Page 14 - Cape-Camera-August-2024

August 2024 Cape Camera Cape Camera August 2024

Yvette Jordaan brought a selection of props to demonstrate the tips Yvette donated her 'Shades of Olives' book to Steffne Hughes for
she shared about tabletop photography. CTPS to award to the best tabletop image entered in October.

E&D report back — 21 August 2024

Tabletop photography by Yvette Jordaan

report back by Steffne Hughes

Yvette Jordaan was a charming and inspiring speaker. works much better than brightly polished silver items,
Despite just recovering from flu, she showed us how to which catches the light where you don't want it to re-
compose and photograph food in the most delicious flect. Yvette has a number of infinity paper backdrops or
and tempting ways. textured fabrics that she uses as backdrops as required.
Sometimes a piece of fabric draped over a corner of a
Yvette has a passion for culinary storytelling and showed
us different ways to photograph the same food to get table is all that is required, she says.
different moods and stories. She is an award-winning She used her own images — some from her book Shades
food photographer who generously shared her knowl- of Olive, others from award-winning books and corpo-
edge with our members. Read more about her in Cape rate shoots — to demonstrate the basic principles of
Camera of July 2024. good tabletop photography ... and showed us the work
Along with her inspiring photographs, Yvette brought a in progress that clearly showed why some attempts
table full of props and discussed which colours and tex- didn't work!
tures work best. We include some of her winning images here.
For example, antique cutlery, especially with a patina,

Shapes and composition: The round bowl compli- Light: She explained that as in any form of photography,
ments the round cherries, but the image is prevented light is the essence of a good table top photograph. The
from becoming monotonous by the stems, halved cher- image above shows that it need not be studio lights, as
ries, but especially the shape of the antique spoons. the natural light brings the bubbles in the glass to life.

14 Cape Town Photographic Society