Help with Noob Food Pics

[joejhorn]

Hi guys, all the advice so far has been great. I've been taking some food photos, I own a restaurant and have a food blog.

Would love some feedback on them and areas for improvement. I take them in a homemade lightbox cut out of a ups box, two 500 watt lights on each side. I use a 1000d with the 1.8 50mm lens.

I just recently started taking them in raw, trying to get my white balance correct.

My wife never gives me any feedback other than "they're nice" and I'm having a hard time improving. Thanks as always!
#1
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3161/2745050033_5a993b1648_o.jpg

#2
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3355/3230262160_1414a3ec09.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3355/3230262160_1414a3ec09.jpg)

#3http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3348/3230262152_1d9065aae0.jpg

#4
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3481/3230251506_6e46f6c640.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3481/3230251506_6e46f6c640.jpg)

[alexchern75]

#1, the shallow depth of field makes the green linguine or which ever pasta that is look like a pile of something, but the red sauce in the front looks yummy. Use a smaller aperture to bring the back in to the focus or keep in off the plate.
#2 great looking piece of meat, i only wish we had smellovision...:) again I would have used a smaller aperture because the steak disintegrates towards the back. Maybe holding off on the parsley until seconds before the shoot would probably prevent it from looking drowned, or withered.
#3 could use a bit more presentation, cleaner or more uniform looking cuts on the cilantro would be nice, and a bit more care with the sour cream to make it look styled.
#4 I love the colors, If you would have included the garnishes in the focus then it would have been sweet. :)
Now I'm hungry, thanks...

[form]

Agreed, greater DoF is preferred for many food shots. Think still life.

BTW light is very blah in 2 and 3, better in 4 and best in 1. That steak looks like...yech. The color balance makes it look worse.

[Mark1]

You want a bit harsher of light. Or wet the food down slightly. You want it to glisten a bit. Not shiney, just glisten.

Your arangements seen to work fine. I agree with a bit more DOF. And your colors are nice and vivid. Its a good start.

[Tawcan]

Definitely more DOF for all of your shots, especially #1 & #2. A bit more light would be nice as well.

I like your compositions.

[howaboutnow]

Can I get an order of number 2, 3, and 4 please :)

Thanks. Ship it here:

123 my street
Great pics, In your city

;)

[joejhorn]

Cool, thanks for the ideas. I will work on the DOF. I also need to setup the garnish a bit better. My wife is the chef and sometimes I can get her to style for me, but not too often. Mostly the whole family is waiting to eat the food and just wants me to get on with it.

I'm shooting with two 500 watt lights through some tracing paper into a homemade lightbox. Any thoughts on other ways to light?

I was going to place some mirrors maybe and see how that effects the subject.