Post Your Food Photography

I appreciate that these are all shot for stock image purposes, but some of them just don't work for me. Maybe I just don't really get stock imagery like this - a lot of it just seems like its from a different time and seems a tad outdated to my eyes.

Or perhaps its just seeing the images in such a stark setting as on a forum. I can quite imagine seeing stuff like this in print or on the web and not batting an eyelid when it was paired with text, etc.

zepp2010 wrote in post #15325008
http://www.photography​byward.co.uk/canon-forum/food.jpg

I really don't see the appeal of an image like this and I don't envisage anyone wanting to licence it. It just feels so dated, what with the droplets of water on the peppers and the cut-out feeling of the composition.

Perhaps that's just me though?

zepp2010 wrote in post #15325010
http://www.photography​byward.co.uk …forum/pbw09Jul1​0_0054.jpg

As ideas go this one is always a winner, but this shot seems badly-lit, poorly-framed and somewhat lacking in punch overall.

It could have been so much more, had the lighting and composition been worked on. As it stands it feels somewhat rushed and a little dull.

zepp2010 wrote in post #15325013
http://www.photography​byward.co.uk …forum/pbw20Aug0​9_0030.jpg

For me, this is totally over-styled. The pan looks unused, despite what seems like a pool of oil on the left-side and the food seems cold and unappetising, despite the oily sheen to it.

I don't get why you'd use a single fork to portion the food out and I don't get why there's a broken sausage. And I really don't get the soft-focus effect around the pan!

zepp2010 wrote in post #15325016
http://www.photography​byward.co.uk …forum/pbw26May1​0_0078.jpg

A perfect example of a food shot that's far too close for comfort and, as a result, leaves the viewer little or no idea of what it's supposed to be.

A cake? Some sort of pie?

zepp2010 wrote in post #15325020
http://www.photography​byward.co.uk …rum/pbw_20Jan10​_0013a.jpg

Over-styled and quite painful to look at with the blurry bauble fighting your eye for attention. Plus the fake colouration on the flames just screams naffness.

zepp2010 wrote in post #15325022
http://www.photography​byward.co.uk …pbw_December08_​0011-2.jpg

Not bad. I've seen better stock images of the same sort of subject, but this is nice enough and has been well executed.

Shame about the lack of overall detail in the shot though - there's just not enough going on and too much 'blank' space.

zepp2010 wrote in post #15325026
http://www.photography​byward.co.uk …um/pbw_January0​9_0052.jpg

I don't get this one.

The setting doesn't evoke any festive feeling and the harsh spots of light just ruin the cosy nature of the subject. And, to my eyes, the dusting of cinnamon (or whatever) just makes the fabric look dirty.

zepp2010 wrote in post #15325029
http://www.photography​byward.co.uk …m/pbw_November0​8_0070.jpg

The best of the bunch by a country mile, but the more you look at it the less impressive it seems.

There's just something not quite right with the shot. I don't know if it's the framing, the way the honey is dripping or the bubbles inside the jar, but repeated viewings of this enthrals me less and less.

Gosh! Thanks for your feedback. Hard to please! But better than saying they are all great. I lean from harsh crits.
Best wishes,
Dayve

let's see some of your shots dotcodotuk .... just so we can see the field of expertise you're speaking from.

va_rider wrote in post #15325378
let's see some of your shots dotcodotuk .... just so we can see the field of expertise you're speaking from.

I had the same thought...

I think dotcodotuk's made some good comments and I would certainly love to see some of her / his work as I think we might all learn a little something.
Best wishes,
Dayve

Working on a new recipe for my blog and wanted to try something different for highlighting the ingredients.

I like the way dotcodotuk has come onto this forum and ruffled a few feathers - good stuff I say!

It's always good to rock the boat.

dotcodotuk - do you have any of your own shots to post?

marubozo wrote in post #15325809
Working on a new recipe for my blog and wanted to try something different for highlighting the ingredients.

You've nailed the focus on this but personally not keen on the white background - the shadows look a little faked.

I like to see ingredients in context or at least less separated - it looks disjointed.

There's a few blown out areas on the garlic and onion that you should watch out for.

What's your blog? Always interested to see a new food/recipe blog.

zepp2010 wrote in post #15325022

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I think you've got some technique with your shots and certainly know how to achieve a certain look.

What I would say (and this is only personal preference) is that they do look dated. The droplets of water thing and the slight "bloom" look to the shots isn't really where food photography is at, at the moment.

My advice (and it really is only a suggestion - I'm far from being anywhere near as good as these guys) is to look at the top restaurants and see how they shoot their food for their books.

Take a look at this site:http://www.theworlds50​best.com/awards/1-50-winners/

To get an idea of who the top restaurants are and then take a look at their food photography.

Noma - the #1 restaurant in the world has some stunning food photography - it really made me want to get into food photography - it's absolutely stunning stuff.

Also - think about what the shot is saying - a sliced cucumber sprayed with water droplets shot against a white background doesn't really say much - it's like that sort of stock photography that means nothing - like 2 businessmen shaking hands, or a father pointing at a kite or a woman laughing alone while eating salad: http://womenlaughingwi​thsalad.tumblr.com/

Think more 'rock & roll' and less 'corporate motivational poster'.

The days of clinically shot food against white background are dead (even if I do it sometimes myself).

You've certainly got the ability but I think you could do really well if you looked at what's happening at the cutting edge of the art.

loydall wrote in post #15326076
You've nailed the focus on this but personally not keen on the white background - the shadows look a little faked.

I like to see ingredients in context or at least less separated - it looks disjointed.

There's a few blown out areas on the garlic and onion that you should watch out for.

What's your blog? Always interested to see a new food/recipe blog.

Yeah, I had trouble with the background. Initially, even after adjustments in LR, it had a grayish tinge and wasn't completely white, and it was lighter on one end compared to the other. So I went to PS and adjusted levels a bit to try to get a more pure background, but the shadows and a few highlights were sacrificed. I just can't find a happy medium.

I suppose what I could do is do some local exposure adjustments on the onion and garlic to underexpose those so that when I try to pull out some of the whites they don't get blown out as a result. But in the end, the end photo that will go up on the site will only be about 600 pixels wide, so I'm not going to worry about it quite as much. But since this was a first try for using the white background I should have a better go the next time.

And it's still quite new, and it's sort of a regionally themed site, but you can find it at http://www.michianaeat​s.com