We’re back! Remember us?
We are Sara and Paolo, Ficoeuva in the bloggosphere: we already met here, here, here, and here.
Today, we’re finally back on Manfrotto Imagine More and it’s a bit like coming back to a friend’s house where we’ve stayed before, with all the fulfilling and happy memories.
That was September last year, and six months have gone by; six intense months of experiences rich with images that gather before our eyes and, above all, before the lens of our reflex camera.
Months in which we have had a fantastic opportunity, in which we have opened that special box, one we never truly and completely closed, and pulled out our dream.
A project based on many passions that merge to form one great result: a passion for cooking, for photography, for images and for creativity.
In a nutshell? Our book, Funny Plates.
And it is here that we talk about it officially for the first time and we do so with great joy because it is Manfrotto which has accompanied us along the way, shot after shot, an essential aid in managing to communicate visually what we had in mind.
Funny Plates is an across-the-board project involving creativity, fantasy, family, flavour and, above all, images – the vehicle of it all.
The tools that we use in our shots have thus become indispensable, they have evolved, improving our work and the quality of our photographs.
To best document our work, during preparations for our book, we wanted to capture some of the backstage moments, in which our long-time faithful reflex camera tripod makes a fine feature itself.
A tripod is essential in food or any still-life photography; it allows you to better evaluate the context, the frame and the mise-en-place of the dishes, drawings and props used. It also allows you to shoot in low-light conditions by setting the camera manually with long exposure times, it makes it possible to position reflector panels in strategic places to increase contrast and vividness of colour.
A few suggestions?
Choose white panels or even just polystyrene if you want to soften the shadows; opt for the metallic ones in aluminium (or the homemade solution of a panel covered in kitchen foil) if you want to create a more direct light to increase contrast.
Continuing our experience, what we can affirm absolutely without a doubt is that our methods simply cannot do without supports for smartphones.
As every good Instagrammer should, we take as much care over our cell phone shots as we do with those taken with our reflex camera. Pixi, our little tripod, is often used as a grip, including for the creation of short films…
For us, this Manfrotto tripod is the perfect solution for achieving clean, clear and precise images every time. With this tool, we can capture all the most important moments of our work and, today, our photos have that something extra, are sophisticated and perfectly detailed.
On the other hand, we only discovered the fantastic Manfrotto Pocket MP1 fairly recently: an absolute must for that camera bag side-pocket, the perfect portable support for all occasions because it’s small enough to go anywhere with you.
We tried out shots from various angles with both:
zero degrees (frontal) or with a 10-20° viewpoint (which highlight the three-dimensional aspect of the dish) are those which work best with the two supports used, focusing particular attention on the background of the dish and the image.
There are other angles with a 45 ° viewpoint (that of the human eye) and aerial viewpoint, which gives a two-dimensional effect but enhances geometric and schematic plating, more easily captured using a traditional tripod.
A few days ago, we received our first printed and bound Funny Plates; we were overcome with intense emotion and, flicking through, we are very happy with the end result, certainly made possible by the excellent teamwork between Trenta Editore, us and Manfrotto.
Now that we have concluded this project, we are already mentally on the road towards new visual “fusions”… Are you curious to find out more?
We will tell you all about it in our next post!
Fico e Uva
About us: Sara: a mother juggling two little girls (Vittoria, five, full of spice, and Caterina, a year and a half of pure energy), home and work; a food addict who loves to write, to dream and to travel.
Paolo: dad and other half of the blog, keen photographer and budding sommelier.
Known as @ficoeuva, we’ve been blogging since 2008. At our house, there simply isn’t the time to get bored, but everything is done with a smile!!
In our daily lives we both work in a bank, but in our free time we love to cook, manage our blog and always discover new experiences.
A blog we like to describe as family-run, where everyone makes a contribution; Babette the dachshund included.