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Looks great. Congrats on the gig and on developing your skills! We just wrapped up a 12 day medieval food blog smorgasbord and i'm blogged out blog blog bloggy blog Haven't really made strides in the lighting department beyond bouncing a 100W reveal bulb off the ceiling but some of the shots came out nice and there was barely a day when one wasn't featured on foodgawker, tastespotting, foodbuzz, or all three. That said, we still have a long way to go. Here's a shot of caudell, medieval eggnog, basically:  a couple of shots of a medieval ember day tart/pie thing:   Clarree, with the bottle lit up with a flashlight, for added coolness  A medieval herb salad:  This one didn't make it onto the blog because I think poo poo got a little too real:  This one did. It's tough to photograph something that looks like this, i think:  My wife got probably the best shot of the bunch without me the one night I was out of the house when she did her thing, of course. Medieval ginger bread treats:  Any suggestions? Anyway, I'm really looking forward to doing more and more and improving... corkskroo fucked around with this message at 16:17 on Dec 23, 2009 |
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Dec 23, 2009 15:53
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mysticp posted:For info, the restaurant is Eleven Madison Park in Manhattan. Hey congrats, fancy times restaurant! Had my birthday dinner there, wild.
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Dec 24, 2009 08:43
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Here's a few from an event I shot for work a few nights ago. I didn't really have a whole lot of space to work in or time to arrange shots, but these were a few of the better ones from the night. Any criticism would be welcome as my boss said that it looks like I'm improving, but I really felt like I had an off night.  
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Dec 25, 2009 01:51
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Maybe this is better for a specific thread, but here goes. A good friend of mine is a semi-finalist in the Bocuse d'Or culinary competition (think food Olympics). The semi finals are in February and he needs photos taken of the final platters before then. So I think this is fine, I will do this for him. He is a close friend and I am happy to help him out. But then I think about the future. What if he wins? what if he is suddenly in the limelight and these photos are published everywhere? I am going to put serious effort into this and I want them to be the best shots. What I proposed was that I will take the shots and retain all copyright. He is free to use them for the Bocuse d'Or competition. However any future use would be subject to .... and then I am lost. If he wins, then he could be everywhere, and if the shots are good enough they will be there as well. Even if he doesn't win, another friend who was the US representative, won a James Beard award and he is a very well respected chef. I guess I don't want to set a friend up to be limited by any sort of proposed greed from me, but also I don't want my photographs to be used and I don't get paid. Are there any sort of standard contracts that I can look over? Does anyone have any advice to give?
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Dec 27, 2009 09:44
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charliebravo77 posted:Here's a few from an event I shot for work a few nights ago. I didn't really have a whole lot of space to work in or time to arrange shots, but these were a few of the better ones from the night. Any criticism would be welcome as my boss said that it looks like I'm improving, but I really felt like I had an off night. My suggestion is that you use a big enough DOF to get more than just one in focus, since they are entire platters of food which were arranged purposefully.
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Dec 27, 2009 16:24
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Smidgen of Pidgeons posted:My suggestion is that you use a big enough DOF to get more than just one in focus, since they are entire platters of food which were arranged purposefully. I'd normally agree with you, but food magazines are full of photos with shallow DOF with only a single item on a plate in focus so that's what my boss likes to see. Next shoot I'll try and use a wider DOF in addition to the shallow shots though.
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Dec 27, 2009 17:10
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charliebravo77 posted:Here's a few from an event I shot for work a few nights ago. [/timg] Check your white balance on the latter two. Colour correction, IMO, is one of the most important things in food photography.
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Dec 27, 2009 22:11
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I guess I should post some food stuff. I haven't shot any in a long time but do some every once in a while for stock so I can write off part of my groceries. These are all lit in the studio:     
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Dec 29, 2009 20:54
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brad industry posted:I guess I should post some food stuff. I haven't shot any in a long time but do some every once in a while for stock so I can write off part of my groceries. These are all lit in the studio: drat, those are looking awesome as hell! Any comments on the pics I posted at the top of this page?
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Dec 29, 2009 21:43
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brad industry posted:I guess I should post some food stuff. I haven't shot any in a long time but do some every once in a while for stock so I can write off part of my groceries. These are all lit in the studio: Really, really nice work. For the two times that I've tried to photograph food/drinks, I found that I really enjoyed myself. I just wish I had more room and surfaces/backgrounds to work with, but I'll definitely have to try it some more. Thankfully you can use your window as a large softbox: 
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Dec 29, 2009 22:31
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More food. This time with a two light set up. These are planned to be used in a national newspaper. If that happens then I will post a real link.   
