Ganache Patisserie Photo Shoot [Commercial Photographer North Shore Sydney]

We were very excited to photograph the creations of reknown French Pastry Chef Didier Sockeel at Ganache Patisserie located in the heart of Castlecrag on Sydney’s North Shore. Didier has a loyal following of delighted customers who love to experience authentic French delicacies lovingly made on-site from the best ingredients.

CAMERA SETTINGS: 1/60 sec at f/3.2, ISO 800, 50mm, hand held. CANON 5DMarkIII
When I mentioned to Valerie our French born intern we had been commissioned to work with Ganache Patisserie, she was ecstatic. She said Ganache Patisserie is a real favourite amongst the French community in Sydney.
We loved the feel of this busy cafe and the view of the kitchen so decided that we should make use of both settings by using the food display cabinet to sit the cakes on. For my photography assistant Montana who has a passion for food photography, the shoot was a chance for her to practice her food styling skills when helping to present the cakes and pastries.

CAMERA SETTINGS: 1/60 sec at f/2.8, ISO 800, 50mm, hand held.
Isn’t this a beautifully crafted Gananche tart!!! Are you tempted?!!! I chose a narrow depth of field, focusing on the dome chocolate decoration in the foreground. Behind the cake in the distant background were shelves, which we covered with white paper to keep the attention in the foreground. It worked well to have the background surround to be in muted tones and tie in with the the marble platter. The simple vertical shapes in the background created by the shelves made a much more interesting setting than photographing the cake against a studio backdrop or in a cake box.

CAMERA SETTINGS: 1/60 sec at f/2.5, ISO 400, 50mm, hand held.
Although we had a stack of studio lighting we found the available light in the Patisserie was the way to go. In a tiny corner of the kitchen next to the ovens there was a small tinted, frosted window which provided beautiful gentle light to make use of. For the viennoiserie (danish, croissants, brioche) we used a simple white polystyrene reflector board to bounce the window light back on to the right side, which helped define and subtly illuminate each pastry.
We tried a variety of different serving dishes to place the viennoiserie on before settling on a beautiful French antique dish Didier had displayed high up on a shelf in his cafe. We found this cerise and gold gilded serving plate really added to the luxurious feel that was fitting of the fine reputation the patisserie has. The bench next to the window was a dark marble, which we felt was too dark and distracted from the viennoiserie so the simple solution was to cover the bench with white paper.
Normally I try to show depth in an image, as seen with the small cakes (on display above) where the kitchen is included but is thrown out of focus in the background. However for the pastries it was vital to show customers who will see images on the Ganache website exactly what the pastry looks like so a shot from directly above was best. It was therefore not necessary to have anything else other than the plate to complete the scene.

CAMERA SETTINGS: 1/60 sec at f/3.2, ISO 800, 50mm, hand held.
CAMERA SETTINGS: 1/60 sec at f/2.8, ISO 800, 50mm, hand held. Don’t you wish you could reach into your computer and taste one of these delights?! Shortly you will be able to see our cake and patisserie photography added to the Ganache website. We can’t wait for our next shoot in October where we will be able to show you what will be available for Christmas pre-orders.