My 52 Project: Homemade Food

I am just rookie in food photography but I cook quite a few things. Spring rolls you need to over fill them specially for pictures and roll tight. Also zoomed in shots would look better. Light wise little less but make it diffused. Some folks recommend simple parchment paper (in between your flash and the food) though I haven't used it .

Again, thank you for all the tips and advice, everyone! I wish, I could put that advice directly into shooting the same subject, but it's always eaten up by the time I get to edit my shots

@bobbyz: Close-up/detail shots is definitely on my list! I have used parchment paper for the last couple shots, but now I own a real softbox. It is a great improvement, both in terms of diffusion and ease of use.

Haven't been able to shoot as regularly as I planned over the last few weeks, but yesterday I finally caught up with my schedule again. Currently, I seem to like vertical layers or stacks of things a lot as they can be shot from the side and I find overheads very difficult.

Two things that I noticed after the shoot: I should iron out any wrinkles from my pillow case before using it as a background. Also I feel that my 50mm distorts items close to the edge when shooting at a low angle :/ Any tips on how to correct such distortion in post? I have LR available and automatic lens correction activated, but tweaking the sliders manually turns out even worse.
WEEK 19:

Quite pleased with this one. Background still looks wrinkly, but next time I'll know and iron it before
WEEK 20:

piQturesQue wrote in post #18822530
Haven't been able to shoot as regularly as I planned over the last few weeks, but yesterday I finally caught up with my schedule again. Currently, I seem to like vertical layers or stacks of things a lot as they can be shot from the side and I find overheads very difficult.

Two things that I noticed after the shoot: I should iron out any wrinkles from my pillow case before using it as a background. Also I feel that my 50mm distorts items close to the edge when shooting at a low angle :/ Any tips on how to correct such distortion in post? I have LR available and automatic lens correction activated, but tweaking the sliders manually turns out even worse.
WEEK 19:

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

For 2nd issue, you can shoot loose and crop in post.

piQturesQue wrote in post #18822531
Quite pleased with this one. Background still looks wrinkly, but next time I'll know and iron it before
WEEK 20:

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

I like it. I will try next time I make a sandwich. For wrinkles you can avoid by using foam core or just wall of your home as a background. Second the light on bottom left of the cutting board needs to be flagged. You can fix it in LR with simple gradient tool. I think I learned by watching some youtube videos is that one should have small spray bottles. The you can squirt some water on tomatoes/lettuce to make it look better. In this shot, I would have used more wooden picks to make it more stable and look uniform.

One additional thing that I was thinking of doing and it applies here, if you have some diffusion material, stick it in between your strobe and this table. It will help with the lighting.

bobbyz wrote in post #18822640
For 2nd issue, you can shoot loose and crop in post.

Good idea, I should have thought of that! That makes using the composition lines in live view a bit hard, though.

bobbyz wrote in post #18822647
I like it. I will try next time I make a sandwich. For wrinkles you can avoid by using foam core or just wall of your home as a background. Second the light on bottom left of the cutting board needs to be flagged. You can fix it in LR with simple gradient tool. I think I learned by watching some youtube videos is that one should have small spray bottles. The you can squirt some water on tomatoes/lettuce to make it look better. In this shot, I would have used more wooden picks to make it more stable and look uniform.

One additional thing that I was thinking of doing and it applies here, if you have some diffusion material, stick it in between your strobe and this table. It will help with the lighting.

This is great feedback!

What do you mean by flagged? Putting something between my softbox and subject to block the light for a specific area? I did that for the background, but you're right the foreground could benefit from this as well.

The spray bottle is something I should definitely buy! My plants would love that as well

About the diffusion: I already use a 80cm octagon softbox about 50cm away from the subject. Would you still add a second layer of diffusion or just move the softbox even closer?

piQturesQue wrote in post #18822761
This is great feedback!

What do you mean by flagged? Putting something between my softbox and subject to block the light for a specific area? I did that for the background, but you're right the foreground could benefit from this as well.

The spray bottle is something I should definitely buy! My plants would love that as well

About the diffusion: I already use a 80cm octagon softbox about 50cm away from the subject. Would you still add a second layer of diffusion or just move the softbox even closer?

You can move the light modifier closer. My softbox is also 24x48" and I think it is small. Or it is not giving me the look that I want. I wish I had more spare time to do some tests. For flags yes you can put something in between to block or reduce the light. Now a days it is easier to do in PP as sensors are pretty good but getting it right in camera saves pp time later. At my work studio I have mathews flags with open end on one side. They are bigger but I bet similar in small size should work here. Or one can make themselves. I saw on FM forum, where someone made a cut out from vellum paper and taped copper wire to it and use that flag in C-stand's grip.

piQturesQue wrote in post #18734737
WEEK 1:

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forum: Food Photography & Visual Recipes

This is my first re-shoot of the series. Still same camera lens and recipe, but with an additional speedlite + softbox. I think it is safe to say that I progressed in terms of lighting, composition and styling. But at the same time, I still have a long way to go. Right now my images feel too clean and tidy. I would like to get less of a "food in a studio" feel, maybe some darker images and more interesting backdrops.
WEEK 21:

piQturesQue wrote in post #18831318
This is my first re-shoot of the series. Still same camera lens and recipe, but with an additional speedlite + softbox. I think it is safe to say that I progressed in terms of lighting, composition and styling. But at the same time, I still have a long way to go. Right now my images feel too clean and tidy. I would like to get less of a "food in a studio" feel, maybe some darker images and more interesting backdrops.
WEEK 21:

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

You have progressed enormously, indeed. Best thing is that you are curious, willing to experiment and willing to listen to other photographers. Your images are clean and tidy but you can alter them by spilling or spreading some ingredients and adding utensils, spices, napkins etc to them. Just keep Googling the subject.
Dark photography is exciting but requires a lot of new props which means investing. Flea markets are good for props but buying new props can become expensive.
here is a site with some tips https://digital-photography-school.com …ls-dark-food-photography/ and here https://www.kai-stiepel.com/food/
I searched for "dark food photography" and got dozens interesting sites.
Good luck, young man! You're on the right track.

itsallart wrote in post #18831396
You have progressed enormously, indeed. Best thing is that you are curious, willing to experiment and willing to listen to other photographers. Your images are clean and tidy but you can alter them by spilling or spreading some ingredients and adding utensils, spices, napkins etc to them. Just keep Googling the subject.
Dark photography is exciting but requires a lot of new props which means investing. Flea markets are good for props but buying new props can become expensive.
here is a site with some tips https://digital-photography-school.com …ls-dark-food-photography/ and here https://www.kai-stiepel.com/food/
I searched for "dark food photography" and got dozens interesting sites.
Good luck, young man! You're on the right track.

Your links are - as always - spot on, thank you Renata!

piQturesQue wrote in post #18831401
Your links are - as always - spot on, thank you Renata!

You're more than welcome; always happy to help

I promised dark food, here is my first take on it. I didn't have black cardboard at home, but a lot of baking paper and a flat carton as a backdrop did the trick. Flagging my softbox with a towel and some tape did not look professional at all - but hey if it works... Btw, this is my first shoot with my new (11 years haha) 70-200 f4. Already love that lens
WEEK 22:

I like the burger, beer bottle opened and chilled will look better and need to control lighting so it is on the edge of the bottle.