Сottage Сheesecakes

小屋芝士蛋糕

Concept

A girl in the kitchen is making sweet, soft cheesecakes, and an apron is her only piece of clothing. The girl has to look as tempting and yummy as the cheesecakes she’s making.

Inspiration

I often admire cooking done by my wife, who usually does it almost naked, which actually gave me an idea for this photoshoot.

Choice of colors

I took a nice-looking blue apron with a funny tiny pattern. The blue color looked gorgeous on the girl’s tanned body. I wanted the other color scheme to be warm, for which I’d found an old apartment with the appropriate kitchen.

Outfits

The blue kitchen apron fits perfectly into the photo shoot, not only in its color but also in its design. Once the model had put it on, her buttocks and breast remained naked, which I was looking for.

I believe half-covered, accidentally overseen beauty looks much more gorgeous than that shown explicitly. Of course, I could have put a completely naked model at the kitchen table, but I’m convinced this would have made the photo more primitive, more ordinary, and not so attractive.

Background

The old Soviet kitchen is behind the girl and on her left. To add more accessories, I put on the kitchen table some props that are directly related to making cheesecakes: a frying pan, some butter, eggs, flour, and a couple of cobbled, not yet fried cheesecakes. 

The props were placed on the table in a messy way so that the photos produced the most true-to-life effect related to cooking. 

Hair and makeup

As in the majority of my photos, the girl’s makeup is light and natural. Her hair is styled in a ponytail so that it doesn’t get into the meal. A curl in the front seems to drop by chance, which adds some good spirit to the shot.

Light

During the photoshoot, I used the natural light coming from the window covered with a half-transparent curtain. The light is soft, diffused, and beautifully outlines her arms, breast, and face. The reflector illuminates the model from behind to add volume to her back and buttocks. 

Posing

The girl is focused on making cheesecakes. Her face is shown sidewise, and her gaze is directed to her hands. Her body is slightly turned so that her beautiful spine and buttocks are clearly seen. The girl is really making cheesecakes, which makes the entire picture look natural. That’s precisely how I saw this photo in my mind.

Camera and optical features

Nikon D600, Nikkor 85 1.8 D 1/100 f2.5 ISO 640.

Depth of field

The aperture on the portrait lens is open to 2.5, thanks to which the camera focuses on the girl while the objects behind her hands are blurred. If the aperture had been more open, the gas stove behind the model would have been unclear. If the aperture had been shut to 4-5.6, the focus would have been placed on the objects on the table, which would distract the viewer’s attention from the girl.

Shooting angle

The angle is chosen in such a way that the girl’s body and face do not intersect with the light window. The beautiful contours of light are only possible when the skin is in the shadow and is not exposed to light. If I’d moved the camera to the right, the face would have intersected with the window. If I’d moved it to the left, the old gas stove would have disappeared, and only one buttock would have been visible instead of two. If I’d placed the camera lower, the object on the kitchen table would have been seen less clearly. I could have raised the camera a bit - it would neither have spoiled the photo nor improved it.

Cropping

Cropping seeks to show the girl a part of the kitchen and accessories in front of her. The legs behind the buttocks are in the shadow and can be cropped. Deeper cropping would have cut off some interesting kitchen accessories.

Expression

The photo shoot has to evoke delight and smile and be lovely and emotional. Those were the prerequisites for the choice of the model. The girl is young, charming, and has a beautiful body. Her emotion is focused on cooking. The viewer seems to be spying on her, looking at her, and understanding what she’s doing.

Post-processing

Just like most of my photos, this one is treated with a retro effect of old film photos. I used nice-looking brown shades of the skin, subdued contrast, soft light, and no harshness.

You can view and download the high-quality «Lady-cook» photo to your smartphone from the NYMF gallery.