Can you Critique a few of my Food shots?

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

06/22/2011 08:19:32 PM · #1

After some thought and thinking I have decided to start a food blog. Yeah not all that original but I think it will be enjoyable for me even if not many read it and it will give me practice with food photography. I have taken a bunch of shots thus far but here is a sampling of what I have done. They seem ok but they seem to be lacking that punch and seem maybe a bit flat? Please no need to hold back be as honest and brutal as you want. I will be studing other food photography and so on but thought I would post here as well to get your input. Thanks.

Dr.Confuser

Nikon D800

06/22/2011 08:36:43 PM · #2

I know some professional food photogs, and these are pretty good compared to their work. Suggest shallower depth of field to focus attention on the food. Lighting is absolutely critical ... master lighting and you'll master food photography.

BrennanOB

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

06/22/2011 08:41:39 PM · #3

On the whole they look good, well chosen plates, good clean backgrounds. Two recommendations; on some of the shots the food is too far forward, spilling off the bottom of the screen. I think giving a bit more space at the bottom of the frame avoids the sensation as if you are about to get food spilled in your lap. The second point is the lighting, it is good but missed one hard light source that could bring up the shine on the food, that bit of grease shine really makes a shot involving meat.

I have noticed lately the style in many food shots in recipe books (I'm looking at Larousse Gastronomique) is to go with a very shallow DOF so only a bite of two is in perfect focus, and it seems to make that bite look more desirable, and much more dramatic shadows that the classic food shots.

Tamron AF 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di II for Canon

06/22/2011 08:42:02 PM · #4

Thank you for that. The lighting is def different then what I've been doing with portraits but I will keep experimenting.

Kellie, thank you for all the comments. I agree with what you said on the sandwich but the reason I left the black bits in is that is the bark from low and slow cooking (it looks like a black rock when you take it off) so I wanted to leave it in to show that but since I have a photo of the roast after I took it off the grill it really want necessary to have those bits in the plating photo.

jamesgoss

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

06/22/2011 08:46:49 PM · #5

For me I think it's composition. The whole series seems to be a bit centered. Do you have any props that can enhance the scene? forks, napkins, colorful tablecloth?

Try narrowing your focus just a bit more, but also look into focus stacking (entire scene in absolute focus) your shots.

Inspiration

I really like your first shot, The second one could use some reflectors to minimize shadowing, and maybe a bit more of a low angle. The chicken Marsala ingredients seems weird on black, maybe try to make things "lighter" in feeling.

Honestly, good start, food is a fun subject to shoot, I'd love to do it myself.

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

06/22/2011 08:51:01 PM · #6

Originally posted by jamesgoss:

Thanks. I have a couple of items I can use for props but I have a few items I want to pick up to make it come all together a bit better.

snaffles

Nikon D7100

06/22/2011 08:52:10 PM · #7

Just did some commenting on the individual shots. I really tend to like the style of the food photogs who shoot for a quarterly freebie food/drink magazine called Food&Drink. It's put out by the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) and James Tse is one of the main photogs; Rob Fiocca is the other. Stacey Brandford is a newcomer and I am glad to see her getting more and more assignments.

This publication favours a shallow dof in terms of the food, mostly at the front. Lots of food/studio shots, but some outdoor stuff too. Of course I'm nowhere near as good as these people but basically that's the style I try to emulate when I shoot stock, feel free to check out the Alamy link on my profile.

In terms of props, don't even think of visiting the retail stores; they charge far too much. Hit up the local Sally Ann and similar thrift/charity shops. You can often find sets of 3 perfectly good bowls, given away because the 4th in the set got broken. Ditto decorative glassware and prett much anything else for set dec.

Hope this helps! And very glad to see you seriously exploring this passion of food and marrying it to photography :-)

Message edited by author 2011-06-22 21:06:27.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

06/22/2011 08:58:11 PM · #8

Originally posted by snaffles:

Thanks snaffles. As far as stock I will likely start submitting some of these but my intention for shooting them is to add a lot of visuals to my blog. Doesn't mean I shouldn't aim for stock quality now though. I think one of the bigs things I need to do aside from lighting and comp is too plan out the entire process ahead of time including what when a how I want to shoot so that I am prepared ahead of time and have everything ready to go.

giantmike

Canon EOS R6

06/22/2011 09:01:01 PM · #9

Very nice. I left some comments that included what I felt could be done to help improve them even further.

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

06/22/2011 09:09:39 PM · #10

Originally posted by giantmike:

Very nice. I left some comments that included what I felt could be done to help improve them even further.

Thanks for that. I have gotten a lot of great tips from everyone. As far as the chicken needing a backstory I agree with that for a standalone photo but that was shot specifically for the blog and is just a visual for that step in the recipe. The pan should have been a touch hotter though and cleaner would be nice but oh well. Thank you all again.

snaffles

Nikon D7100

06/22/2011 09:14:42 PM · #11

Mind if I mess with people's minds a little bit?

This is pretty much the angle you used. I used ambient light, the D90 with just a little 50mm f1.8, and let the hibachi and ribs do the rest :-) And it just got into Alamy, so happy about that too, yayyy...

Another thought: especially in the case of meats like pork and poultry, you may want to be careful and designate a separate area in the fridge for 'stunt food', aka any food that you may have out sitting out for awhile, possibly in less-than-hygenic circumstances while it's being shot and possibly re-used. I don't use any chemicals like the hi-end pros do, but then they have food stylists wrangling things, so they concentrate on photography.

adigitalromance

Nikon D750

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

06/22/2011 11:01:29 PM · #12

There are some interesting pictures and recipes at www.tastespotting.com. I get some good food picture ideas for my wife's food blog here.