Food seems to be getting more popular

[GrahamH]

Some from today.
Black velvet as the backdrop.
I also have some burlap looking forward to being able to use).
It's great getting paid in food. Luckily there's a gym nearby also.
Graham

Salmon Salad


Lobster Ceviche


Crab Fried Rice

[Andrew76]

Graham, do you need an assistant who can charge batteries for you, or hold reflectors, or anything really? Will work for food.

Great shots by the way - I like the stark background on the first two - I especially like how you included a bit of black on the bottom left of shot #1 to give some perspective.

Looks like some creative PP may have been used to help along the background in shot #2, but it's not really noticeable. And, I wonder if removing the bottom of the Martini glass, in a more 'contemporary' crop might be helpful. I'm not sure if you like that idea, but the dish looks very contemporary, so I was just thinking of a tight, close up, maybe even rotated crop would look cool.

Very nicely done.

[GrahamH]

Hi Andrew,
Good suggestions and comments.
Black velvet was hung from the wall and across the tabletop. Flash and brolly to camera left (slightly behind the food) and reflector to camera right (facing the food). No PP in removing background. In fact, tilting the laptop screen shows a slightly red mottled background (artefact of the camera).
Here's another one of the Lobster Ceviche at the crop (in camera) you suggested. I'm going to present the specials on a couple of pages, so I wanted different angles and shapes of the images to create more impact.
I have presented a few angled shots before, but the manager thinks it looks like food is slipping off the plate or falling over . (Also doesn't like DoF effects, everything has to be as sharp as possible - another thread perhaps).
Graham

[Andrew76]

Aha! See, I like that one very much! But, I am not the Chef, Manager, or Photographer - so only my opinion.

If I were a customer though, I would prefer to eat that one, than the one above! Very nice!

[Rhoads238]

Hey Graham,

Nice looking bunch of shots. You have the same setup as I do for this as far as the one light and a reflector setup. For the first plate I like the way that the salmon row is showing its translucency from backlighting. I wish there was more light on the right side but i know there is not much that can be done about that aside from another light being used. Also have you considered cloning the reflections on the plate out? As for the ceviche i prefer the latter composition you have presented. I also like the lighting better on the second. I think that you could probably manage to edit out those reflections too though. As for the crab fried rice, I think it is very nicely composed but again a little more light on the right side would have been nice.

-Jason

[Shadowman]

Very nice, appreciate you including details of your setup.

[GrahamH]

Thank you John and Jason,

Jason - On some images in the past I've used two lights, but takes up so much extra room (and I am working inside an operating restaurant so space and disruption is an issue). I can, however, lighten in PP to reduce the contrast from left to right, and will do so. Manager agreed with your comments when it was pointed out, but as an artist also liked the play of light. Suggestion was that the typical customer may prefer a flatter lighting style.
Reflections on the plate - do you mean the reflections of the salmon and avocado?

Thanks.
Graham