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Dec 30, 2009 09:33
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just gonna post a few more recent pics in case anyone cares. The one light bouncing off the ceiling thing is still in effect: roman cheese bread ready to go in the oven  and done  a mexican-style shrimp "remoulade"  Julia Child-style gateau omni omelette 
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Jan 13, 2010 14:22
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corkskroo posted:just gonna post a few more recent pics in case anyone cares. The one light bouncing off the ceiling thing is still in effect: I think these are a lot better. But I think it needs to be said, number 2 doesn't show off the food. The plate detracts and the table cloth REALLY doesn't suit roman cheese bread. That table cloth is for grannies bickies. In three I am wondering why the garnish fell off the plate. Basically make it a garnish and keep it on the plate, or make it a bunch of herbs and put it off the plate and make it in focus! The first one has the depth of focus too shallow because you should see ALL of one item, not only the middle of the bread. In the last on the plate feels dirty, and it just seems too yellow. I'm sure it's delicious but all that yellow food needs more white plate to make it not feel so warm. And why is the table cloth not one plain sheet. Basically, in this shot you should have a clean background OR you should have something in the background that is another focus (like cutlery, or wine). Oh, and I just noticed the prawn plate is a bit dirty. Mop up every bit of not white stuff on the plate that isn't the main attraction. I know it might be annoying, but it's really simple. Keep going! You're improving a lot. I am thinking of taking shots of my dinner now. 
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Jan 13, 2010 14:40
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Thanks for the detailed response. Yeah, we definitely need to spend more time on styling. And I do most of my plate mopping in photoshop since picture-taking time is still limited to the moments before we chow down. Gotta be more careful to get it all up...
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Jan 13, 2010 21:24
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corkskroo posted:Thanks for the detailed response. Yeah, we definitely need to spend more time on styling. And I do most of my plate mopping in photoshop since picture-taking time is still limited to the moments before we chow down. Gotta be more careful to get it all up... (Oh, I might only be able to see it since I'm on my laptop which is overly bright and overly saturated :P)
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Jan 14, 2010 03:45
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Slightly related to this thread, but I have no idea where else to post this. I was checking my flickr pro stats and noticed that epicurious.com used a picture of mine in an editorial. I never got asked for permission and I have CC-attribution-non-commercial-share-alike set on the pic. I don't really care if they use it, but I wouldn't mind getting some money for it since this is a commercial website (I believe?) and they did use it without asking/offering compensation. Is there anything I can do? http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/blogs/editor/2010/02/food-for-thought-consider-the-corned-beef.html  Edit: At least they did credit me, not by name though. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Feb 9, 2010 |
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Feb 9, 2010 03:34
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So a couple of months ago I started shooting my friend practicing for the Bocuse d'Or USA finals. These are some of the shots of his food. The finals were on Friday/Saturday and he won, so next Jan he is off to Lyon to compete in the world finals. These are shots of his final practice session which was the sunday before the finals, so not the actual final dishes. His lamb plate  His salmon plate  James practicing with Daniel Humm (of Eleven Madison Park) and Gavin Kaysen (of Cafe Boulud) watching  His Commis Tom Allan putting the first quenelle of caviar on the salmon pave  I have about a million shots of all kinds of stuff, I am thinking of a sort of trip report post when I have everything processed.
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Feb 9, 2010 04:02
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mysticp posted:His salmon plate
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Feb 9, 2010 10:21
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GrAviTy84 posted:Slightly related to this thread, but I have no idea where else to post this. I was checking my flickr pro stats and noticed that epicurious.com used a picture of mine in an editorial. I never got asked for permission and I have CC-attribution-non-commercial-share-alike set on the pic. I don't really care if they use it, but I wouldn't mind getting some money for it since this is a commercial website (I believe?) and they did use it without asking/offering compensation. Is there anything I can do? I think, since its CC attribution, they can use it editorially as long as they credit you.
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Feb 9, 2010 15:29
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GrAviTy84 posted:I never got asked for permission and I have CC-attribution-non-commercial-share-alike set on the pic. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ They don't need specific permission, because a CC license IS permission. quote:You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). It also has to not be for money and they can't change it.
