Mushroom Pastry

[CYMON]

I just bought a Canon EOS 40D 2 weeks back. Newbie to DSLR.
Took this at tcc.

Short writeup
1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Composition, lighting. anything.

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
If I can make someone salivate with this picture, and perhaps want to order this dish, I think I have achieved what I wanted to.

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
I like taking pictures of food. I used to take it with a PnS camera only. But with this DSLR< i realised I am able to control more things while taking the pic. Really excited. hah.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
I personally think it is above average, so i would like to find out how others think.

 

[lastboltnut]

Hi, nice shot and yummy pies. My opinions:

1. I would move down the frame to crop away the top white distraction when I shoot. But for now you can crop it away.

2. The pic is abit soft, is it handshake?

3. I would have slightly deeper DOF to have the entire pie in the middle sharp.

4. I would cut the pie nicely as it looks like someone bite it and leave it there with the rest of the pies.

5. The lighting condition is nice and personally I am ok with the pic, but I think some people likes the shadow part to be lighter....you can use a white paper to reflect some light into the shadow areas.

These are just my personal opinion hope you are ok.

 

[zac08]

First off,

the cut pie should be your main focal point, but it's not sharp. It seems like you have focused on the centre ones on both left and right of the picture instead.

Cup and saucer is distracting and has a very strong yellow cast.

Salad on the left is also fighing for visual attention and draws the eyes away from the main focal point which should be the pies. Do be careful with shadows on such food as blackness or darkness may cause it to look unappealing.

My 2 cts.

 

[lastboltnut]

I think TS focused on the top edge of the centre pie, thats why the left and the right pies looks more focused (but still soft, might be handshake).

 

[CYMON]

Thks for all the comments. Would definitely keep them in mind when I do my next shot.

But some questions though, is it good or bad to have a soft picture for food photography?
Also, there was a mention that the salad and the cups were distracting.. so in food photography, do we eliminate all these 'side items' and leave just the object of interest within the frame?

 

[zac08]

Thks for all the comments. Would definitely keep them in mind when I do my next shot.

But some questions though, is it good or bad to have a soft picture for food photography?
Also, there was a mention that the salad and the cups were distracting.. so in food photography, do we eliminate all these 'side items' and leave just the object of interest within the frame?

It depends on the direction of the shoo0t.

If the focal point is meant to be the dish, then as lil distractions as possible. But if it's meant to be a whole course of food, then I'd get them in but with careful placement so as to compliment the dishes.

 

[Elgaris]

Keep a greater depth of field, if your lens prevents you from doing that, what you can do is use a tripod and manual focus, take pictures focusing on different points and then use photoshop to blend all the photos together.

 

[chvictor]

Thks for all the comments. Would definitely keep them in mind when I do my next shot.

But some questions though, is it good or bad to have a soft picture for food photography?
Also, there was a mention that the salad and the cups were distracting.. so in food photography, do we eliminate all these 'side items' and leave just the object of interest within the frame?

I do agree that if it is meant to be a complete set meal with those salad, then I would leave it. Yap! most food photography emphasize on sharpness of the product. It got to be really appealing and appertizing look. As for some distracting elements, you can alway pp in Photoshop to soften or blur them a little.

chvictor (Adobe Certified Expert) | Photoshop Instructor | 98162062

 

[microcosm]

I just bought a Canon EOS 40D 2 weeks back. Newbie to DSLR.
Took this at tcc.

Short writeup
1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Composition, lighting. anything.

(Food shots are not as simple as shooting what is before you. The MOST important person in this shoot is the FOOD STYLIST. This is where this shot fails to look super yummy in the first place. Sadly, the food stylist gets paid more than the photographer...)

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
If I can make someone salivate with this picture, and perhaps want to order this dish, I think I have achieved what I wanted to.

(Most likely you can attract some people. But I feel that it does look a little "yucky" to me... maybe it is mainly because I feel that the overall colour, though good, but the overall shallow DOF makes the OOF areas looks like puke. So this shot fails to attract me to the food I personally will not order this dish if this was on the menu)

3. under what circumstance is the picture taken? (physical conditions/emotions)
I like taking pictures of food. I used to take it with a PnS camera only. But with this DSLR< i realised I am able to control more things while taking the pic. Really excited. hah.

(keep practising and learn when to make use of DOF to create strong images that makes people desire the food, if food photography is what you are going after. There are some books out there in Bansheer on food styling, you might want to look into that first. Just like the best fashion shoot is SIMPLE because it is never about the photographer... it is about the model, the stylist, the makeup artist and having enough gear and knowing how they work to achieve the look the creative director wants. Hardly there are chances where the photographer need to do much unless he is also the creative director for the shoot.)

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
I personally think it is above average, so i would like to find out how others think.

(Overall a good shot, but I would prefer a deeper DOF (depth of field) to give more clarity to the shot, and maybe you can experiment in post to isolate just one of the pastry. The bitten part should have been lighted to show the contents clearer... else... yucky)