Michael Ray Couldn't find birthdate but he is still alive
Personal Background
Michael Ray is a current commercial food photogarpher. Since he started doing food photography, he has become very successful. He lives and does most of his work out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Michael has many, many clients some of which include Subway, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Ocean Spray, and Heinz. Ray has been in the food photography business for a little more than three decades now. He started his work in the early 1980s. This amazing photographer strives to have the most beautiful and most well balanced photos he can get. This works great for him and has an incredible result that make viewer salivate.
Style
To really get the full effect of the pictures that Michael Ray takes, he makes sure to get up close and focus on aspects such as the texture that really make viewers feel as though they can even touch or grab the food. To put even more focus on the food subjects that Ray is shooting, he makes sure to use background that will compliment and make the food pop. Contrasting colors are used in the background of pictures to really exaggerate the food. In some of his photos, rather than having just the food itself, he'll use props in which use would usually find the food around. For example, when shooting pictures of steak, he'll put a cutting board and a knife around it.
Philosophy
As a photographer of food, Michael Ray is trying to bring out the quality of the foods that people consume these days and are often craving. If he can make the food being sold look incredibly more appealing than someone's plain though about it, he will do that. He has a good taste in food. That was a food joke. He has been able to live well off of taking pictures of food which is something that he has found interest in and recognized when he was younger.
Influences
I have always found it super fun to take texture photos and zooming in to really exaggerate the intericate details and crevases of small objects. When I saw that Michael Ray was able to really pull out the texture of the food that he was taking pictures of, I was inspires to try and do something similar. He makes the viewer feel as though they are really there looking at the food in person and I thought that was cool and something I wanted to achieve.
Just like Michael Ray, I decided to take photos of food. The first picture I took was of a sandwich that I had at Zingerman's. Remembering that Michael captured texture in his photographs, I decided to put my camera close to the sandwich to really get the full effect. You can see the individual ingrediants and small things like seeds. For the second photo, I took a picture of the best breakfast I have ever had. I decided to take an approach that I saw Ray use. I left a few of the surrounding props in the frame to make it look like the real scene. I havethe coffee and the utensils to create the table look. For my last photograph, I chose to take a picture of a desert just like Michael Ray often does. I have it on the plate and shot the photo from a slight angle so that viewers can feel as though they are really looking at it.
Personal Artist Statement
While shooting these photographs, I felt inclined to capture each detail and crevase as was possible. My pictures were an attempt to embody some of my life. Food is an important part of my life and I often feel as though it's all I do sometimes. I chose to take snapshots of my favorite foods that I feel are necessary to have at least once a year. I love food and I'm glad I could connect with Michael Ray.