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Feb 9, 2010 16:45
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corkskroo posted:just gonna post a few more recent pics in case anyone cares. The one light bouncing off the ceiling thing is still in effect: Is it just me or does the color temperature look strange? I'm liking the compositional improvement, but the color temp on all your photos keeps throwing me off. If you look at mysticp's and Brad Industry's photos, their color temperatures are dead on and that's huge for food photography. A slightly cool cast can ruin a great photo of a steak. A food photographer I work with has remarked that food can pretty much be a million tones of warm, but rarely ever cool. Also, don't underestimate the value of delicious, free natural light, so don't worry about spending poo poo-tons of cash on lights unless you actually really need it. I often find myself hauling about 400lbs of gear around for this photographer and we hardly ever use it.
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Feb 9, 2010 20:37
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Yeah food can be way, way warm but a tiny bit cool and it looks weird. Cool tones aren't appetizing because they rarely occur in edible things in nature.
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Feb 9, 2010 20:48
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brad industry posted:Yeah food can be way, way warm but a tiny bit cool and it looks weird. Cool tones aren't appetizing because they rarely occur in edible things in nature. What about cooler temperatures for things like Yogurt? Would you still shoot it a bit warm? I'm shooting an ad campaign for a yogurt company next week, and I'm a bit nervous about the lighting.
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Feb 13, 2010 02:20
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somnambulist posted:What about cooler temperatures for things like Yogurt? Would you still shoot it a bit warm? I'm shooting an ad campaign for a yogurt company next week, and I'm a bit nervous about the lighting. Make sure you have a properly calibrated monitor. Shoot in raw so anything that goes awry with white balance you can fix later. Nailing the whites is key to making clients happy. Everything else grows from there.
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Feb 13, 2010 10:04
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I wanna add some water drops on the strawberries but I'm not sure how, any tips? Here's a test shot.  I tried to add a water drop in photoshop but I think it looks a bit odd.
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Feb 15, 2010 10:07
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Not sure if you want feedback on the non-water drop portion of the photo, but the strawberries clearly appear shopped in; the edges are rough, their reflection on the surface doesn't line up (and is bigger), and you can see some transparency overlap between the yogurt/strawberry reflections. Can you not just use actual strawberries and water drops?
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Feb 15, 2010 13:50
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Subjunctivitis posted:Is it just me or does the color temperature look strange? I'm liking the compositional improvement, but the color temp on all your photos keeps throwing me off. If you look at mysticp's and Brad Industry's photos, their color temperatures are dead on and that's huge for food photography. A slightly cool cast can ruin a great photo of a steak. A food photographer I work with has remarked that food can pretty much be a million tones of warm, but rarely ever cool. Also, don't underestimate the value of delicious, free natural light, so don't worry about spending poo poo-tons of cash on lights unless you actually really need it. I often find myself hauling about 400lbs of gear around for this photographer and we hardly ever use it. Glad to see this thread come back. We've been snapping like crazy and I'm doing a better job of balancing the color temp for each shoot. Part of it is probably that my monitor (and my eyes) are a bit off, but I'm also trying to be more prepared for each shot. Considering we're shooting food every day more or less it's a drat chore! I'll post some recent ones later. Thanks for the feedback. Personally I like the plates to look a little cool because when they lean yellow or red it looks gross to me, but I need to worry more about just getting them dead-on... BTW the shrimp post was a featured recipe on pioneerwoman's food site, which I guess is a big-deal food blog.
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Feb 15, 2010 15:44
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somnambulist posted:I wanna add some water drops on the strawberries but I'm not sure how, any tips? Mist them with a spray bottle.
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Feb 15, 2010 19:59
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Here are a bunch in more or less chronological order (old to new) couple of foccacia pics:   tofu-shrimp puffs:  Tuna tart (worked the levels a little too hard on the first one, i think):   Tunisian sandwich:  homemade harrissa:  Couple homemade pasta dishes:   Artsy-fartsy homemade pasta pics:   sandwich bread:  rye pumpernickel loaf:  fun process shots:  Chinese new year /valentines day cookies:   Chinese tea egg:    Whadya think? Getting better?
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Feb 15, 2010 20:28
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Eutheria posted:Not sure if you want feedback on the non-water drop portion of the photo, but the strawberries clearly appear shopped in; the edges are rough, their reflection on the surface doesn't line up (and is bigger), and you can see some transparency overlap between the yogurt/strawberry reflections. Oh I am I was just bored last night and wanted to do some test shots of the packaging. It was just a general comp idea I had for reference when I'm doing the shoot.I'm going to buy some fruit today and play around with it more. I just wasnt sure if it was possible to add water drops via photoshop or if a spray bottle would be enough. I hear people using all sorts of things on products to give them a certain look (vaseline, etc.) and wasnt sure what the appropriate tool would be for good looking water drops. I'll give a spray bottle a try, my only fear is that the fruit will absorb it all and the drops wont be visible.
