First time doing food photography C&C please

[kundalini]

Here's my take....

#1) Nice sharp focus on the main dish, but doesn't appear very apetizing with the wafers out of focus. I would also have had the left side edge of the dish in frame since you're so close to it anyway.

#2) Much too steep an angle, unless you had the drops of sauce with drip trails coming off.

#3) Sloppy with the sauce on the edge of the depression in the dish. Too much sauce for the dish as well. Puts me off.

#4) Nicely done, but think a spritz of water on the greens may have added some sparkle to the shot.

#5) A bit boring. As others stated, the lighting is quite muted and the products do not pop. The addition of a silver serving tray may have helped by separating the products from the background/floor.

I am in agreement with some of the others that having an entire scene would enhance all these shots. If the client only wanted what you shot, then fine, do just that. However, I've not seen any images on the menu or in brochures/magazines that are of just the dish. They will all have some ambience or at the least, context. A viewing customer wants to imagine themselves with that dish in front of them at that restaurant. This would have been an opportunity to exceed you customer's expectation and give them more choice..... upping your ante IMO.

Still, nicely done.

Just my 2¢.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Looks tasty!

Not sure about the black backgrounds though, I guess it depends on the menus. White usually looks great, or on location.

 

[shortpballer]

Yea I asked if they wanted anything else in the background and they said no. Take a look at their website The FleetWood San Diego - The Fleet Wood, Nightclub, Restaurant Bottle Service, Sports Bar, Catering, San Diego Event Center They wanted artistic looking shots of the food for their website, not their menu. So thats why I tilted the dessert so much, i like the way it looked lol. But their style is a very modern, dark looking restaurant. So thats why they wanted a black, sleek, modern, and simple background.

Eric

 

[sinjans]

MMMM Tuna Tartar

Nice angles on 1 and 2

 

[Derrel]

Your first shot looks pretty good. Clean,simple, edible. The second shot with the tilt is okay, and I get the idea...tilting is "in" nowadays. The salmon looks cold, and not very appealing. The salad could use a bit more "Pop!" by boosting contrast a bit. The beverages need some frontal lighting--there needs to be more light in there. I looked at their site, and understand why they want a plain background.

I would ask for $125 per photo. Seriously, that's a very low rate,and they will be using these for how long????

You need to make it worth your time. Don't price yourself too low. I'm sure they can afford that price; I thought you'd already have worked out the price per shot and the usage before even sticking a CF card into the camera, so as not to be at a disadvantage.

 

[shortpballer]

Your first shot looks pretty good. Clean,simple, edible. The second shot with the tilt is okay, and I get the idea...tilting is "in" nowadays. The salmon looks cold, and not very appealing. The salad could use a bit more "Pop!" by boosting contrast a bit. The beverages need some frontal lighting--there needs to be more light in there. I looked at their site, and understand why they want a plain background.

I would ask for $125 per photo. Seriously, that's a very low rate,and they will be using these for how long????

You need to make it worth your time. Don't price yourself too low. I'm sure they can afford that price; I thought you'd already have worked out the price per shot and the usage before even sticking a CF card into the camera, so as not to be at a disadvantage.

Derrel- We did work it out. But then the guy called and said they were going to go with another more experienced food photographer. So I told them I'm so sure they would like my work that I would do it for free, and if they liked they pictures, they could buy them off of me. When I first discussed it, we talked about 500 for everything. But now that they decided to do it this why, I'm lost as to what exactly to charge lol.

Eric

 

[PhotoVerve]

Derrel- We did work it out. But then the guy called and said they were going to go with another more experienced food photographer. So I told them I'm so sure they would like my work that I would do it for free, and if they liked they pictures, they could buy them off of me. When I first discussed it, we talked about 500 for everything. But now that they decided to do it this why, I'm lost as to what exactly to charge lol.

Eric

Eric,

Have they already been sent to the client? If not, I would take some more time, shoot a few different scenes, layouts, and give them the option to choose one. You'll end up making more money that way, I would think.

Mike

 

[shortpballer]

I haven't given them to them yet. But I can't ask them to remake all the meals. They are FAR better than what they have on their website now. Not much I can change, they made the food, they chose the background. I just chose the lighting and the angles to take the pictures. They wanted them sleek and simple. You need to take a look at their website to see the look they are going for to understand. The FleetWood San Diego - The Fleet Wood, Nightclub, Restaurant Bottle Service, Sports Bar, Catering, San Diego Event Center

 

[PhotoVerve]

Where on their website should I be looking? What I've seen so far is actually good work, but it could just be stock stuff.