosch so it was full house. I think Eddy escaped the girly atmosphere after making us lunch…
I’ve met both Femke and Pauline on twitter and when Femke and I had the first photoshoot together, we got on really well so I’m sure there will be lots more joined ventures in the future. Now a photo shoot like this requires some planning as we wanted to have lots of treats, so I made caramel apples (recipe below), Pauline baked some cake layers and made butter cream and Femke provided the cupcakes, most of the accessories and the other treats.
Table top view of party table!
Styling a large table and making it look fairly natural is not really simple and without a stylist present it posed some challenges. I think we did a lot of different takes before we arrived at the final shot which is above. I’m sure there could be some improvements to this but hey, I like it….!
The table from a different angle
With these kinds of setups I like to work with daylight. Even though I have all the lights in the studio I might ever need, I still strongly prefer natural light. And I have a corner in the studio that is perfect as it has side light and backlight and no direct sunlight so in most cases that corner is my perfect spot for shoots like this. From the right I need a fill still to lift some of the shadows as this shoot was all about light and fun and almost summery feeling.
Table setup with reflector
We usually start with one element and add pieces to it. Because I was shooting from above I had to climb on the ladder everytime to check the setting. Obviously you can also work on the floor and in a lot of cases that is easier except that you have to have a background you want on the floor and since we wanted to use the table that was not an option in this case. I have to collect some larger backgrounds that I can use on the floor. Your light will change if you do that so you have to be aware of the direction of the light.
The team ready to dive in!
Because we had so much stuff we did table settings but also closeups and details on some of the cakes, cupcakes with both the table, another older and darker wooden board and my little white garden table (which is the first shot you see)
Caramel apples
Overall I think we were all pretty happy with the end results of the shoot and we’re already planning the next one! (which is gonna be outdoors and awesome, I’m sure!) Now for the recipe of the caramel apples; there are a lot of different recipes out there and this one is the more simpler one. The trick is to get the caramel right as I found out myself, since the first time went very wrong and the second one could definitely have been better too. I might try a couple more caramel recipes which I will share too.
And I was there too!
Caramel apples
Yield: 6-8
Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 15 mins
Ingredients:
500 g sugar
4 tbsp of water
Directions:
| I guess the recipe is so simple that you can hardly call it a recipe but with caramel it's all in the execution and not so much in the ingredients. Now when making a large batch such as this it becomes critical that you keep a close eye on your saucepan with the sugar in it. What will happen if you have a lot of sugar is the bottom will caramelize and the top will still be solid sugar. In order to avoid this you will need to stir a tiny bit. Stirring too much will results in crystallized and hard sugar (as I found out in try number one) and not stirring will result in half burned and half raw caramel. | |
| Put the sugar on a very low heat giving it the change to start the process slowly. Make sure you use heat proof tools as the sugar becomes very very hot. Make sure you have a bowl of cold water nearby to cool of the caramel once done as it will otherwise keep on cooking and get too far. As soon as the sugar starts to caramelize, very slowly move it a bit around with a spatula (heatresistant one!) and make sure it browns evenly. You can choose to add the water or not. I added water in the first try and did not add it for the second. I think without works maybe a little better but I have yet to give it another go. |
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| As soon as all the sugar is lovely and brown and you can smell that it is the right color. (you can really smell if it is done or not!) cool the pan quickly in your waterbath and then dip your apples in the caramel one by one. Put them on a sheet of baking paper and make sure you do not get in touch with the caramel yourself! | |
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
Thank you very much for sharing these great tips. I’m still learning very hard how to capture a good picture with my DSLR.
hehee… I think I need a ladder too
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Simone (junglefrog) — February 12th, 2012 at 17:39
O but I think you’re doing a great job anyway Ann! Even before you had a SLR I was a fan of your photos!
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Simone,
I always love the behind-the-scene stories you tel.
The photo shoot looks like it was a love of fun and
I do not think a stylist was needed at all!
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Simone (junglefrog) — February 12th, 2012 at 17:40
Thanks Mona! And I love sharing them. I get a lot of requests from people wanting to come by for a shoot and just be a spectator, but that is not always an option (not all customers appreciate that) so this is a good second! And thanks for the styling comment…
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Very interesting! I wish I had your knowledge, talent and material. ;-P
Cheers,
Rosa
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Simone (junglefrog) — February 12th, 2012 at 17:41
I don’t know about the material Rosa but I do know you have your own unique knowledge and talent for sure!
