A recipe for Fabulous Food Photography

We thought a few more people ought to know about our skills and facilities when it comes to food photography; so Peter and Michelle have produced a handy little booklet which you might like to have a look at.



It shows what beautiful lighting, careful preparation and exquisite finishing can do to enhance your product and make it stand out from the competition.

Never forget; the first bite is with the eye. So if you are producing fabulous food which you want people to know about, then let them see it - with a fabulous photo.

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My Final Day At GGS

Today was quite a sad day for me at GGS having to say goodbye to people who have made me feel so welcome in the time I have spent bugging them. Today began with continuing with research I had started yesterday for Emily which took up the majority of the day. I then spent some time with Keith, where we discussed various website projects he has going on, (Booja Booja , Greenland Houchen & Pomeroy and City of Norwich School).

We also received a great response from David Brodie (resource manager at CNS) about the website he got to view yesterday alongside the rest of the designated authoring team. He loved what he saw and emailed his thoughts -
" ...there was quite a buzz from the group (who had not already seen the site). I personally couldn’t believe how easy the CMS is to use and I had a play with the (governors) pages last night – no problem! ... "

So a great response to a great week. Thank you GGS for letting me spend a week with you all and putting up with me. Its been such a valuable experience . Many thanks to you all.

Robyn`s Daily Update - Nearing the end

This morning I met Rob, who does GGS's Website coding, for the first time as we left for our nine o`clock meeting with CNS. The meeting involved us handing over the website to the designated authoring team so they could replace the dummy content as well as showing many members of the team the site for the first time. After discussing the new and improved site facilities we went on to discuss the site's administration via a Content Management System which was simple and easy to use and which they were delighted with. The meeting went well and was a pleasure to observe.



The rest of the day was made up of spending some time with Peter and Andrew observing how you quote for a job, I also got to have a sneak preview of a mock up of 'Peter Griffin's Cook Book'. Then after a quick break and some general office duties I began doing some research for Emily.

Robyn`s Daily Update - Day 3

Today looked promising with the knowledge that today's weather was going to be one of the better days this week, i.e. there would be no rain, so we had hoped to go on location with Peter. Unfortunately due to heavy cloud and a dull day we could not so instead I spent the majority of the day observing. I spent sometime with Keith learning about two websites he`s in the process of finishing and will shortly be going live which is all rather exciting. Then I spent the day bugging Paul, where I learnt about various current projects he has going on and teaching me about the software he uses for developing his exhibition stand designs. I continued to crowd Michelle whilst she worked on 'Peter Griffin's Cook Book' (more on this later - Ed.) which will be out soon and will be be used to promote the company's photography service (there is more to photography than click a button you know?). Today I also got to observe work Michelle had showed me the previous day be sent to print which was very exciting seeing it all come together. Yet again another great day at GGS!

Robyn's Daily Update - 2

Today is my second day of work experience at GGS and apart from the maze of locked and unlocked doors I`m feeling rather confident.

This morning I mostly hassled Michelle. She told me about previous work she had done for CNS and showed me the initial ideas for the school prospectuses plus the finished products, all of which were done in-house: photography, print management and artwork. She also showed me some work she had done for Booja Booja Chocolates which I found very interesting as I have recently done a project where I created my own site. I even got to have a little taste (which I can only describe as a mini chocolate dessert which melts in your mouth). I`ve also been observing Keith as he redevelops and redesigns top solicitors, Greenland Houchen Pomeroy's website



and I have to say it`s looking good!

After a short break I`m back to work and writing this...

Work Experience

Hello, my name is Robyn Sheedy and I`m currently on work experience here at GGS. I`m a student at City College Norwich studying a media production diploma which I`m nearing the end of within a couple of months . Which is a scary thought that I'm a few months away from being let loose in the big wide world. After finishing my diploma I hope to gain work in the industry, and therefore hoped for a small taster in my work experience.

I found GGS by going past the building one day and then decided to find out more and discovered they covered a range of creative products and services,
which I thought would be great (still not proven wrong) especially since I had no hands-on experience and wanted as much knowledge of different areas as possible.

