I have a beef with you -- C&C requested

[Mike Buckley]

I'm a terrible designer, so any tips anyone could give me -- and I mean anything -- to improve the design is appreciated. I also have little experience photographing food, reviewing photos of food and, thus, developing a strong sense of what I look for in food photography, so please point out anything that you think suffers in this image.

I trust that Shane will understand that I temporarily stopped photographing the broken glass that she sent me so I could photograph this beef. Her broken glass will be around a long time but the meat, at least some of it, will be eaten very soon. For those who are unaware of my interest in photographing broken glass, please see my Request for Broken Glass.

[Shadowman]

Cooked meat is more appealing and your setup just screams contamination.
Your composition is great, I would show more reflection since it is partially visible.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, John!

It's interesting that you feel cooked meat is more appealing. I'm the cook in the household and work with raw meat every day, so that might explain why I think cooked and raw meat are equally appealing. Interestingly, the fat on this meat is acceptable to me only because I know it can be removed. In fact, I would hope that it would be removed before the meat is cooked, much less served. So, cooked meat with this much fat on it would be unappealing to me whether at the dinner table or in a photo.

[Sponge]

It might just be my eyesight (which gets a bit worse by the end of the day) but I think the vegetables on the sides that are a little in front of the meat could be a little sharper. Not sure if this is due to the lens or depth of field but just something I noticed. The bone sticking up center-left might be a little bright and overall I think the shadows could come up a little bit but these are just observations from someone who has very minimal experience in food photography.

[Mike Buckley]

Your eyes are excellent, Patrick. The veggies in front of the meat are a little soft by design to focus attention on the meat. I intentionally shot at f/8 to limit the depth of field.

Thanks for your other input as well.

[flashback]

Cook the meal, serve it, take a pic of it with your phone. It's what *most* people seem to do
I don't know anything about food photography but I strongly suspect it's every bit as specialized as wedding or crime scene photography.

[Mike Buckley]

Food photography is definitely a specialty, Jack. The problem as I see it is that most food photography looks the same in the magazines that I buy to review recipes. None of the mainstream food photography looks at all like this, which is one reason I chose this style and is a reason that I haven't yet developed a strong sense of how I want food to look.

[Brownbear]

Hi Mike,

I think the vegetables need to be fewer in number and fresher (ie; crisp and perfect). I really like the potato/yam because it kind of looks like a seal.

Perhaps just a little bit simpler with just the beef, the potato and and the green onion.... or just the beef and a bit of green onion because this particular potato is very cute and takes attention away from the beef.

Beautifully photographed, just too many vegetables.

[Digital]

I would add a glass of wine to the mix.



Bruce

[Mike Buckley]

Very interesting, Christina. Thanks for being so specific.

I actually considered using no veggies, then decided to include all of them in the photo plus two kinds of mushrooms and decided to eliminate the mushrooms. I wonder if I wouldn't prefer a photo of just the meat by itself.

All of the food is very crisp (if you're using that term to mean "fresh") except the cilantro. It's odd that it wilted just before I released the shutter. Ten minutes earlier it had been lively enough that much of it "stood up" enough to be back lit. The room was almost as cold as a refrigerator, so the problem probably had to do with buying it the previous day.

As for the veggies being perfect, I plead guilty to not having that requirement. Just the opposite, I like photographing things as they usually are, not as they can be ever so rarely. There are so few perfect vegetables that I prefer photographing them as we generally see them. That also explains why I didn't remove the threads of material from the bones and why I doubt that I would ever have an interest in making the prevalent style of portraiture that renders the skin of women fictitiously smooth. It's just my approach to photography.

Glad you saw the seal! I'm not sure whether it looks more like a seal, sea lion or a walrus. It's my joke that the primary subject is meat, which also explains why the likeness of the animal is leaning against the meat.

[Mike Buckley]

I would add a glass of wine to the mix.

That's no help, Bruce. I would always think of doing that regardless of the subject.

[Brownbear]

Hi Mike,

It's a very interesting photo that I don't know what to make of yet. My husband has worked in retail (food) management his entire life and he is also a butcher (old school - who really knows how to cut meat - and who I still haven't convinced to be vegetarian ) So I'm likely viewing the perfect food ad (flyers) in my head. Thank you for not making woman fictitiously smooth!

I adore the seal (and it could just as easily be a walrus to me) ...

Very interesting, Christina. Thanks for being so specific.

I actually considered using no veggies, then decided to include all of them in the photo plus two kinds of mushrooms and decided to eliminate the mushrooms. I wonder if I wouldn't prefer a photo of just the meat by itself.

