An Experiment with Pears

In the TV series, Heat in the Kitchen, acclaimed top restaurant Aria loses one of its two precious "chefs’ hats". According to the critic, Evan Matthews, Aria’s menu is too long and fussy, uses too many ingredients and the dining room feels like a hotel lobby. The programme shows what it takes to run "a highly rated restaurant in Sydney: a passion bordering on obsession to get things right, long gruelling hours, frighteningly tight profit margins, short tempers and strict hierarchies". It's good to know in the 2005 Good Food Awards, Aria reclaims the second chef hat after much hard work by Chef Matt Moran and his team to improve food and service .

ln electronic reality, profit margins or the number of customers impact very little on My Little Restaurant. However like Sydney chefs Heat in the Kitchen, a drop from 5 stars to 4 stars equates to losing a "chef's hat" and bruises the ego. So, in the dramatic style of TV restaurants, yet again, Noodle Cook goes about electronically, improving all aspects of food styling, lighting, photographic angles and cheating with graphic packages. Fortunately, food bloggers, Donna Hay publications, and photographic works by Michael Freeman offer plenty of inspirations.

Just like Aria's pastry chef, Noodle Cook spends hours trying to perfect a dessert. Instead of a fancy moulded wine jelly, Noodle's effort centres around dessert pears. The "shortcut" of poaching the pears in a raspberry and peach herbal infusion tea bag fails to recreate the lovely pink of the rhubarb version in the Paper Chef #9 dessert. Regardless, the pears look delicious electronically!

Oblique views at 45-45 degrees or 30-60 degrees work well.



Front views often give a "dead centre" look, and work well for staggered objects instead of "soldier style" arrangements.



Top views look impressive for symmetric objects.



A backdrop removes the clinical "hotel lobby" look. Framing and cropping places focus on the object, and the "rule of the thirds" in placement often creates a more pleasing effect.



Side illuminations and shadows give the image extra character and create moods.