Quintessentially British

Beatrice Peltre's book La Jardine Gourmande: Recipes For An Inspired Life expresses her desire and passion for cooking, the people, and the places she loves.  She says ". . . flavours are collected as souvenirs and shared as heirlooms . . ."

Another chef who celebrates their location is Rick Stein, selling locally sourced seafood in Padstow, Cornwall.  Although many people would argue curry is our national dish, eating fish and chips from a newspaper bag is quintessentially British.  You can't go wrong with the deliciousness on offer at Stein's Fish and Chips.  Every year they sell over 204,000 portions of chips, all made from potatoes grown right there in Padstow.

Stein's own blog features his suppliers, offers tips from the restaurant chefs and recommends inspiring ways for discovering Cornwall, using images that tell a story of their customers and the food they offer.

Images courtesy of Stein's Fish and Chips

Photojournalists and documentary photographers often use a series of images to create a photo-essay to tell their stories.  They rely on their images to establish the location and time to give viewers a true feeling of where and when it took place.  This is known as the establishing shot and usually taken at a wide angle to get as much in the frame as possible.

The above images from Stein's Fish and Chips are detail shots.  They are tightly composed and focus on something specific, in this case the food, central to telling the story.

Filler shots are other images that help to tell the story.  They help to set the scene.

The closing shot is used to end the story.  It needs to have a sense of closure and should portray an emotion you would like the viewer to feel about the narrative you have been working to tell, for example, is it a happy or sad ending, would you like them to take action after looking at the photo-essay?

Here are a series of images I took at China Town in London.  I used the first image to set the scene and tell viewers where they are.  I think took a variety of photographs of the food on display at the location, from crispy duck to garishly coloured sweet things.

It was great fun watching the people around China Town.  I also enjoy the tranquility of a seaside town like Padstow.  Why not try creating a photo-essay of your own on your next day trip, holiday overseas, or even in your own home town and share some of your images in the comments below.  Just remember if you go to Padstow, watch out for the chip-stealing seagulls.