I have this thing about Stuffed Olives. I love eating them. During the idle minutes of thinking time which usually occurs when I'm not doing very much other than relaxing or just before I go to sleep, I conceived the idea that Stuffed Olives arranged on a plate would make a good idea for a photograph.
As the focus of the image would be the olives themselves, I envisioned that they should be photographed in macro, utilising a high key concept. This would require the use of a plain white background as well as having the olives arranged somehow on a plain white plate. The green of the olives and the redness of the stuffing would contrast sharply with the white of the plate and the background.
As it was to be a macro shot, I saw no need to have the entire plate in the frame. A plate full of Stuffed Olives is just a plate full of Stuffed Olives, overall, not very interesting to look at so I decided to focus upon just a small group of olives which would be positioned towards one side of the plate. Exactly how they were to be arranged I had yet to be determined but I was always going to have to allow for the consideration of depth of field. I had decided that not all of the group of olives were going to be in sharp focus.
I used my Sony A55 camera mounted on a tripod with an f/2.8 50mm macro lens attached to the camera body for the shoot. The olives were arranged on a cheap white plastic plate which was placed inside the light tent. After seven shots and some rearranging of the plate within the light tent, I got the shot that I wanted.
The image was exactly how I envisaged it in my mind and the planning involved to get it was relatively simple. The end result is exactly that, a simple shot of some Stuffed Olives on a plate. As images go, it's hardly groundbreaking or artistic and would probably make a good stock photograph if anything else. One of the good things about this whole exercise is that it is something those who are new to photography should try. Come up with a simple concept and subject for a photograph and then, keeping it simple, make images until you are happy with the result. If your subject is food then you can also enjoy eating the subject once you are done taking your pictures.