Dinner was successful. Pictures of dinner, were not.

[JustJazzie]

I realized that I have pretty much altered every recipe that I have, so I've decided to start taking some photos so I can start a recipe book. Anyways, this was learning experience number one.

Ive learned that;

I need to close the curtain next time. There was massive glare that I didn't notice until too late.
I need to stop down a few stops, no one wants to eat blurry food!
I'd better not try this when we are in a rush to eat.
Hide the toddler! He snuck a serving spoon in 2 out of 6 shots.
I need to comb over the plate better. That stem is driving me nuts!

C&C appreciated! I will definitely have plenty of chances to reshoot this, so be brutal!

 

[dvjproductions]

Arrangement and blur/softness are my only gripes. You mentioned both

 

[KmH]

Light direction and quality are very important for food photography.

Here the food easiest for the viewer to see (the food facing the camera) is in shadow.
The shadow is not dense nor does it have a harsh. sharply defined edge caused by using an apparently small light source.
But it is in the worst place it can be if the goal is making the food the main subject (Light advances, dark recedes).

If the same shadow were in back and to the side, the photo would be a lot stronger and the food would look more appetizing.

 

[JustJazzie]

Light direction and quality are very important for food photography. Here the food easiest for the viewer to see (the food facing the camera) is in shadow. The shadow is not dense nor does it have a harsh. sharply defined edge caused by using an apparently small light source. But it is in the worst place it can be if the goal is making the food the main subject (Light advances, dark recedes). If the same shadow were in back and to the side, the photo would be a lot stronger and the food would look more appetizing.

Good call. I have TONS of available light in this room, but the windows are on every side except the cameras point of view. I'm not a fan of backlit people without fill light, it makes sense that it won't work on food either. Not sure what I was thinking on that one! Thanks for pointing it out.

 

[LimePanda]

I'm no expert but here's my take

In the centre of the image it is a little dark...
The food looks slightly uncoloured...
And I'm not sure how I feel about the wine glass in the background...

I did a 30 second edit where I lightened the shadows, increased the saturation and vibrancy and slightly adjusted the hue.
Also I cloned out the glass really fast but still can't decide whether I like it there or not

Let me know what you think:

View attachment 81064

BTW, I'm not sure how accurate my monitor is so this may look different to everyone else

 

[Don Kondra]

Hmmm, the bottom of that glass in the background is distracting.

Sauce could be a touch thicker

A little more styling on the penne.

DOF a little deeper and more to the front.

What stem ?

Very quick edit with clone tool in Elements..

As you now know, shooting food and eating it do not go well together...

Cheers, Don

 

[Derrel]

It has a light, bright, kind of airy feeling lighting-wise, which works well on the light plate and with the red-sauced pasta dish. The one piece of pasta on the right hand side has a nice,long highlight on it, and in general the brightness is right, and the exposure is adequate. What hurts though is the lack of depth of field on the closest pasta pieces...just not in good enough focus. The base of the stemmed glass is "attached" to the plate, and that's a bit distracting. I'm not so sure how I feel about the front kip of the plate being the very bottom of the frame: I think maybe that works, but not sure.

I think shooting this more from the right hand side might have worked better. And of course, getting adequate DOF to "cover", which might very well require f/22 at that close distance on such an item as a plate full of food shown that large in the frame; if I had shot this 25 years ago, I would have been shooting it on 4x5 at f/45 probably with the front standard swung forward, so...don't worry about diffraction, which is a theoretical problem which some forum types constantly obsess over, worry instead about lack of depth of field, which is a practical, actual problem.

And yeah...that stem...cough, cough. You peeps and your stems...

 

[astroNikon]

remove the partial glass base

 

[JustJazzie]

I'm no expert but here's my take

In the centre of the image it is a little dark...
The food looks slightly uncoloured...
And I'm not sure how I feel about the wine glass in the background...

I did a 30 second edit where I lightened the shadows, increased the saturation and vibrancy and slightly adjusted the hue.
Also I cloned out the glass really fast but still can't decide whether I like it there or not

Let me know what you think:

View attachment 81064

BTW, I'm not sure how accurate my monitor is so this may look different to everyone else

Thanks!

Hmmm, the bottom of that glass in the background is distracting.

Sauce could be a touch thicker

A little more styling on the penne.

