Personal Background:
Michael Ray is now 60 years old and is thriving as a photographer. Earlier in his life there were lots of exciting events. Right after Michael Ray graduated from art school, he began his career in an in-house Image Studio in Lexington, Kentucky. While he was still in Kentucky, he was introduced to food photography. Then, Ray moved to Chicago to be a staff photographer for a large catalog photography company. In Chicago his office was near the kitchen, which sparked his inspiration for food photography even more. After learning about food photography, Ray moved back to his hometown of Pittsburgh and launched his own photography company now known as Michael Ray Photography. Ray’s photography company is now in a studio with a full kitchen and 17 foot tall ceilings.
Michael Ray is now 60 years old and is thriving as a photographer. Earlier in his life there were lots of exciting events. Right after Michael Ray graduated from art school, he began his career in an in-house Image Studio in Lexington, Kentucky. While he was still in Kentucky, he was introduced to food photography. Then, Ray moved to Chicago to be a staff photographer for a large catalog photography company. In Chicago his office was near the kitchen, which sparked his inspiration for food photography even more. After learning about food photography, Ray moved back to his hometown of Pittsburgh and launched his own photography company now known as Michael Ray Photography. Ray’s photography company is now in a studio with a full kitchen and 17 foot tall ceilings.
Style:
These photos possess lots of visual characteristics like the shadows. When I first look at the photo of the cookies, I see the cookies and then the interesting shadows that the cookies make. The shallow depth of field is pretty evident in the photo of the raspberries because you can clearly see that the first dish of raspberries are much more in focus so the artist wants your eye to be drawn to those. The photo of the chocolate covered strawberries shows symmetry because the strawberry that is in focus is in the center and the other two chocolate covered strawberries are pretty evenly balanced on both sides of the image. All of the photos show great color, they are all super bright and have very vibrant colors.
These photos possess lots of visual characteristics like the shadows. When I first look at the photo of the cookies, I see the cookies and then the interesting shadows that the cookies make. The shallow depth of field is pretty evident in the photo of the raspberries because you can clearly see that the first dish of raspberries are much more in focus so the artist wants your eye to be drawn to those. The photo of the chocolate covered strawberries shows symmetry because the strawberry that is in focus is in the center and the other two chocolate covered strawberries are pretty evenly balanced on both sides of the image. All of the photos show great color, they are all super bright and have very vibrant colors.
Philosophy:
Ray’s ideas behind his photographs are that you should place the light in a certain area so that the shapes and textures really come out. He also believes that taking photographs is much more enjoyable as a team effort, not alone. Ray says that photography is also a process of improvement, so each new photograph show be better than the last. All of his photographs are mouth watering and amazing. He is trying to show the perfection of food in all of his photographs.
Ray’s ideas behind his photographs are that you should place the light in a certain area so that the shapes and textures really come out. He also believes that taking photographs is much more enjoyable as a team effort, not alone. Ray says that photography is also a process of improvement, so each new photograph show be better than the last. All of his photographs are mouth watering and amazing. He is trying to show the perfection of food in all of his photographs.
Influences:
Michael Ray has influenced my work in many ways. I have learned a lot more about how sometimes you can use the background as an advantage. Like in the photo of the chocolate covered strawberries, the blurred roses in the background makes the photo seem much more dramatic and by adding a lot of emotion to the image. I have also learned about how if you use a lot of one color it can still look good. Before I took my images, I always thought that if you used all of one color it would be overwhelming and not look good. In the pictures of the cookies, there is a lot of browns in different shades and it looks really cool and good.
Michael Ray has influenced my work in many ways. I have learned a lot more about how sometimes you can use the background as an advantage. Like in the photo of the chocolate covered strawberries, the blurred roses in the background makes the photo seem much more dramatic and by adding a lot of emotion to the image. I have also learned about how if you use a lot of one color it can still look good. Before I took my images, I always thought that if you used all of one color it would be overwhelming and not look good. In the pictures of the cookies, there is a lot of browns in different shades and it looks really cool and good.
Sources:
http://www.michaelray.com/pittsburgh-photographer-michael-ray/
https://www.photigy.com/michael-ray-professional-food-photographer/
http://www.foodportfolio.com/pages/rangefinder05.html
http://www.michaelray.com/pittsburgh-photographer-michael-ray/
https://www.photigy.com/michael-ray-professional-food-photographer/
http://www.foodportfolio.com/pages/rangefinder05.html
Compare and Contrast:
The first image I took was the picture of the raspberries. I feel like my image looks pretty similar to Michael Ray’s except my raspberries aren’t as perfect and organized as his. The second image I took was of the chocolate chip cookies. This one was a lot harder to take because wherever the light was coming there was always a big shadow. I think that Michael Ray used multiple light sources so he didn’t have as big of shadows like the ones I have in my photos. Finally, I took the pictures of the chocolate covered strawberries which was really fun to take. I think mine looks pretty similar to his but of course his strawberries look much more fake and perfect then mine do.
The first image I took was the picture of the raspberries. I feel like my image looks pretty similar to Michael Ray’s except my raspberries aren’t as perfect and organized as his. The second image I took was of the chocolate chip cookies. This one was a lot harder to take because wherever the light was coming there was always a big shadow. I think that Michael Ray used multiple light sources so he didn’t have as big of shadows like the ones I have in my photos. Finally, I took the pictures of the chocolate covered strawberries which was really fun to take. I think mine looks pretty similar to his but of course his strawberries look much more fake and perfect then mine do.
Personal Artist Statement:
I chose Michael Ray as the photographer I researched about because I really like food photography and I thought his photos were on the easier side but also fairly hard. To take the photos of the chocolate covered strawberries and the cookies, I had to make them from scratch. It was really fun to make them because I love to bake and I don't make chocolate covered strawberries very much. For the photo of the berries, I had to find a bowl that looked somewhat like the bowl in the photo so I had to color a cupcake wrapper which took me some time. In conclusion, this project was really fun but it was challenging trying to recreate the professional photographers work.
I chose Michael Ray as the photographer I researched about because I really like food photography and I thought his photos were on the easier side but also fairly hard. To take the photos of the chocolate covered strawberries and the cookies, I had to make them from scratch. It was really fun to make them because I love to bake and I don't make chocolate covered strawberries very much. For the photo of the berries, I had to find a bowl that looked somewhat like the bowl in the photo so I had to color a cupcake wrapper which took me some time. In conclusion, this project was really fun but it was challenging trying to recreate the professional photographers work.