Food Philosophy. Maxim Pechersky: «Food shooting – it is for perfectionists»

AUTHOR
Maria Simonova
SOURCE: TOMSK REVIEW

Food philosophy. Maxim Pechersky “Food shooting – it is for perfectionists”

Photographer Maxim Pechersky food takes, not only for Tomsk customers.

 

 

We found out why it has attracted such a direction as food photography, how to prepare food for photo shoots, and whether you can have a meal that “posed.”

– I’ve tried almost all directions, and only the funeral did not photograph. I have shot many weddings, portraits, but such work is trying to achieve perfection. You can create a mood, an image, but people change – and photograph people, partly by accident. The easiest way to work with objects that will not run away – calm, thoughtful shooting has always been closer to me. I looked at the results, something corrected, improved … I am a perfectionist, always striving for maximum results.

 

Why else would I have chosen the food area – in 2012 I began to have some imperial habits. That year I went to a workshop in Moscow, has shown their work there and realized that yes, something is missing, but it is not fundamental differences from the leading metropolitan professionals. Not the props, a slightly different system, but there is a feeling that you will never be able to work at the level of leaders.

I got it – just really achieve, and I had a desire to grow and develop further. For various reasons to leave Tomsk, I can not. A photographing food was the only opportunity for me to work for themselves, to improve and not to move.

 

 

In America, sometimes for photo jewelry to another city sent insure them for millions of dollars. We are not yet possible. I have heard stories like come with the riot police, and the building is being encircled and then start taking pictures. Naturally, in the Tomsk decorations no luck.

A food photography – this is the direction for which it does not matter where you are. In 90% of cases of food for the images being prepared here in our studio. Regardless of where you buy parsley in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Tomsk. Maybe in Saint-Petersburg is easier to find beautiful berry or vegetable, but if you put the problem in advance, and in our city, this is achieved without any problems.

However, there are projects related to restaurant menus, but it is a separate issue.

 

 

Since then, as in 2012, I realized that what I’m doing, not fundamentally different from the work of the capital, but there are some gaps, began to remove them. Gradually were being bought photo technique. Today, the equipment which I have rented – a top, at the level of the best studios in the world. The Sinar camera produces interesting visual effects that simplify the life of photographer shooting subjects. It is possible to set all the parameters manually. No autofocus!

In this there is an absolute thrill, you can record what the other is unavailable. The necessary details you sharp, and the rest is blurred – this is done without Photoshop. I while shooting can seriously affect the way will eventually look like the picture.

 

 

Above Food shooting in our studio work two people: me and Elia Alieva, food stylist. She was my first customer, but it became more and more appealing the process, it has actively participated in it, and as a result changed their profession, are now engaged only in food styling.

Elia prepares to shoot dishes, and I take pictures of them. According to the complexity is the equivalent work. Of course, food is ready for the photos is not quite like to eat. We recently photographed Gingerbread. We had it to bake, cut, and paste into the jelly that this was a lot of toppings, and she looked beautiful.

Or chicken to prepare a photo shoot – it means to sew it to the skin taut, briefly put in the oven. Wait until the skin becomes like in texture after cooking, and get. Then food stylist takes paint and making chicken “make-up”. Oil of sea buckthorn helps to give the bird roasted color. Adds spice. At any moment something can be adjusted to change the color, as it is necessary to take pictures.

Food-stylist – great art, in Russia few specialists who can work with food at a high level. Elia two years ago went to Moscow, studied at one of the leading studios.

 

 

 

After capturing almost nothing you can not eat. Usually meals after work gets yard dogs, which they are very happy.

Although it happens that we remove truffles or cakes, they are even edible.

 

 

Working with a drink very similar to the shooting of jewelry. Beverages are almost always in a glass or bottle, so not easy is working with them. Looking beautiful glare outside inside should drink beautifully illuminated. For example, in this picture are visible lime and mint. It was the fourth lime, which was used during the shooting, and not the first, not the third, mint leaves. As long as you make all settings greens wilt. Naturally, that is not true inside the glass and artificial ice, and this week he will not melt.

Photos of drinks – it is often the speaker spray. They can be attributed to an advertising trick shooting. It’s easy, but you have to do to set up all right.

 

My primary customers – big companies, federal networks. As a rule, participation in such projects takes a lot of people – and the advertising agency, and direct customers. They can stay in your office and send me a comment on the shooting. This is due to the service “monitoring on-line”, almost all customers use it. Very convenient – already during the customer sees the shortcomings of the process, the problems arising in the shooting. Only just something move, add meat roasting than to retake all or retouched.

Nobody is going nowhere, everyone doing their work, simultaneously is monitored photo shooting. In my case, Internet technology, of course, a significant advantage. They simplify work and save time.

 

 

Restaurants – a little “my” direction. I’d love to collaborate with them, but they can not pay so much for a job as I would like. And I’m still a little more perfectionist than allowed for the shooting menu. Previously, all food removed to the ordinary white or gray background. Once the light has set, dishes me and take pictures. No variety, the work is not creative.

Now, fortunately, we began to withdraw from such a boring option, thinking about composition. For example, pour a glass of wine, bread next to a plate put. But usually the menu – it’s such a race. They want as quickly as possible to do everything, and we have 15 meals per hour shoot. It is every 4 minutes in all, and yet it is necessary to place all nice. And I would like to do interesting work, and it’s my inner need.

 

 

My relationship to food had changed a little bit before I became interested in food photography. When we had the first child, the wife first looked steadily, more on what time was left for him. Meal preparation, housework passed to me. Then I started to cook, and I liked it so much that now houses the kitchen with me. I get great pleasure from cooking. Often it takes even more of my time than I can afford, but what to do, I like to cook.

I understand the composition of food, know where some spices, and it can be used for pictures. But then again, the preparation of meals for photography and food – they are different processes, only original components are the same and in both cases necessary heat treatment.

 

 

I like to take the meat. I love the meat, and it is interesting to photograph texturally, achieving different effects. Meat may be served on the expensive luxury dish, or, conversely, may be very brutal to look, when meat on the table lies beside an ax.

Always with great pleasure to shoot in the studio farm products. Light weighted, but you’re doing this picture, as if just from the garden, collected and put on the bench.

Today I can not say that I am on the top of the advertising shoot food in Russia. But I aspire to and work with each experience grows.