Food snap need advise...

henryalg01 · Dec 21, 2012

Hi i need advise...my friend asked me to took her hotel food for website ..

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Tony S · Dec 21, 2012

To me all the images seem a bit soft. For the food shots I would like to see not as shallow a dof, a bit more of item visibly sharper (again though, nothing in the images is tack sharp).

Your lighting is a bit flat. Angled lighting from one side or the other with some fill can dramatically bring out textures and colors. you get a slight hint of the dramatic lighting in #4, but without knowing what that is it looks like raw chicken.

henryalg01 · Dec 21, 2012

So problem is not enough sharp and light ?

henryalg01 · Dec 21, 2012

Tony do you mean like this...the left one ? pls i don't get it ? or you mean i can't put DOF there , the souce and the salad ?

timor · Dec 21, 2012

Did you shoot it freehand or from a tripod ?

henryalg01 · Dec 21, 2012

free hand ...i put away my tripod .....

timor · Dec 21, 2012

Here you go. Built in VR is not very effective with such a short distances.

henryalg01 · Dec 21, 2012

:cry::cry::cry:

Brandon Hill · Dec 21, 2012

I'd highly recommend a food stylist for any food shoot. They know how to make sure food looks moist and freshly served. They cost money, but that should be part of the shoot budget. Unless this was a completely free job, but surely you're didn't want to take advantage of your abilities for their business so I can only assume their was payment.

I think you're photography is strong enough to merit a food stylist too, that way the food doesn't look rubbery (like toy food). I'd say if you took these shots again I'd go for a more shallow depth of field. Great food shoots that highlight quality and gourmet don't need to emphasize the entire plate with side dishes and fried, they highlight the hero aspect of the dish, and that's accomplished with a sharp focal point but more shallow than how these have been shot.

On the dual-image you posted later the first image is very over-sharpened, I wouldn't go that direction at all. You really want that bbq sauce to not look like it's hard like it is, and I'm not sure how you could do that without reshooting it.

In photoshop CS 6 you can actually add depth of field and lens blur that is notably accurate compared to previous versions. Obviously it's something you'd want accomplished in-camera but I'd recommend experimenting, plus it's free to try for a month if you don't have it. The shot of the guy with the flying liquid is solid, definitely a keeper.

henryalg01 · Dec 21, 2012

yes it was free, the problem is i can't restyle the food...her staff said it must look like this , this what we presented to our GM and pls don't move even single potato...and the chef agreeing that. so like you said i must fix it when they call me for 2nd session , for them those are good enough , but not me ...thats why i posted here, need advise from all of you .

dual image 75% sharpened maybe over sharpened .

yes i'm using CS 6 and Alien exposure 4

tirediron · Dec 21, 2012

Brandon Hill said:
...I'd go for a more shallow depth of field. Great food shoots that highlight quality and gourmet don't need to emphasize the entire plate with side dishes and fried, they highlight the hero aspect of the dish, and that's accomplished with a sharp focal point but more shallow than how these have been shot...

I'm going to disagree with this; I think it's valid advice when you have a fancy French dish, or similar high-end plates, but this is clearly much more basic "family" food. The slight OOF of the salad and potato look to me like an accident, NOT a design intent.

I would agree with Brandon's recommendation on a stylist if at all possible, but if it isn't then you need to do the styling yourself, and if they won't let you change even the location of a potato wedge, I would just walk away. There's no point in trying to work in conditions so restrictive that you can't do your job.

For example: If I were shooting the plate of ribs & chips, I would shoot from a slightly higher angle and juse a DoF to get everyhing in focus, and I would also have a suggestion of a place-setting to add a little interest. I would arrange the chips so that the curve oft he skinned side followed the radius of the plate's edge, I would separate them from the sauce bowl, and I would arrange the salad so that it was all on the plate and the onion was a little more decorative. I would either remove or enhance those three sauce drips by the ribs, and spread things out so that the whole plate is evenly covered.

The other two dishes are shot from such a low angle that it's hard to tell what they are. For I assume is a baked chicken breast, get a different plate. White food is rarely appetizing at the best of times, and on a white plate? Bleah!

henryalg01 · Dec 21, 2012

tirediron said:
For I assume is a baked chicken breast, get a different plate. White food is rarely appetizing at the best of times, and on a white plate? Bleah!

Thats Hainan Ji Fan , its steam chicken that menu has 2 big plate and 1 small bowl , i ate this menu since i was 5 , told them the chicken is awy too much and better serve togather with the rice togather in one plate but like i said not allowed...i got your point...i will ask them to let me styling my self next session , if still can't , i'll ask them to find someone else.