Linzer Cookies Shoot
For my second bake of this project I baked the Linzer cookies and carried out the hero image shoot of the finished bake. I didn't photograph the making of this one as it is a really simplistic and straightforward method which doesn't need any visual representation of what to do. It also isn't a particularly interesting prep and I just personally know I want to have just the final image alongside the recipe on the page next to it for this particular bake. For this shot, like in my quick sketch I did, I wanted to have some biscuits undecorated and to have the bowl of jam and a knife or spoon in the shot. The reason for this is the story I wanted to tell in this image is that all the biscuits are nearly finished and filled and almost ready to eat.
For extra inspiration for this shoot I searched for other photography of similar cookies which I have included below. I took a lot of inspiration from the bloggers Wife Mamma Foodie (the first two images) and Mei Yee( the third image). I really like the way the cookies are stacked and overlapping each other in various ways and I also really like that some are undecorated as it really tells a story in terms of that the baker is in the middle of finishing the cookies off. Which is further told by the pot of jam, the utensils and baking paper surrounding subject. I used this concept to some effect, but stripped it back a little bit, using the idea of having the pot of jam and also some cookies that aren't quite finished but I just wanted it simplified a little bit further so it wasn't as hectic as the images below. As I much prefer more simplistic imagery with minimal props.
The first element of the shot I set up was the light, I had this at the top corner of the scene, diagonally pointing to the bottom corner, slightly raised above the subject. I had this diagonally as I watched a video on youtube recently by the bite shot about how your eye likes diagonals so I wanted to try this out and put this to practice myself. I placed a white board opposite this to bounce back some of the light onto the subject. I also put my camera on a tripod, extended out the arm attachment and placed my camera onto this, facing down above the subject. I then tethered this to my laptop and was all set up to begin shooting.
In terms of placing my props I started with adding the leaf bowl into the scene and used live view to place it where I wanted, then I began to place cookies into it one by one, and layer them up. I did this gradually and built up so I could see after each addition what would work and what wouldn't and it made it easier to adjust and move as I went. I tried a few different arrangements of the cookies in the bowl and this took quite a long time as the cookies are different shapes and quite large which made it hard to stack them in a way that looked right. This took multiple tweaks and changes but In the end I was happy with how they looked, not too full or overcrowded. Then I began to add in my extra elements around the main subject such as the pot of jam, the teaspoon and the linen to frame a corner of the scene. I started with the linen at the top corner and two biscuits partly decorated, with a teaspoon coming in from the left however I wasn't very happy with this arrangement so I moved the teaspoon down to the bottom, and the jam pot at the top. This also wasn't quite working and felt a bit crowded at the top and the linen looked too stiff. From here I changed the arrangement by lifting the leaf bowl up a bit more, putting the linen on the bottom along with the pot of jam. I also took away the teaspoon completely and added in another biscuit poking in from the top corner. I was much happier with this arrangement as it felt more natural. As a final touch I added some icing sugar dotted around the scene and on the linen to create more of an idea that I am in the middle of decorating.
I am happy with the final arrangement of this bake, it is very similar to my original sketch with a few minor tweaks and positioning of items. The cookies look good with a few minor details I am unhappy with. Some of them are darker than others and have more browned edges, this is just how they baked in the oven and with the dusted icing sugar isn't too much of a problem, but I would have preferred it if they were all more uniform.
