Steakhouse Dinner

This is my first post, though I've been lurking for a while. I just got my 60D (18-135mm kit) a couple weeks ago, so I'm still very new at this. I took these shots during dinner at a steakhouse, the lighting was awful and I didn't use flash. There was incandescent, candle, and daylight all casting light in the shots so I had some trouble with some of the colors.
Photos were edited in ACR, which I am just starting to learn to use. What I should change or improve upon? I'm not sure if I know what I'm doing and I would like to know if I'm headed in the right direction. Thanks!

Is that a Bells Oberon ?

i love the depth of field in the first picture.. i'm new to photography too so the blur/focus/blur pictures impress me still. From a newbie to another newbie, bravo!

I might suggest taking pictures of anything but food. This has always escaped me....I don't understand why so many people shoot pics of food. Unless it's for an advert of course. Heck, I'd be embarrassed to shoot pictures of a plate of food in a good restaurant.

It does look good...to eat that is. My guess on the beer....Blue Moon.

Food Photography is a specialty, and good lighting is the key.

But also the actual prep of the food, and placement in the dish can make or break the shot.

The knife placement in each shot looks awkward. And the lighting is very flat, especially in number two. No detail in the mushrooms.

First one is really good photographically speaking (and photographically didn't get a red line under it so I guess that's not my made up word! :P ) Second one has funky white balance in the well of the plate. But you know that already because of the multitude of light sources. I see not much to critique. Other than tell the chefs that they'd better learn to plate their food with a bit of care.... Hey, I wonder if we'd get great service all the time if we brought our cameras to the table!

saea501 wrote in post #14387137
I might suggest taking pictures of anything but food. This has always escaped me....I don't understand why so many people shoot pics of food. Unless it's for an advert of course. Heck, I'd be embarrassed to shoot pictures of a plate of food in a good restaurant.

What makes shooting food any different from shooting portraits, landscapes, insects, flowers, or anything else? I much prefer seeing a nice photo of food than a closeup of a fly's sucking bits for example. Unfortunately I'm no good at food photography.

I can however offer advice based on what I like seeing in food photos.

They both have too much clutter in the background. In such a scenario, its best to try and get as close as possible or shoot from straight above the food looking down to only have the food in the shot, not the distracting elements. The angles show that you put some thought into the photos, not just shooting from eye level. That is good.
With the different light temperatures that you mention, I think you did a great job eliminating casts. Unfortunately the food itself isn't particularly nice or appetising to look at, and there isn't much you can do about that.

saea501 wrote in post #14387137
I might suggest taking pictures of anything but food. This has always escaped me....I don't understand why so many people shoot pics of food. Unless it's for an advert of course. Heck, I'd be embarrassed to shoot pictures of a plate of food in a good restaurant.

It does look good...to eat that is. My guess on the beer....Blue Moon.

I noticed that too

First photo is nice, second one could use lighting for sure.