GU2:Planning Stage Complete.

I'm very excited, and a bit relieved, to say the Planning Stage on the Graded Unit was handed in today! Plenty of work to be getting on with though, not too long 'till filming begins. Here's a few of the Photos i took during my first test shoot (LINK)

GU2: Technical Considerations

I'm planning on filming the video elements of my Graded Unit using a Canon 550D. They're capable of producing very professional looking results and as part of the preparation for filming I've been testing out it's capabilities. Here's some test footage I filmed with the Canon.



I'll also be using an Edirol to record audio as the built in capabilities of the Canon are not great. There's more information on this, and some suggested solutions here. Despite the suggested solutions, i felt i get better results with the Edirol.

It's not only Video I'll be capturing though, I'll also be taking photographs. I'll be doing so in Canon's cr2, or RAW format and the editing them in Photoshop. There's a great overview and useful tutorial from Adobe on how to do this below.

Graded Unit 2: Inspiration & Education

So far one of the hardest parts of this Graded Unit has been looking at all the Photos of Chocolate & other delicious food! Hotel Chocolat, Melt Chocolates and Davenports Chocolates are perfect examples of this, with Davenports even having there own Chocolate TV!

I've also managed to find some really useful video tutorials & tips on how to photograph food, though again, watching these will make you hungry! Not only is this first video educational, but it also has a professional and appealing look to it, and gets across a lot of what the Steakhouse is about. I hope to emulate a lot of what's good about this video:


Then there's this next video that shows the amount of work that goes into food photography.

And last of all a tutorial on how to light a cake!


Many of the Photographers in these videos have a good collection of kit that isn't available to me. None-the-less there's still a wealth of relevant information and advice.

Ooh, and I can still follow these helpful tips... and these!

Graded Unit 2: A Change of plan.

A couple of weeks ago I was offered the opportunity to provide a series of Photos & Videos for a small & very lovely chocolate company based in the Highlands. I was really excited by this project, and the real world challenges it presents so I decided to change the subject of my Graded Unit from "The Night" to this new project. It's been a little bit of a rush to get everything in place on time for the Planning Stage deadline, but things are coming together well. Now I'm excited, and hungry!

More news soon.