My 52 Project: Homemade Food

Technically this is not homemade food, but as far as I am concerned, coffee already makes up a huge portion of my daily diet, so I might as well include it in this challenge.
As this is a theme where I already have more than enough props, I am sure that I will revisit it in the course of the next 46 weeks and try some other compositions. I tried the lower angle I wanted to try since last week's shot and moved a couple props further into the background. At one point my composition was very busy and overloaded, so I decided against most props but kept the camera angle. As I edited the image, I noticed that the jar looks a bit crooked. Maybe I did not align my camera perfectly with the table. But overall I quite like the result.
WEEK 6:

Apart from keeping to my own schedule, I struggle to keep my background clean and getting enough light. My kitchen window seems to be a fairly good light source in the afternoon, but we often cook later than the light is usable. Using an ironing board to get my setup to window height and the cloth is actually my pillow case
WEEK 7:

We got some early snow in Germany and luckily our mixed leftover pan had some christmas colours in it. Again setup on the ironing board next to the kitchen window.
WEEK 8:

Arrived at my parent's house and had a little get-together with my old classmates. I LOVE THE HUUUUGE WINDOWS IN THEIR LIVING ROOM!! No more balancing the tripod between the ironing board and the window sill
Right now I am seeing all these beautiful, symmetrical top-down shots of food and I fail to align my lines correctly. No matter how long I stare at my live preview or try cropping and rotating, some lines are always off. If anyone got tips for that that would be great!
WEEK 9:

piQturesQue wrote in post #18777193
Right now I am seeing all these beautiful, symmetrical top-down shots of food and I fail to align my lines correctly. No matter how long I stare at my live preview or try cropping and rotating, some lines are always off. If anyone got tips for that that would be great!

I get that kind of distortion when the camera is vertical and the scene includes clear vertical or horizontal lines. The Canon G15 (bridge camera, simpler than yours) has the option of a Rule of Thirds grid and a leveling indicator on the screen. Both of them help. When the camera is level and the lines are still off, what's wrong is that the front of the camera isn't parallel with the flat surface to be shot, and therefore the sensor isn't, either. It's turned left or right. A tiny difference in this angle, maybe half a degree, makes a big difference in the geometry of the image.

This is the kind of shot that requires side-to-side alignment:

OhLook wrote in post #18777264
I get that kind of distortion when the camera is vertical and the scene includes clear vertical or horizontal lines. The Canon G15 (bridge camera, simpler than yours) has the option of a Rule of Thirds grid and a leveling indicator on the screen. Both of them help. When the camera is level and the lines are still off, what's wrong is that the front of the camera isn't parallel with the flat surface to be shot, and therefore the sensor isn't, either. It's turned left or right. A tiny difference in this angle, maybe half a degree, makes a big difference in the geometry of the image.

The grid I use, but I have not found a level function on my camera yet. Probably doesn't have one and I have to use a leveling head. The skewed front of the camera really is a difficult problem! Do you take multiple shots and decide afterwards or do you have any other tips that could help with that?

piQturesQue wrote in post #18778310
Do you take multiple shots and decide afterwards or do you have any other tips that could help with that?

I keep looking at the screen and try to hold very still and press the button gently (squeeze, not punch, and don't let go too soon) after exhaling. Practice improves this discipline. Often it takes multiple shots anyway. I check shots before leaving the scene, to make sure at least one of them is straight. The last resort is to turn the image in PP.

For top-down food, avoid checkered tablecloths and the like. You have more leeway without lines in the background that give away any small misalignment.

piQturesQue wrote in post #18734737
I always wondered how people manage to take beautiful pictures of their food and why mine look like it's all greasy and disgusting. So over the next year I will attempt to change that! Most recipes here will be vegetarian, as my girlfriend decided to try a vegetarian day per week and we will be trying out loads of new recipes for that, but I am sure some burgers and steaks will show up, eventually.

Right now I only have my used 5D II and and EF 50mm f/1.8 at hand and will be using natural light. Maybe I'll get a flash or two for Christmas. Editing takes place in Lightroom. I know that Photoshop helps with certain types of montages, but at the moment I would rather spend that money on something else.
I welcome constructive critique, as this is all about seeing improvements over time. Please do not edit these images, unless you want to repost them in this thread to make a point.

WEEK 1:

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forum: Food Photography & Visual Recipes

I would definitely use a smaller aperture (higher f number) to achieve more DOF for food in a bowl shot at this angle.
The wood showing through the glass bowl is a little too busy in my view; I would use a plain light color board under the plate to really make the food pop. Alternatively a white bowl on that table.

What is really nice when shooting a deeper dish is when you see some of its components. Here the cheese and maybe one or 2 pasta pieces are in focus and it's hard to figure out what the other ingredients are.

