Self-pouring Coca-Cola bottle
For the past few days a photo idea has been brewing in my head. My portfolio has been lacking product shots, and that's something I'm working on fixing.
I went to Canadian Tire and bought a very thin fishing line (.20 mm), a glue gun and a bottle of Coke. After that I went to London Drugs, where I bought some different coloured poster boards to use as a background. That was the extent of my shopping spree.
When I got home, I set up some lights in my living room (one of them being a snooted flash under the dining table), clamped a red poster board to a backdrop stand, taped and clamped a broomstick on half a table (don't ask), tied a piece of fishing line just below the Coke bottle cap (having already glued a length of copper wire to the bottom of the bottle) and put a glass on the table.
After some time practicing the pouring of the Coke, I put ice cubes in the glass, unscrewed the cap, and started shooting.
And just to make it look like an ad I placed some silly text on there as well.
My mock ad for a self-pouring Coke bottle.
Food photos from Nautical Nellies Restaurant
In the spring of 2010 I was working on my graduation portfolio. I had decided to shoot food, and my instructors (Andrea and Mitch) mentioned a few restaurants that I might want to contact. One of them was Nautical Nellies Restaurant. They graciously let me come in to shoot, and prepared eight different dishes for me. I used three of them, and they then got the photos for their own use. A win-win situation.
One of the photos even ended up traveling around Victoria for a few months on the back of a bus.
Fast forward to November 2011. I'm back at Nautical Nellies, and this time shooting at their request. Five different dishes - and a big portion of the two sushi dishes got eaten afterwards by me and Carrie, who was my assistant for the assignment.
If you ever get a chance to eat at Nautical Nellies, don't waste that chance. The food tastes as good as it looks.
Steak, crab cake and jumbo prawns with prosciutto wrapped asparagus, roast garlic crushed fingerling potatoes and shiraz reduction.
This seafood tower contains smoked oysters, crab claws, sushi rolls, steamed mussels, clams and more.
Lobster sushi roll with Atlantic lobster, baby shrimp, tobiko and scallions, topped with warm unagi and avocado.
A different view of the lobster roll.
DITL Esquimalt and Peninsula
I thought I'd start the new year by posting my last Day in the Life of 2011, this time a combination of Esquimalt and Peninsula, which I did last summer. Shooting a DITL series is always fun. Doing one in Esquimalt is completely different from one in, say, Saanich, if only because of the size of the area you have to cover. And then you have the Saanich Peninsula with the airport, the BC Ferries terminal, and a big, big dairy farm.
Oh, and happy new year to all!
Victoria International Airport, Thursday July 14th, 2011. 20:12 - Jenny, Jared and 18 months old Roland Cook needed a snack before taking a flight to Ontario to visit family.
North Saanich, Thursday July 14th, 2011. 17:53 - Michael Holst, manager at Pendray Farms, tube feeds a 12 hour old calf, who earlier that day had escaped out into the field.
Esquimalt, Tuesday August 23rd, 2011. 17:45 - James Ferguson, produce clerk at Country Grocer, enjoys the sun during a short break from work.
Sidney, Thursday July 14th, 2011. 18:36 - Constable Vanessa Fields, of the Sidney / North Saanich RCMP, signs in to the laptop in one of the RCMP's vehicles.
Esquimalt, Tuesday August 23rd, 2011. 16:14 - Wayne Young, apprentice mechanic at Lyall Street Service Station, replaces a tire.
Esquimalt, Tuesday August 23rd, 2011. 15:52 - Bill McCabe tees off at the 10th hole on Gorge Vale Golf Course.
Swartz Bay, Thursday July 14th, 2011. 19:14 - David Burrowes was waiting at the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal for the ferry to Mayne Island, and was killing time by solving a crossword puzzle and watching baseball.
Esquimalt, Tuesday August 23rd, 2011. 20:37 - Yan Demeules was playing pool at Tudor House.