2nd attempt at Pabellón Criollo

Why wouldn't they be good for a cookbook? Does the food not look attractive and appetizing? Is that not the goal? You seem to want to produce clinical text-book images. While that may show the food more accurately, it's not going to entice people. Think of it as a passport photo compared to a fine-art portrait. Both are images of the same person. One shows every detail in absolute clarity, the other shows the person to their best advantage.
 
My heritage is Scotch/Irish. My stomach is pure Italian. I have a large collection of Giada De Laurentiis and Mario Batali cookbooks. If you have ever had a chance to look at either of them, take note of the photographs. They support the recipes, not draw you to the recipes. The food depicted in the photographs is plated and set to eat, not put out as if it were on display.

I have the full collection of the Alton Brown cookbooks. Love the science of cooking as well as the recipes. The photos in his books are exactly what you would expect from Alton. They don't show off what he is writing about on each page, rather they invite you in to be part of the creation. They are homey, genuine felling and appealing in their complex simplicity.

Perhaps that is what we are trying to explain. Complex simplicity. A truly good food has a complex simplicity about it's taste and texture. It is a complex balance that allows the various flavors and textures to come through in just the right amounts to blend into that simply delicious taste.

The same thing is true regarding the photos used to depict food. They need that balance of complex simplicity that rounds out the recipe, not replaces the importance of the recipe.
 
But are they good for a cookbook ?
Jamie Oliver grossed $250,000 million on his cookbooks.
A top photographer does his images.
In your second sentence you have the answer to the first, in the third the ideal solution to the problem ;)
 
But are they good for a cookbook ?
Jamie Oliver grossed $250,000 million on his cookbooks.
A top photographer does his images.
In your second sentence you have the answer to the first, in the third the ideal solution to the problem ;)

Probably half of the photos in Jamie's cookbooks show only the food with no props and the ones that have props do so in a very minimalist way.

David Loftus is very careful not to distract the eye from the food and I will try copy the layout of some of his photos that do use props.

Amazing ways to use seasonal Australian fruit & veg | Jamie Oliver
 
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Why wouldn't they be good for a cookbook? Does the food not look attractive and appetizing? Is that not the goal? You seem to want to produce clinical text-book images. While that may show the food more accurately, it's not going to entice people. Think of it as a passport photo compared to a fine-art portrait. Both are images of the same person. One shows every detail in absolute clarity, the other shows the person to their best advantage.

It would seem that people wishing to cook a recipe want to clearly focus on the food and not have their eye distracted by other things.

Probably half of the photos in Jamie's cookbooks show only the food with no props and the ones that have props do so in a very minimalist way.

David Loftus is very careful not to distract the eye from the food and I will try copy the layout of some of his photos that do use props.

Amazing ways to use seasonal Australian fruit & veg | Jamie Oliver
 
I'm getting a 403 error on all those links Gryph..
The links work

The links work for me.

All three are beautiful photos, but would they be good for a cookbook ?

In the first one my eye kept immediately being taken to the glass of whisky.
In the second one it's really hard to focus on the foreground mussels.
The third one works for me.

Again, they are beautiful photos but they look more the type that would be displayed in an ad for a restaurant.

Please take a look at these.

Recipes | Jamie Oliver
They came from a cook book, food photography blog.

What draws my attention to the first one it the missing bite of steak, showing the perfect rare center with the single fork casually placed there as if being set down after eating that bite of steak.

Again in the second one I am first drawn to the bowl with the sea food with the spoon in the bisque, behind the mussels. The overall photo provides to me a sense of good food being eaten.

The third one I believe is more of the style you were striving for. It is an elegant oriental dish on a simple but sharp table cloth with the chopsticks there again ready to be used. Much of all three is the placement.

FYI. If you get the 403, go to the address bar, highlight the address and hit enter, the photos pop up then.

I think it's a question of perception, that photographers see photos one way and the general public sees them another way.

The 3 photos came from a "food photography blog".

Out of interest, and I'm simply trying to learn, I showed the 3 photos to two café owners here yesterday and I also showed them three photos without props.

http://www.davidloftus.com/food#41

http://www.davidloftus.com/food#4

David Loftus - Food

Both owners preferred the 3 Loftus photos.

Michael
 
Cafe owners are't interested in inspiring you to make the food. They are interested in what you are buying.

Instead of asking the owners, you might ask the cooks.

I have found that in most eateries, be it a dinner, drive-in, dive (yes a little humor for the american crowd) or Haute cuisine the food served never quite looks like the photos on the menu.

Fewer and fewer menus these days seem to have photos, unless you count the ones at Micky D's in the drive thru or the Waffle House.
 

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