DOF a little deeper and more to the front.

What stem ?



Very quick edit with clone tool in Elements..

As you now know, shooting food and eating it do not go well together...

Cheers, Don

20 more minuets on the stove next time then!
:Giggle: Im hoping next time I can get it right in camera and avoid the clone stamp stuff. What can I say, Im lazy and I HATE photoshop.

As for the glass you both mentioned, I Do have a shot without the glass, and with a little more DOF. I kinda liked the glass though, so thats why I posted the first one. I think the angle on this one is less than optimum too. You can also tell that within 5 minutes my sauce separated. It was MUCH thicker in the first few (terrible) shots


:Shrug:

 

[JustJazzie]

This was the first (bad) shot. What is the consensus on the steam?? Something I should try to incorporate into the "Final" Image? or leave it out?

 

[LimePanda]

Here is a quick edit I did of that image:



I'm not sure about the steam either but I tried to work it in to see what it looked like.
Remember I'm a complete amateur
I also did pretty much the same as I did with the last pic, increase hue, sat, vibe.
I decreased the highlights a bit to try and remove some of the glare and then raised the brightness a bit to counteract the darkening.
Most of you are probably laughing at my noob attempts but hey it's all good, ya gotta learn sometime

Let me know what you think.

 

[JustJazzie]

Here is a quick edit I did of that image: <img src="http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=81068"/> I'm not sure about the steam either but I tried to work it in to see what it looked like. Remember I'm a complete amateur I also did pretty much the same as I did with the last pic, increase hue, sat, vibe. I decreased the highlights a bit to try and remove some of the glare and then raised the brightness a bit to counteract the darkening. Most of you are probably laughing at my noob attempts but hey it's all good, ya gotta learn sometime Let me know what you think.

I do like how you brought out the steam. I'm not a fan of the rest of the editing though. But not to worry, I'm not a fan of the editing I did either! Best to scrap this set. ;-)

 

[Derrel]

Steam would look GREAT against a dark background area, like that curtain over by the window. The big highlight on the table makes the steam disappear. I think you're shooting using real, unmodified daylight, which can be tricky. My guess is a black board held in the top area of the window might might have cut some of the reflection down on the table surface, but that requires a stand and grip arm or willing, patient gown-up to hold the go-bo (go-bnetween or light blocking device).

The steam would show up more-better (giggle) in front of a darker backdrop, but I like the idea of steam. I also like the idea of a light, bright, airy kitchen/dining room kind of shot, but think you need some diffusion material literally OUTSIDE the window to tame that light, or some way to back-light the crap out of the table, with diffused, soft light, and then bounce some light onto the food and plate from the front.

I dunno...some houses have really NICE light in the summer time in some rooms, in some places. I think this pasta dish missed the mark by only a little bit. Something "easier", like a hamburger, or a ham sandwich and a Pilsner glass of beer would probably be easier to work with, since there's no 5-minuite sauce separation factor to have top deal with.

 

[JustJazzie]

Steam would look GREAT against a dark background area, like that curtain over by the window. The big highlight on the table makes the steam disappear. I think you're shooting using real, unmodified daylight, which can be tricky. My guess is a black board held in the top area of the window might might have cut some of the reflection down on the table surface, but that requires a stand and grip arm or willing, patient gown-up to hold the go-bo (go-bnetween or light blocking device).

The steam would show up more-better (giggle) in front of a darker backdrop, but I like the idea of steam. I also like the idea of a light, bright, airy kitchen/dining room kind of shot, but think you need some diffusion material literally OUTSIDE the window to tame that light, or some way to back-light the crap out of the table, with diffused, soft light, and then bounce some light onto the food and plate from the front.

I dunno...some houses have really NICE light in the summer time in some rooms, in some places. I think this pasta dish missed the mark by only a little bit. Something "easier", like a hamburger, or a ham sandwich and a Pilsner glass of beer would probably be easier to work with, since there's no 5-minuite sauce separation factor to have top deal with.

Yes, I was shooting unmodified, but I have options! Like curtains and blinds, so no gobo needed at all. ;-)
I'll close both and still have plenty of light. (8 big Windows and a glass doors worth)

as for the hamburger, it wont work! I only know how to cook Italian and Mexican food! Hahaha. Learning Chinese. I leave the grilling up to my husband. Lol!