Meatballs Revisited

[Dream Merchant]

As promised, a revision (from the original thread: http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=294908

DP, Tried as I did, even when I used flash and blew all the highlights, that dammned shadow was still there!!!

 

[Deadpoet]

I like this one ... much better than the last edition ... now the meatballs is the center stage, supported by the rice patty, accompanied by the green beans and herbs. I really like the way you cropped the rectangular plate.

a suggestion is to stp down a bit more to get the back of the rice patty, the bakc of the green beans and the herbs in focus?

in this picture, I rather like the shadow in the lower right. gave teh picture some depth and 3D

 

[Dream Merchant]

Without trying to sound 'kow-tow-ing' I owe it to your brutally honest yet constructive comments yesterday. It was difficult (I was trying like heck to eliminate that bottom right shadow!!!), and it took over 3 hours to arrive at this frame, out of many.

I actually chose the slightly shallower DOF just so that more attention would be on the meatballs. There are lots of variations, with different settings and subtle light-fill angles, and like you suggested, those with almost the entire layout in focus, but I would not put that in my book unless it's for a catalog shot where everything has to be perfectly in focus.

I'm not particularly obsessive/complusive by nature, but I feel I can do better on this one - slightly, for now. But perhaps I should depart from this dish and 'refresh' myself with another, then come back to this one?

 

[psychobiologist]

there is slight overexposure of the rice, although some texture remains..

you might consider using a white porcelain plate, big one as its a bit more reflective and more forgiving on shadows

but wait.. before i comment any further...









can i have one meatball firsT?

 

[Dream Merchant]

Sure!

Gimme your addy and I'll snail-mail it to you! :bsmilie:

CHEERS!

 

[Godzilla Invades]

Agree with DP, this is a better shot than the last one.

Here is my nitpick.

1) Too much sauce on the plate. Should have at least some sauce on the meat balls itself (not too much as you will not be able to see the meat ball at all)

2) As for the dimension of the food, it still looks quite flat. Can try to creat some shallower DOF to make the meat balls a little more outstanding than the rest (since the title is called "Meatballs Revisted).

3) The rice just seems too perfectly round which looks quite fake. Meat balls are just sitting there. There should be some "WOW" effect to make the meatballs jumping out of the photo.

Exposure is quite well litted. Did you light from the back and have a reflector at the front?

Overall, you have potential. Better than many have posted. You have good eye on lighting but presentation of food would be my no.1 priority. Lighting can be control by us but styling of food is a little much harder as we are after all photographer, not food stylist/chefs.

 

[Dream Merchant]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions GI! Much appreciated!

I'm a little new to all this as I've never done still-life or food before, so some of it is a bit daunting.

Lighting - I just try to copy the principles I see used in commercial studios but even then, I've seen different photographers light up similar lay-outs very differently to achieve a similar effect. So I just try try a bit. It was diffused rear light with some front fill.

Rice...it's supposed to be perfectly symmetrical with the raisins breaking up the lines.

One day (in the far far future) I'll try to have bouncing meatballs but my girl would probably jump up, grab it and run away! LOL!

CHEERS!