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What a great Blog, it is great to see behind the scenes, thinking of how I make my photographs at the moment with a small Canon D10 and sometimes with my big Canon (not that big). It is so true with natural light, I make many shots in the kitchen and the light there is just too hard, but often I make the photos during service and in the evening, there is just no time for proper styling, the food has to go out to the guest…..so yes all my food gets eaten after it is photographed….by paying guest, hehehe if they would know! And yes, fantastic photos
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Simone (junglefrog) — February 12th, 2012 at 17:42
Thanks Walter! And yes I can see how it would be a challenge having to shoot the food that still needs to go to the customers! I’m sure they wouldn’t appreciate it very much if there dinner arrived cold..
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I love these behind the scenes posts—please do more of them! Your work is just beautiful.
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Simone (junglefrog) — February 12th, 2012 at 17:43
Thanks Sue. I will try and do more if possible!
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Oh, I am jealous. That looks like my kind of fun, too. Love the final picture of the pink party table set up. I think the crumbs and candles add to it, because they give you the feeling of a real party. I could also see a spilled drink, but that could have messed up the whole set up very easily.
Thanks for the inspiration.Maybe some of my local Denver foodie friends would like to join me for a bigger shoot and we could make a fun day out of it.
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Simone (junglefrog) — February 12th, 2012 at 17:44
Would you believe that we actually did do a shot with a spilled drink too? It was the last one to do as that does indeed mess up things, and we didn’t want to take any changes..lol.. I did like this one better though so that’s why there is no spilled drink showing. It would be fun to do a shoot with your friends! We’re already planning the next one.
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This was really interesting! I love seeing the behind-the-scenes aspect. And I love the final shot, it really evokes a kids’ party. Natural light is not really an option for me in my current apartment, but Laurent recently bought a softbox (more for him than for me, but I now use it too, sometimes). It looks really strange in our dining room! And he installed black curtains in the middle of the room, to use as a background and to shield me from the flash when I’m working (the dining room and the living room where I work aren’t separated), so our place really looks like a studio these days. Or a theatre…
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Simone (junglefrog) — February 12th, 2012 at 17:45
It sounds better if you say it looks like a theatre doesn’t it? Lol… Yeah it’s hard sometimes with daylight depending on your location, house etc. But I love daylight 99% of the time!
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I always enjoy your photographs…quiet amazing…and I always giggle at the honesty in your mistakes.
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Simone (junglefrog) — February 12th, 2012 at 17:46
Thanks Robert! And we all make mistakes I think so why lie about them, right?
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Great to see this, Simone! It looks beautiful and delicious (love those colours), and I can also see that you had much fun (of course!)
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Simone (junglefrog) — February 12th, 2012 at 17:47
Lots of fun indeed! It’s a miracle we got anything done..
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Love the behind the scenes peek, Simone! The large table setting looks quite challenging, and you capture it perfectly!
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I love seeing how you do these shots! I’m also green with envy about that studio, I desperately want a space like this as most of us do I think.
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Simone (junglefrog) — February 13th, 2012 at 15:04
Thanks so much Rochelle… Well I’m actually thinking of giving the studio up as it is also quite a lot of money every month..
Space does come at a price!
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You know that I followed the progress of this shoot via your posted photos and loved it all the way. I love girly girl pink parties like this. I am always fascinated to see how the elements are brought together to create a scene and an atmosphere. And it is great seeing this party table stuck in the middle of a studio! I’d love to be able to come and watch you at work!
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Simone (junglefrog) — February 13th, 2012 at 15:04
And I would love to have you come too! How much fun would that be!
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Thank you thank you thank you!!
I just (really just) started my blog and after my first shoot I knew I was going to need some help on how to get better photos. That was three days ago and, surprise, you had just a post that I needed!!
I have a question for you – if you wouldn’t mind taking a look at one of my pictures – http://sweeteves.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/100_0061.jpg when I was taking this one, I couldn’t figure out whether it would be better to take it under direct sunlight or without the sun on it. I know it probably sounds like a really silly question but is there one that is better? Sun, or indirect?
And I love your blog hehe.
Whenever I see a new post by you I get excited. And I just so happen to have a ridiculous obsession with apples. So today’s recipe is perfect!
xoxo
- Eve
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Simone (junglefrog) — February 13th, 2012 at 16:54
Hi Eve! Glad the post came in handy…
The light you used on your photo is too harsh which is caused by the direct sunlight, but I send you an email explaining in a bit more detail.. 
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Eve — February 13th, 2012 at 22:00
Oh goodness, thank you so much! I’ll check it asap
I certainly need all the help I can get! And thank you again for dropping by my blog. 
Such an honor!
xoxo
- Eve
Amazing Simone! I’d LOVE to work with you
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awesome! great photos..thanks for sharing
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Love this post! And so envious of your studio space and light… I love the end results – especially those apples!
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