Hungry??

The weather has been bad the last couple of days so I've moved into the kitchen, here's some homemade tomatoe soup, and leek and potoato soup, both taken with 5D 100mm 2.8 macro lens, what do you think......









I've just baked an apple pie, will photograph it tomorrow, with cream....... (note to self must do another hours aerobics tomorrow!!!)

I've been thinking about working on some food photography myself, so this is interesting to me at the moment. I like your dishes and the setups.

Of the three tomato soups, I like the first one the best, I think because the focus is more toward the front of the scene. How about some fresh chopped parsley as a garnish to add a complementary color? A few specular highlights on the surface of the soup might be a good thing, but hard to say until you try it.

I'm not sure about the spoon, which seems neither there nor not there, being mostly hidden behind the bowl or off the frame. I guess I want to see the working end of the spoon, which means another challenge to control reflections.

Yeah, I could go for a bowl of tomato soup about now.

Different color

I think that if I were styling the tomato soup, I'd use dishes in a color other than red. Against the more orange color of the soup it would be more appetizing to me. I do like the series and the techinical parts of all of the images...actually, they've made me hungry!

Hi Janet! I love food shots but these can be tricky. I like the big chunks of fresh looking bread. The points made about the plate color is important as it removes emphasis on the food color itself.

The use of light plates allows focus on the dish. Just a little garnish is all that's needed and the rest of the b.g. out of focus as you did with shots 2 and 4.

A tilt shift lens here is of great value as you can select your plane of interest. You do well with the great 100mm 2.8 Macro. I only have the 50mm macro but have been impressed with the larger sibling.

I try to stay away from complex patterns in alll my photography, unless it's important in itself. The table cloth should, in my view, be crisp and convey perfection and hospitality but not be fussy or call to much attention to itself.

Now if these pieces of china and table setting are part of a restaurant's style then that's fine!!

Asher

Thanks everyone for your comments, I wanted to do something a little different with these, I usually use white bowls/plates and white table cloths, I've been told that setups with strong colours sell well, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I'm quite happy with the results, but my personal taste is to use white so that the focus is on the food, but I was interested to give this a go, we'll see if they sell or not, that will be the deciding factor in whether I do any more along this line or not.

Thanks all for your comments and advice, today I'll be photographing apple pie, and I'm wondering what colours to use with the neutral colours of apple pie, we'll see....

Hi Jan,

I love to see food photography. I've tried a little myself and I found that you can spend hours getting it just right.

I have a couple observations:

Like David, I don't like the position of the spoon in any of the photos.

My main critique however is that the lighting isn't controlled (the ugly highlight in the top middle of the bowl on the first two images for example), and as direct result of this is that we don't really get to see the texture of the soup.

For the view to really appreciate the soup you need glare. Not all over the surface, but over part of it.

There are some fantastic tips on Michael Ray's blog

Tim

Hello Tim

Thank you for your advice, and the link to Michael Ray's blog, looks like it will be a useful source of ideas/tips, so thank you very much for this.

These soup shots were just grabbed in about 10 minutes before we ate, I'm going to have to set aside more time when we're not waiting to eat.....

I've just been photographing apple pie for the last couple of hours, and I'm not sure if I've got anything I'm happy with yet.

Oh well, let's hope that all this time and practice helps, once again thanks for your help.

janet Smith said:

Thanks all for your comments and advice, today I'll be photographing apple pie, and I'm wondering what colours to use with the neutral colours of apple pie, we'll see....

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I'd find something with the tones of the pie in the b.g. and in soft focus. Perhaps something wooden or dried flowers, anything with sienna tones. Just my way of imagining things.

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

I'd find something with the tones of the pie in the b.g. and in soft focus. Perhaps something wooden or dried flowers, anything with sienna tones. Just my way of imagining things

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Hello Asher

Well here is one of the apple pie (wish I'd read your suggestion before I took these) I'm not happy with this, more harsh ugly highlights as Tim said.... The problem is that I am working in a room with very large south facing windows, the sun was very strong today, I should have waited till the sun moved away a bit, but as usual not enough time!

Anyway, I'm going to M & S in the morning to try and buy some sienna coloured plates, thank you for the idea.

So for now here is this one, I intend to reshoot tomorrow or Friday (providing my sons leave some of the apple pie!) and I'll hopefully post something I'm happier with then........

I'd like to see a little more light on the front face of the apple pie and more texture in the apples--maybe a slice with more apple chunks and less sauce and one stop down for a little more DOF, and you could use a small mirror to throw some light back onto the surface that faces the camera, if you're using window light.

Hello David

Thank you for your response and comments, I should have had a definate plan/vision when I set about doing these, I've been thinking about this overnight, and I'm going to move into another room where it will be easier to control the light, I already use a reflector and flash, I'm going to set up a slave unit, and allocate a full day instead of trying to squeeze photography in between everything else that I do. So we'll see what a planned, concentrated effort will achieve.

Food photography is a very different discipline to photographing flowers and landscapes (my usual territory is outside) my plan at the moment for the winter is to concentrate on learning more Photoshop skills and perhaps buy in some studio lighting equipment, it's never ending learning and investment isn't - but I thoroughly enjoy a challenge. Styling the food is a skill in itself that I'm not very good at yet, at this stage I'm not sure if it's for me, it may be a bit too time consuming trying to cook, then style the food - then photograph it. I'm going to put in some serious time/work over the winter months, and see where I end up.......

Thanks for your suggestions.

Tim Armes said:

There are some fantastic tips on Michael Ray's blog

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Yes, I agree. It's recommended reading.

Bart

Jan, I'm learning here too, since this is an area of photography that I haven't done much and am working on at the moment. I'll be posting a few examples, I hope, in the not too distant future, and I'll be interested in reading your thoughts as well.

I've also been reading Michael Ray's blog, and I've learned some things there. His ideas about lighting are compatible with my own (and I happen to have some of the same equipment, like a Norman 10" fresnel spot), so it's been very useful for me.

Hi David

I've been reading Michael's blog too, very useful information on there, today has ended up chaotic with other things, so haven't got any photography done, but will try to set a day aside in the next few days.

I look forward to seeing some of your attempts too.....

By the way, if you want to see how NOT to photograph food, this is one of the funniest sites on the web--

http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/

This sequence is my favorite, I think--

http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/meat/index.html