Yogurt Parfait

[FotosbyMike]

Hey all, shot this image last night with one 300watts of continuous light in a softbox. Tabletop and backgrounds were DIY items that I made last week How to here. I placed the cups then started to add the ingredients; Granola, yogurt x3 then berries. When adding the granola what ever spilled I left on the tabletop, placed a few berries and shot until I was happy.

Please give any comments or critics, Thanks.

 

[tirediron]

A few thoughts: While I think this is a good start, IMO, it's not quite there yet. I would like to see the shot from a slightly higher angle; enough so that we see some more of the surface of the food. Since that's the part that you're going to eat first, more of it should be visible in the image I think. Additionally, I'm not sure that the black flag image right is helping. While drama in food images can be good, in this case, I think it's just too dark. I would consider either moving farther away, or even removing it altogether.
I also think that your random crumbs and berries on the 'table top' could be tidied. A little bit, preferably in the background is a good thing, but here it seems like there's a bit too much. I would also turn the spoon so it's oriented correctly to the viewer and adjust the angle so that you eliminate that very harsh reflection.

 

[Derrel]

I like that there's no visible horizon line in the final shot. The spoon looks a bit odd to me, facing the viewer, but my biggest issue is the hot highlight the glasses are giving. And there are three yogurt treats, so why not three spoons? I dunno...shots like this can be re-arranged in minor ways and sometimes minor adjustment makes a major difference. A slightly different camera orientation, a different f/stop, a different lens focal length, more bottom space, more top space, less bottom space, less top space, all those things can be adjusted in big or small ways.

I think this shot is a good start, and the preparation of the glasses with granola,yogurt, and fruit garnishes was pretty good, looks visually appetizing, but as mentioned, maybe mound up the center glass's yogurt level a bit? And the focal length of the lens...that determines how much physically smaller the right side glass renders, compared to the center and left glass, and how fast the DOF falls away. My first question really is why three glasses, and not one?

I dunno...you were there, we were not. Maybe a mask over the softbox would have made this more dramatic? With a much darker background, and the front glass almost in a shaft of light, and the other glasses falling into less-lighted status? Again...the "I dunno"...I assisted at a studio years ago, where this shot would have taken hours to prop and to minutely micro-analyze, shoot, and then to re-shoot again. There is no such thing as a simple shot. It's got good food eye-appeal, I like the blueberries and raspberries and the yogurt and I like the dark slate tones, and like the idea of this, mostly. This is actually a fairly complicated shot with three subjects plus lots of small accent pieces. Maybe stop down more to pull more DOF on the closest objects? Again, I keep coming up with "I dunno..."

I think of most tabletop shots and odd number of objects works the best, so I see the three versus one yogurt count and the horizontal vs tall framing options as the biggest issues. I LOVE the backdrop materials you crafted!, i just love that dark, rustic, classic look. I'd love to see this on a tall with some other foodstuffs, or maybe a horizontal frame with something like a country ham and carving knife and platter,etc, or some neat spices and kitchen accessories.

 

[weepete]

3 of them and one spoon would be fine for me

I agree about the spoon, the flag and the DOF. Looks really tasty though, and that's kina the object of food shots.

 

[FotosbyMike]

Thank Tirediron and Derrel for taking time to give me your feedback, I can see all of your points and will try some on the next shoot. Again Thanks.

 

[OGsPhotography]

Quite the shot; you have @Derrel saying " I dunno"!

Awesome CC there! I would add that the " messy" look clashes a bit with the arangement of the glasses, they are quite symmetrical. This could be a good thing.

I like to add a slice of orange or melon to garnish the rim much like a drink garnish. This could add some dimention to your parfaits.

Really cool set up!

 

[xenskhe]

I agree with TI about the crumbs - a bit contrived and looks a bit messy imo. Nonetheless really good; nice colors!