Sharon Cosgrove

My granny always made sherry trifle at Christmas and absolutely soaked it in Harvey's Bristol Cream. This trifle was made partly for nostalgia and partly because I really wanted to try making a trifle in this big dish! I used one light from the side, feathered slightly and made the strawberries pop a little more in post-production. Then I ate it.

I loved how textured this bread was and wanted to highlight that with some soft feathered lighting but keep a dark moody feel to the shot.

The swirls and curvature of the spaghetti I felt had quite a graphic feel so I decided overhead would suit this image. I doubled up on the crockery and chose black to enhance the curves of the food and make it pop.

There is something about photographing meat, I just don't know how to describe it. It's such a primal instinct, I'm shooting it but all along I'm thinking how tasty it will be! I didn't want to complicate this shot with too many props, simplicity was key for me. Dark, moody, and with a limited color palette. Rich red and brown tones, dark wood, and shiny steel. I used the main fill and barn doors to add a highlight to the fork and texture of the meat. I can tell you this was delicious, perks of the job.

Shot in a cow byre in the Northern Ireland countryside, this edible flower cake was a dream to shoot. I loved how the natural light spread softly around the cake and how it catches just a glimpse of the chair in the background and the baker looking proudly on at her creation.

I had some gorgeous artisan raspberry jam leftover from a shoot for a local business. I had this image in my head but had never made peanut butter bars before. To my astonishment they didn't fall apart upon cutting them (tip - use a really hot knife and slice from chilled). I used natural light for this shot, something I'm not overly comfortable with. I'm a control freak and prefer strobes. I love how the light catches the jam and the simplicity of the colour palette. They were a delight to eat afterward too.

These strawberries looked so beautifully ripe and red in the shop, I just couldn't resist buying them! I knew I wanted to place just one on it's side with the rest stem down/bottoms to really emphasise the colour and texture of the fruit. I used one light, bare bulb diffused through a large scrim for a nice flat and natural looking light. I added a vignette in post with a little boost to saturation, curves and a bit of high pass.

During the Coronavirus pandemic, I put out an offer to local businesses that were struggling and needed photography of their products to sell online during the lockdown. This was one of the businesses that got in touch and I was delighted to help. They make all their hummus by hand in small batches with no nasty additives or preservatives. I had hummus with everything that week! I wanted to keep this short simple so I used one light positioned low creating shadows in the ripples and swirls of the hummus.

I wanted to create a morning light effect for this shot of croissants with a warm glow and the feeling of a bright day. A little natural lens flare plus a boost during the edit helped I think.

This shot was taken as part of a series of shots for a butcher's shop near my hometown. They wanted to emphasise the tools used for traditional butchery including the butchers steel and the block on which the meat rests. The meat of course is the real star. I was very happy with how the images turned out as it was shot on location in a very, very cold refrigeration unit with stone floors and little comfort!