My first day began on Monday 14th of February which as you may know (unless you are Chris) is Valentine`s Day. So putting cards and gifts on hold at home I made my way in. Feeling nervous but mostly excited to finally get my teeth into some experience in the industry which I have longed to be in. I was introduced to the team at a regular Monday morning meeting which was followed by a tour of the building and list of health and safety checks. My first impression was that everyone seemed very friendly and welcoming. Remembering every ones names, however, would be a challenge. My first day was mostly spent on location with Chris taking photographs of a house which when finished the final images would be featured on an estate agent`s brochure/website. With the weather not looking so promising and with the sun popping out we decided to grab our chance at photographing the outside before photographing the interior. Here I learnt about the nature of a small photo shoot and what precautions to take and what to avoid. This was an interesting insight into on-location photography as we did not take the usual lighting equipment and used what was available to us by reflecting light. Later on I observed Chris as he adjusted the images to get the best final product and how working from RAW files is sometimes much more beneficial. On Monday I also spent some time with Paul and Keith learning about an Exhibition stand and rebranding project as well as learning about the different benefits of types of printing and colour variations between the overwhelming sized
printers and inks. I also spent a short time with Michelle catching her when she had a moment to herself taking a break from all her hard work.
She gave me an insight into relationships with clients and how much time goes into calls, emails, brainstorming and initial ideas.

Now the hard bit`s over I`m looking forward to the rest of the week.

Indulgence overload

Just relieved the freezer of one of Indulgence's Chocolate and Praline Tortes for a hastily snatched morning break. Scrummy!



The two day shoot is over and there are one or two items languishing in the GGSHQ food studio - I say one or two; thirty two to be precise! Not sure how long it is going to take for us to finish them off. Let's see... One per person per day... That's about 3 days I reckon.

Happy days!

Overindulgence

Mr and Mrs Creosote and the Creosote kids will shortly be in residence if we don't do something soon to stop ourselves eating all the fantastic and dangerously irresistible patisserie which we are photographing for Essex's finest producers of such things, Indulgence Patisserie Ltd

Their range includes cheesecakes, gateaux and err... bavarois... I might have to just look that one up... but whatever you call them, they are DELICIOUS and very more-ish. Just have a look at some beautiful pics from the last shoot we did which are towards the end of the food photography section of our website.

I'm not sure if Monday's health check would have been quite so positive if it were to be tomorrow instead!

A severe case of overIndulgence if you ask me.

GGS in Hospital

Spotted this in last Friday's EDP.
A report on the redevelopment of the Cromer Hospital carried a photo of the final touches being applied which included the fitting of 61 graphic ceiling tiles running through the centre of the kidney dialysis ward. The tiles, which were produced using laminated self-adhesive vinyl, were commissioned by Emma Jarvis of the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital's 'Hospital Arts' project which secures funding for art in various forms all over the hospital to brighten up the wards and consulting rooms.
It has been proven that being in a pleasant and bright environment speeds up recovery and promotes feeling of comfort and wellbeing; and Emma's sterling efforts have brightened up large areas of the hospital - with the help of expert advice and service from GGS of course! ;-)
Keep up the good work Emma!

Cough please...

All staff over 40 had a free Cardiovascular Health check today (we had to pay for the youngsters), courtesy of Timber Hill Health Centre and organised by the Chamber of Commerce as part of their Healthy Workplace initiative. http://www.norfolkchamber.co.uk/Pages/cvd-checks.aspx

Looks like we are a fairly fit bunch overall with no-one having a BMI that took them into the 'lardy', sorry...'overweight' category. Well; not that they were admitting, anyway. We all had a lower than average chance of Cardio Vascular Disease and on the whole cholesterol levels were pretty well low to average, so there's a good chance that if you ring to speak to one of us we'll still be here. For a while, at least.

Anyhoo, I'm just going to finish these Danish Pastries then it's off to the gym!!