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Feb 15, 2010 20:53
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Okay, cool. Sorry for sounding like an rear end in a top hat.
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Feb 15, 2010 23:52
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somnambulist posted:I'll give a spray bottle a try, my only fear is that the fruit will absorb it all and the drops wont be visible. You can mix glycerine in with the water in your mister to help them stay a little longer. That isn't done all that often though, most shoots I've been on the stylist just sits there misting the hero carefully with plain water. Usually there are stand in and back ups, so if the food and set gets drenched in water they just switch out the food and wipe everything down and keep shooting. Photoshopping in water droplets to me sounds loving awful / probably impossible to make look good even if you're really good at retouching. I'm not even sure where you would start. I just misted these with a .99 cent sprayer: 
brad industry fucked around with this message at 00:07 on Feb 16, 2010 |
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Feb 16, 2010 00:05
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corkskroo posted:
Foodie derail: what the heck is that? Looks strangely appetizing, but I don't want a facehugger to come out.
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Feb 16, 2010 02:23
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brad industry posted:words words words Very useful advice. I primarily shoot models, so doing this product / food stuff is a bit intimidating
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Feb 16, 2010 02:40
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strangemusic posted:Foodie derail: what the heck is that? Looks strangely appetizing, but I don't want a facehugger to come out. hard boiled eggs that have had their shells cracked and then brewed in a tea / soy sauce stew and left to soak over night. The cracks in the shell let the brew in to make that spiderweb pattern. Tastes delicious as hell. I should probably get a pic of one sliced open before they're all gone...
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Feb 16, 2010 06:37
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I just had to look those up.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_egg They sound interesting. I have something new to ask my friend teaching English in China... BTW, I like your shots of the tea eggs the best. I thought they were something chocolate at first! I also am not comfortable with the shallow depth of field used to photograph the foccacia; I want to see more of its texture.
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Feb 16, 2010 07:10
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corkskroo posted:food I think the eggs are the most successful shots of all of them. They're certainly the most interesting. I agree with the previous comment that the focaccia dof is too narrow. It's actually distracting, in my opinion. It also feels like there are some color temp issues, especially on that second shot of the tuna tart. Was there a mix of natural and artificial light, or something? The shrimp puffs look messy, but that's just what happens when you pour soy sauce or whatever onto something that's been deep fried. I dunno how it would have looked with the sauce drizzled around the plate, but it looks kinda ick, now. In the harissa, that giant out of focus pepper is so distracting. I get that you're conveying some of what the harissa is without completely taking away the focus of the food, but still. What would this have looked like from above,with both on the same plane? I would try a few more angles, too. Almost all of these shots are the same, from the same angle, often the same distance. It seems that most food shots are taken from a similar angle as when we are sitting in front of it, ready to eat, but I personally love to see interesting, creative and especially dynamic food shots. For example, in your other post, I think the overhead ember day tart shots looks more interesting by far than the one with a slice taken out. You just could have used a less distracting tablecloth. I think you're doing better, you should just vary it up a bit and work on some lighting.
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Feb 16, 2010 18:17
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Thanks for the comments folks. I agree with pretty much all of it and have been getting away from the low DOF shots lately, or at least bracketing pretty heavily so I have options. And I always try to get an overhead, especially of any round dish, but it requires putting the food on the floor and our cats have become absolute monsters lately, so it's tricky. As for color temp, I'm trying to be better about it. There is an ungodly mix of lighting sources in the room and I just haven't had time or resources to do anything about it. Someday... And we're planning on heading out to a fabric store to stock up on some simple pattern and colored clothes for different bgrounds. Fyi, here was another harissa shot. I liked them both, but this one is probably better.
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Feb 16, 2010 18:33
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evil_bunnY posted:Man that looks delicious as hell. Thanks, well I guess, I didn't make the actual food but it was delicious. I am really happy as this shot just got picked up by time magazine online for a write up on the bocuse d'or competition.
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Feb 17, 2010 08:28
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mysticp posted:I have about a million shots of all kinds of stuff, I am thinking of a sort of trip report post when I have everything processed. Yes please. I think, as with any profession, it's awesome to see pros doing their job.
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