I love working with chefs, and I’ve spent most of my professional life either filming or photographing chefs or food in some capacity. In fact my first ‘proper’ job was as a cook then kitchen manager at a gastropub in Aberdeen, back in the year 2000. So although that was a very low-level role compared to the chefs I photograph and film these days I kind of feel an affinity for what they go through to be the best they can be.

My clients at CH&Co have some of the best chefs in the business and every year they run a company-wide competition to find the best of the best. This year the competition was held at the University of West London in Ealing, and I was commissioned to capture the competition as it happened.

The brief: to shoot reportage-style photography of the chefs at work during the cooking phase, the judges, er, judging the dishes, and some group shots of winners and runners up at the end.

The shoot & delivery: four hours shooting with two cameras and multiple lenses; editing and delivering in full within 2 business days.