C&C for a beginners Foodtography!

[rawny1016]

Greetings all,
So me and my wife wanted some brunch on New Years day... we were lazy to go out, so I looked in my fridge to find some stuff to cook... had some left over korean bulgolgi meat, kimchi and some Einstein Bro's Bagels and few potatoes in the pantry... so I threw together this: Bulgolgi Benedict with kimchi hashbrowns and a Spicy Sriracha Hollandaise Sauce. I wanted to snap a few pix of it so I can blog it for my family. Let me know what you think? I had only natural light from my kitchen window on the right side of the subject. Camera is a Canon T3i with a 50mm 1.4, no tripod. Let me know what ya'll think and any advice! Happy New Year!

2nd shot;

 

[D-B-J]

Way too narrow of a DOF. You appear to have missed focus..

 

[rawny1016]

Way too narrow of a DOF. You appear to have missed focus..

Agreed! I grabbed my camera real quick and took the pix cause the wife was getting hungry. I need to take my time to setup. Any advice on setting the perfect DOF?

 

[analog.universe]

A tripod or flash is likely what you need. When I shoot food for my blog, most of the time I like to be between f/8 and f/11, which means either lots of light or long shutter times. Up close you need quite a tight aperture to get decent DOF. I'd also suggest playing around with a big piece of white cardboard as a reflector to get more out of your window light.

 

[iresq]

Agree on missed focus but it sure does look good. A flash might be tricky as the plate is so reflective. Tripod, longer exposure.

 

[rawny1016]

Thanks for all the great advice! I will try it all next time

 

[analog.universe]

Agree on missed focus but it sure does look good. A flash might be tricky as the plate is so reflective. Tripod, longer exposure.

Reflective plates are ok with flash as long as you set up your angles correctly. Usually when I light food, I use two flashes and shoot through umbrellas. (without umbrellas you can just use a white sheet) One setup that I use is a flash over the plate and slightly behind, maybe slightly to the right or left as well, and another flash in the plane of the camera, but well off to one side (the opposite side as the overhead). This allows you to get shadows across the frame, as in the OP's photos, but with enough fill from above to prevent the shadows from getting too dark. With this setup, you're not able to see the reflection of the flashes in the plate. I also try to avoid white plates... You can make it work but it's harder than a middle color. If you notice in the OP's photos, when the eggs are exposed properly, the plate looks a little under. I've run into the same thing with rice... if you use a more neutral plate you can expose for the food without the plate feeling dim.

 

[rawny1016]

Ahhh.... yea, that makes sense with the more neutral plates. Analog, I see you are suggesting flash as a lighting option... what about table lamps diffused through say... a vellum screen? Do you think that would be another viable option?

 

[analog.universe]

Ahhh.... yea, that makes sense with the more neutral plates. Analog, I see you are suggesting flash as a lighting option... what about table lamps diffused through say... a vellum screen? Do you think that would be another viable option?

It might, it would depend on how bright they are. The reason flash is used is because it's WAY brighter than a continuous light source. You can essentially set your camera settings however you need for the scene, and then light to match. (Nearly all my food photos are at ISO100, 1/250sec, and f/5.6-f/11. I just adjust the flash power to work with the aperture that gets me the DOF that I want.) If you're using table lamps and diffusers, you'll have great control over the quality of the light, and where your shadows fall, but you still won't have very much light. You may end up needing a tripod anyway to be able to shoot at a tight aperture. Certainly worth experimenting though, to see what you end up with before you spend any money.

 

[Scuba]

The side in view is all in shadow and a hard shadow is extending towards the camera... I don't know crap about food shots but I think the side in view should be better lit.

 

[etnad0]

I think it looks delicious lol. I love benedicts. There is a restaurant here in Vegas that has a menu full of them. Hash House A Go Go. As far as the pic, as has been said, a tripod should help.

 

[rawny1016]

I think it looks delicious lol. I love benedicts. There is a restaurant here in Vegas that has a menu full of them. Hash House A Go Go. As far as the pic, as has been said, a tripod should help.

My brother lives out in Vegas. We go to Hash House all the time!

 

[etnad0]

I think it looks delicious lol. I love benedicts. There is a restaurant here in Vegas that has a menu full of them. Hash House A Go Go. As far as the pic, as has been said, a tripod should help.

My brother lives out in Vegas. We go to Hash House all the time!

Yeah, they are relatively cheap, but have great food and HUGE food. I love it. I always have left overs for later or the next day depending on when I eat. Its like getting 2 meals for the price of one. lol

 

[tirediron]

...Any advice on setting the perfect DOF?

Add a measuring tape to your camera bag and have this available.

 

[kousPhoto]

looked yummy. I thought the composition in #1 was nice- (professional, like what I have seen in magazines)- but I do agree the focus was off. But for thr purpose of your blog for your family- well done!