Food Shoot C&C Please

Dodgykeeper

Used my studio lights and a large piece of white card to produce an infinity wall!









Would love to know what you think!

Borderfox

Compostion wise I like them, colours need a bit more pop in them. Your cooking too?

Dodgykeeper

Borderfox wrote: »

Compostion wise I like them, colours need a bit more pop in them. Your cooking too?

Not my cooking!

Cheers for feedback!

Technique

I like them. The food looks really good against the wall of white.

I would, however, say that food needs to look moist in photos imo, and you've only captured that in the carrots and tomatoes. Still looks fairly striking, though, and is making me hungry.

CabanSail

Well it's very apertising. If anything it looks too perfect.

Very nice work.

Tactical

I agree with Technique, the second and third shots look too "dry". Not the pastry but the fruit / vegatable in the second and third shots.

Also as an advertising shot the reflection in the spoon on the second shot is distracting. The spoon looks very small indeed compared to the fruit and pastry, is it intentionally that small or is it just the shot that makes it look this way?

Overall I like what you've done, with the first shot being my favourite, everything looks right in it for me.

AnCatDubh

Some really good shots DK.

Technique's point is very interesting as apparently in food photography which gets published in food and drink magazines around the globe are really contrived with all kinds of sprays, varnishes (i kid you not) and sparkles added to bring up the punch in the images and as a result you'd never eat it after the photoshoot

A couple of things to think about in these -

in #1 the plate appears quite grey. In fairness it could be my screen but I suspect not as in #2 the plates are more like white porcelain that you'd expect.

in #2 you've caught some shadow and although I hate shadow with a vengeance what you've caught are soft and could even add to the composition almost in the same way that a drop shadow on an image which sits on a white background can give it that little lift. Wait a minute, that's exactly why it works I wonder about lining up the raspberries in a line - it looks a little odd to my sense of visual perspective but I'm assuming the layout of the food was the chef's prerogative. (on second look - it does provide complementary lines the raspberries on one side, the spoon on the other - perhaps this is what was being sought???)

#3 has some shadows again but to my eye they are fine and don't distract from what I believe you are intending with your shot.

Nice work.

elven

Technically I think you've come up withs omething pretty damn good. But there's no warmth here, nothing giving any atmosphere, it's all very clinical because you're using a plain white backdrop. It depends on the use of the pictures but these days, the food photography i find most inspiring (both to my eye and my mouth) is the stuff that's in a setting, with appropriate props. Even just using a plain, simple tablecloth in the background gives a bit more atmosphere. There are some great examples on http://www.cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/ and although a lot are shot outside or on location I know there are studio shots in there too. I think where practical, natural light is going to give you best results, too.

The thing I notice about most of the food photography that inspires me these days is that they don't care about the highlights. When you process, don't worry about keeping detail in there - push it past what you're comfortable with, then push it some more, then leave it and come back to it a while later and compare to your earlier version, and see which looks 'fresher'.

dudara

Nice shots - I find them pretty appetising. I do think that the plate is a little gray in the 1st shot, but the dessert in the 2nd looks great. Like the row of red raspberries and diagonally opposite spoon.

4sb

Hi Fergus,

I kinda agree with the comments above. I think they are superb from a chefs perspective - an accurate recording of what a chef can produce and present.

I think a more impressionistic treatment is needed to entice a non-hungry audience. - Steam, selective focus, more dramatic lighting, etc. I read somewhere, Strobist I think, that food tends to need to be backlit to emphasize the 3 dimensionality.

Kazi