It's hard to shoot a plat plate from above especially when the food isn't sticking up very much.
First think about the composition, have a plan in your head and then proceed with details in mind.
Use toothpicks to elevate and secure one piece of fish, even prop it with a piece of lemon that won't be visible.
Bounce the light using white board; you may need 2 or 3 pieces of something white and self-supporting to kill the reflections.

I would have dribbled the remoulade or whatever sauce it is over the fish; as is it looks really flat.

piQturesQue wrote in post #18755033
Last week has been busy, as I was in the midst of finishing my final exams. I found enough time to bake some cookies and shoot them, but just got around to editing the shot.
Overall I am quite happy with this one, if I could change something, I probably would add one more cookie. Only in post processing did I notice that the "horizon" aligns with the topmost cookie and don't reaaaaally dig it. For lighting I again used my trusty side window light. Only this time I paid a bit more attention and bounced some of it back using white cardboard. I think the left side looks much more balanced and less dark now.
WEEK 4:

Hosted photo: posted by piQturesQue in
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forum: Food Photography & Visual Recipes

Nice composition but the crop is really a tiny bit tight.
The stack of cookies may need to be on the other side where it gets more natural light plus some extra reflected light from a white foam board.
I think it's slightly underexposed, but that can be easily adjusted.

Yes, the horizon line and the little vertical line behind the milk is distracting. One cookie could be bitten off and a few crumbs or raisins could be spread around the table.

piQturesQue wrote in post #18758775
Saturday we had friends over to eat and watch a movie, so naturally I had to use artificial light. I don't know what it is in particular, but I feel the ceiling light makes the whole scene look dull and flat. Maybe because there are no real shadows and no side light, at all. Regarding the composition, I am still struggling to include props without overloading the image. Maybe next week I will shoot at a lower angle and move props a bit further into the background.
WEEK 5:

Hosted photo: posted by piQturesQue in
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forum: Food Photography & Visual Recipes

I think this shot would benefit from a tighter crop. I would still use a white or blue plate simply because the wood pattern is not really flattering. The plastic chopping board is not that pretty and the salt, pepper etc are not really that great. Unless you have a beautiful stylish old pepper mill, I would'n necessarily show it. The yellow pepper (capsicum) would look nicer if it was cut in half with its beautiful center facing up.

piQturesQue wrote in post #18762144
Technically this is not homemade food, but as far as I am concerned, coffee already makes up a huge portion of my daily diet, so I might as well include it in this challenge.
As this is a theme where I already have more than enough props, I am sure that I will revisit it in the course of the next 46 weeks and try some other compositions. I tried the lower angle I wanted to try since last week's shot and moved a couple props further into the background. At one point my composition was very busy and overloaded, so I decided against most props but kept the camera angle. As I edited the image, I noticed that the jar looks a bit crooked. Maybe I did not align my camera perfectly with the table. But overall I quite like the result.
WEEK 6:

Hosted photo: posted by piQturesQue in
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forum: Food Photography & Visual Recipes

This is my favorite. Just straighten the jar and that's it. Next time spread the coffee beans very randomly; here they look like they've been arranged. The first diagonal line kind of gives it away.

I really hope you don't mind my comments. I used to write a food blog but no longer and used to read articles on food styling etc. You are on the right path, just keep shooting

You may want to read these articles full of food photography tips

https://thecookingjar.​com …logging-photography-tips/

https://www.theendless​meal.com/food-photography-tips/

https://www.healthysea​sonalrecipes.com …hotography-tips-bloggers/

https://expertphotogra​phy.com …loggers-photography-tips/

https://gourmandeinthe​kitchen.com …isual-elements-of-design/

Thank you for the honest and constructive critique and the blogs!
The glass bowl is the only one I have right now (first own flat), but you are right that the wood shining through is distracting. Got some new plates and a wrought-iron pan for Christmas. Definitely looking forward to cooking and shooting some dishes with them.

You mentioned the cookies being a bit underexposed. I have noticed that my 5D2 tends to underexpose about 1/3 to 2/3 stops when using the whole frame for exposure metering quite often. Maybe that is because of my mostly light backgrounds that make up a big part of the frame. Anyways I almost always have to brighten the image in post and tend to be a bit too careful with the slider.

The bitten off cookie is a great idea! Will recreate that recipe sometime soon and try that. But those are chocolate chip cookies I would feel betrayed if a cookie contained raisins instead of chocolate.

The capsicum does definitely look better when chopped in half, I noticed that when propping the muffins. And you're right that my cutting board and salt and pepper look quite boring.

Once again, I appreciate your feedback and am not trying to justify my pictures. Just noting some things that struck me most in your commente so that I can improve them over the next months.

It's holiday time and I didn't cook anything at all But my brother and I had a fun time snapping a candle-lit picture of the tastiest wine of our christmas dinner. Happy New Year to all of you!
WEEK 10: