Chinese Restaurant Menu Shoot

[NayLoMo6C]

Recently, this restaurant that I always frequent had asked me to help photograph their food items on their menu. I did a quick 10 minute shoot with them yesterday at the peak of lunch hour, and I had forgotten to bring along my flash diffuser ( among several other things). While I am not monetarily compensated for this, I would be getting gift certificates to the place, which is nice.

Anyways, just wanted to share these. This is officially the first time I've ever photographed menu items for a restaurant. Please critique and comment! Thanks for looking

IMG_8279 by hkpk_2005, on Flickr

IMG_8273 by hkpk_2005, on Flickr

IMG_8281 by hkpk_2005, on Flickr

IMG_8291 by hkpk_2005, on Flickr

IMG_8293 by hkpk_2005, on Flickr

IMG_8301 by hkpk_2005, on Flickr

IMG_8315 by hkpk_2005, on Flickr

IMG_8328 by hkpk_2005, on Flickr

IMG_8335 by hkpk_2005, on Flickr

IMG_8338 by hkpk_2005, on Flickr

 

[tirediron]

Not bad; I'd like to see a little more depth of field, especially foreground, and better control over the specular highlights, especially in the last three.

 

[Derrel]

Not bad; I'd like to see a little more depth of field, especially foreground, and better control over the specular highlights, especially in the last three.

My thoughts exactly. The last three have a definitely hotter vibe. Still, as John said, "Not bad," and especially so for a quick, slam-bang shoot. And also, more DOF would really help on these. Out of focus food is not the norm, and it's a bit jarring on the lettuce in the two shots...how weird...OOF lettuce looks kinda weird! Although these seem a bit "tilty", my love for Chinese food makes me ignore that...I'm not one who worries about .015 or whatever off-level horizons the way many people do. These dishes look SIMPLE, and well-prepared, and what I like is that the dishes appear plated well for a lunch type place, and the plates/bowls are varied in shape and style, and appear FILLED just right for photography, making the FOOD look good!

 

[TreeofLifeStairs]

I agree as well. For menu items I'd like to see the whole plate in focus. If they were more artistic shots for the restaurant then perhaps but when I'm looking in a menu I want to clearly see what I'm going to be ordering.

The other thing I noticed is that there isn't much variation between the pics. They're all approximately from the same vantage point/background. It's good that the plates are different at least.

 

[NayLoMo6C]

^ thanks for the response guys. yeah, the DOF is one glaring problem that i've noticed post-shoot. The plates above were ordered by customers and I was literally only given 10-15 seconds to shoot each one before they were served, so I didn't really have time to think about composition and all that.

 

[tirediron]

Argh!!!! Every time I hear this, it drives me bat-$hit crazy! Restaurant owners want the pictures but they won't put forth the effort to get them. Food shooting is NOT something that should be done in a rush. The dishes should be prepared strictly for the shoot; if they go to waste, c'est la vie. That's part of the price of doing business. While I realize the budget you were shooting under was probably a little smaller, this clip of a McDonald's shoot is an excellent illustration of how the process should be done.

 

[NayLoMo6C]

Argh!!!! Every time I hear this, it drives me bat-$hit crazy! Restaurant owners want the pictures but they won't put forth the effort to get them. Food shooting is NOT something that should be done in a rush. The dishes should be prepared strictly for the shoot; if they go to waste, c'est la vie. That's part of the price of doing business. While I realize the budget you were shooting under was probably a little smaller, this clip of a McDonald's shoot is an excellent illustration of how the process should be done.

That was a very informative video, thanks for sharing. Spending several hours on a single cheeseburger photo, that' nuts haha

 

[xFireSoul]

The pictures are so mouth watering..! I got hungry again. Excellent!

 

[KmH]

Here is some info related to charging:
Case Study: Producing A Successful Estimate | DigitalPhotoPro.com

 

[DevC]

my opinion: you should of charged. These photos are of decent quality and not something that should of been done for free. You should value your time more than a few free servings of chinese here definetly. You gave them some good photos.

As for CC, you could of reduced your DOF a bit. It is a tad strong in all the photos. In the first one, your veggies are out of focus, which is part of your subject.

 

[Parker219]

Personally, I give these a 9.5 out of 10.


I just came back from a restaurant photo shoot that I got PAID FOR...and my photos are not as good as these...

So thank you for giving me something to look at so help me see how it can be done.

I have a feeling that by adding these to your portfolio, you will end up getting some nice paying jobs.

BTW, the company I shoot for LIKES shallow DOF for the food shots, as long as you make the "star" pop ( in focus ) then its preferred that the side items ( French fries, rice, REFRIED BEANS ) are not as detailed.

OP - What was your gear / set up?