All of the food is very crisp (if you're using that term to mean "fresh") except the cilantro. It's odd that it wilted just before I released the shutter. Ten minutes earlier it had been lively enough that much of it "stood up" enough to be back lit. The room was almost as cold as a refrigerator, so the problem probably had to do with buying it the previous day.

As for the veggies being perfect, I plead guilty to not having that requirement. Just the opposite, I like photographing things as they usually are, not as they can be ever so rarely. There are so few perfect vegetables that I prefer photographing them as we generally see them. That also explains why I didn't remove the threads of material from the bones and why I doubt that I would ever have in interest in making the style of prevalent portraiture that renders the skin of women fictitiously smooth. It's just my approach to photography.

Glad you saw the seal! I'm not sure whether it looks more like a seal, sea lion or a walrus. It's my joke that the primary subject is meat, which also explains why the likeness of the animal is leaning against the meat.

[travis4567]

Very good photo Mike. Food photography is a difficult art. Some of the newer cameras are even adding a "Food Shooting Mode"
Two personal nitpicks. As a vegetarian, I would rather see the veggies as the main subject. As a chef, the cross contamination of raw meat and vegges is a definite no no.

[Mike Buckley]

So I'm likely viewing the perfect food ad (flyers) in my head.

Have you ever seen one made using a reflective black surface and a black background? The reason I ask is that I don't ever remember seeing one.

[Brownbear]

Never, but I think it would make a very beautiful ad for beef, if it was photographed by you.


I just read your intro again to see what you are trying to create. ie; ad for beef (my interpretation), a meal, or ? Beautifully photographed but I don't understand it.

Have you ever seen one made using a reflective black surface and a black background? The reason I ask is that I don't ever remember seeing one.

[Brownbear]

I just looked at a couple of recipe/food ads in a magazine.

Perhaps if you lay the beef partially on it's side (semi-stacked), keeping the seal/walrus and a few of the ingredients (either red or white onions plus the other vegetables) on the left hand side, with a hand reaching in to grab some of the ingredients from the top or the other side (so the reflections are not blocked)... ? Or a knife or glass of wine instead of the hand ...

PS...

My husband says he wishes he had these for dinner and that you have presented the Tomahawk Prime Rib Chops beautifully (ie... ideal position for presentation) His input is to trim the external fat around the chops down to 1/4 inch (consumer preference) and to chop some of the vegetables up (even 1/4 pieces) and to peel the carrots. He also says that asparagus would be a fitting choice for this type beef.

[Andrew76]

Mike, I like the photo. I think you've done a pretty good job of it. I personally agree with you - to me, meat is more appealing raw. Especially beef. We're not huge beef eaters in this house, but when we do, it's often cooked very, very rare. So this is appealing to me.

And although I agree with Christina about the veggies appearing more 'fresh' and 'crisp', I don't think it's a huge deal in this case, because it adds to the rusticnesss (is that a word?), of the beef.

EDIT ** I decided to delete what I had written, and only comment on the photography side of it.

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, Andrew. Like you, we hardly ever eat beef in my household, which makes this photo really ironic.

Christina: I considered including a knife or glass of wine and ultimately decided not to because including either of them seemed to require imposing a traditional still-life component on the style that I chose, which is not at all traditional. If the beef was laid even partially on its side, it would be more traditional than in this photo. Nobody would ever arrange the beef in their kitchen as in the photo; I know because it would never stand upright without something being used to support it, such as the L-brackets that I taped to the tabletop and hid from the camera.

Similarly, you might want to try looking through magazines for photos of broken glass. You probably won't find them.

[Brownbear]

Sorry I couldn't provide any useful input. I tried and failed dismally.

Thanks, Andrew. Like you, we hardly ever eat beef in my household, which makes this photo really ironic.

Christina: I considered including a knife or glass of wine and ultimately decided not to because including either of them seemed to require imposing a traditional still-life component on the style that I chose, which is not at all traditional. If the beef was laid even partially on its side, it would be more traditional than in this photo. Nobody would ever arrange the beef in their kitchen as in the photo; I know because it would never stand upright without something being used to support it, such as the L-brackets that I taped to the tabletop and hid from the camera.

Similarly, you might want to try looking through magazines for photos of broken glass. You probably won't find them.

[Manfred M]

Very nice shot Mike - the first thing that struck me is how you have taken a totally different orientation and approach to food photography. Most food is displayed horizontally, yet in this case, you really have a vertical composition. You've played with the raw ingredients, rather than the finished product. The partially mirroring of the food is again a very unique interpretation of this scene.

Very, very unconventional approach. It really caught my eye and really works well.