SCOTHOT CHEF COMPETITION

Being a chef is often taken for granted, at restaurants, people expecting the food to arrive within 5 minutes of ordering; despite how busy it may be, while the food not only to arrive to quality, but to arrive well presented with a very short timescale.

Over the two days of the 15th and 16th of March 2017, ScotHot held a Chef Competition in which each competitor was selected out of many applicants, to do a chosen meal; such as, within a certain timescale, some chefs were to cook a meal with red meat, while other chefs were to do desserts, and others had an open competition and chose what they wanted to cook.

For the Thursday the 16th, I was privileged to be given a 'PRESS' pass in so that I could complete an event for college, photographing my friend, who is a chef for the Western House Hotel in Ayr, South Ayrshire, who was selected to compete in the dessert section of the competition. For this section, Claire - the chef, decided that she was going to bake / cook a 'Deconstructed Key Lime Pie with Chocolate Lime Sauce' and 'Plum and Almond Frangipan Tart with Warm Creme Anglais and Roast Plums'.

IMAGE ONE - As Health and Safety inspector from Holchem looks on, watching all of the chefs and marking them on their cleanliness. I have composed this image in so that the Health and Safety Inspector is to the left hand side of the image, leading into the middle, leaving space to the right of the image so that you can see the chef that he is inspecting - with the chef out of focus, but still eye-catching to draw viewers in.

ISO: 2000 - 85mm - f/2.8 - 1/250 - Nikon D700

IMAGE TWO - Chef, Claire Black and her boss, Paul Cuthbert, having a pep talk before Claire's competition starting; trying to calm the nerves before she starts cooking. I have composed this image in so that Claire and Paul are mostly centre within the image, with all of Claire's food and equipment needing in front of them, with Claire and Paul in focus, while everything else is out of focus, drawing the viewer straight in to look at Claire and Paul, but leaving the image with their eyes scanning all of the equipment and food needed.

ISO: 2000 - 105mm - f/2.8 - 1/250 - Nikon D700

IMAGE THREE - Chef, Claire Black, starting her cooking, as the competition has started, giving her 1 hour to complete two meals, with the Menu showing what she was cooking so that the judges could read and inspect. I have composed this image in so that Claire is within the centre of the image, with the menu being just right of the centre, meaning that, while out of focus, you could see what Claire is doing, leaving the menu in focus, so that it gives a sense of difference and draws viewers in.

ISO 2000 - 70mm - f/2.8 - 1/250 - Nikon D700

IMAGE FOUR - Two judges, inspecting the menu in which chef, Claire, is currently cooking, so that they can take on and understand what she is cooking, so while watching her, they know exactly what to expect. I have composed this image in so that there is a judge at each side of the image, with the blank / open space in the middle showing Claire working away, with no notice the judges are standing in front of her.

ISO 2000 - 70mm - f/2.8 - 1/250 - Nikon D700

IMAGE FIVE - Chef, Claire, is busy cooking away, to ensure that she was going to be finished both dishes within the hour timescale, putting the Almond Frangipan into the tarts which she had made prior to the event. I have composed this image in so that Claire is centre within the image, showing what she is doing and what she is surrounded by, putting the menu into the image, in the bottom left corner, but leaving it out of focus, to ensure that the viewer is drawn in.

ISO 2000 - 95mm - f/2.8 - 1/250 - Nikon D700

IMAGE SIX - Chef, Claire, chopping up her plums for her final dish, while the judges watch on to see how she is getting on, and watching carefully what she's doing. I have composed this image in so that you can see three of the judges in total focus, with Claire slightly out of focus, but not so much that you can't see her clearly, with the menu which she is producing to totally out of focus, but at the front of the image.

ISO 2000 - 70mm - f/2.8 - 1/250 - Nikon D700

IMAGE SEVEN - Chef, Claire, is sorting her roast plums for her final piece, flipping them in the pan in so that they were roasted thoroughly. I have composed this image in so that Claire fills near enough the whole image, with the menu totally out of focus at the bottom of the image, and because of this, i feel like it will draw viewers in from the bottom to look up and throughout the image.

ISO 2000 - 125mm - f/2.8 - 1/250 - Nikon D700

IMAGE EIGHT - Chef, Claire, as she is blending the Creme Anglais, looks up to see her family, friends and workmates watching her intently, and realising i'm taking a photograph, she smiles, not knowing there is a judge standing behind her, watching her. I have composed this image in so that Claire is centre within the image, showing what she is doing, while i have zoomed out enough in so that you can see that there is a judge standing behind her.

ISO 2000 - 120mm - f/2.8 - 1/250 - Nikon D700

IMAGE NINE - The two head judges, are standing talking, discussing the competitors, and the rest of the day which is ahead of them. I have composed this image in so that you can see both judges in the image, but leaving the left of the image blank, so that you can see that the chefs are still busy working away, and while it was the head judge who is in the centre of the image.

ISO 2000 - 70mm - f/2.8 - 1/250 - Nikon D700

IMAGE TEN - Guests standing and sitting watching the whole show intently, while someone is taking photos / videos with their phone, while the judges are at the far side, inspecting what the chef is currently doing, with one judge also using their phone to collect evidence of the day. I have composed this image in so that you can see several people standing and sitting, taking in what the chefs are doing, while they're busy working, with the background showing some of the boards which the organising staff have put up.

ISO 2000 - 78mm - f/2.8 - 1/250 - Nikon D700

IMAGE ELEVEN - Chef, Claire's, final pieces, as it sits with her menu which tells the judges which they are eating and what is in what they are eating. I have composed this image in so that the viewer can see the menu, and on a digital image, they can zoom in and read the image for themselves, as well as showing the full complete dishes in which Claire has made; the one at the front is the one which the judges try so that they can judge on the taste and how well it is cooked etc.

ISO 2000 - 70mm - f/2.8 - 1/250 - Nikon D700

IMAGE TWELVE - One of the judges writing his reviews onto the 'score sheet' for chef, Claire's, final pieces, in so that they can all be marked and rewarded accurately. I have composed this image in so that the judge is centre within the image, with the Scottish Culinary Championships logo on the back wall, even though it is out of focus.

ISO 2000 - 70mm - f/2.8 - 1/250 - Nikon D700

My biggest struggle throughout photographing at this event was the low lighting, and while many other press photographers were using a flash, I felt like it was going to be something which was eye-catching for the chef(s) competing, and therefore, I decided to work with the lighting within my camera. Despite the low lighting, I ended up with several images which I was happy with to use for one of my final events.

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