Cook, Shoot, Eat. Cold soup for hot days.

[wlou]

As you know I am now on a quest to do better Food Photos. One of you ask what was my prep for my first picture and I answered: Cook, Shoot, Eat. So I think it is a fit title for a new tread. Like Izzie mentioned everything food I take in picture is entirely edible. It is a challenge for sure as food has a way of going "blah" very quickly. Go with your heart on this one, pun intended. All the vegetables in your fridge will do. Some like it real spicy, be generous with the hot sauce. Decorate with nuts or seeds. Serve with whole bread, or gluten free. Enjoy.
Taken in natural light,overcast sky. 50mm 1.4 lens. I would appreciate your comments.
So today's creation is: Cold Soup. You can take it anywhere in a thermos container, don't forget the spoon.

[Shadowman]

Nice composition and added elements. Did you deliberately frame the subjects this way or were you forced by the 50mm focal length? I would have stood on a chair if capturing everything was of importance.

[wlou]

Thank you John. I cropped it. I found the original a bit boring, the wood not adding interest to the picture. It is about soup after all.

[FrankMi]

Great image Louise. Perhaps it could use a hint of hot vapor?

I have a question about food images. It seems that in restaurant menus, most of the food images are very sharp. Should that be the case here? Or, would restaurant menus and food images follow different guidelines?

[wlou]

Good comments Frank. The title does say Cold Soup, no?

[FrankMi]

Good comments Frank. The title does say Cold Soup, no?

Yes it does Louise. For some reason when I looked at the image it looked like hot soup and as I explored the image I totally forgot about the title!

[Mike Buckley]

Great light. The depth of field and composition work really well. It's interesting that I absolutely know the flatware has to be a spoon even though the defining end is not visible.

The only thing that I can think of to improve it probably would have been to retain the detail on the left side of the bowl that is displayed on the right side. Perhaps a reflector could have thrown enough light grazing across the ridges. However, considering that your light source was already diffused by the clouds, perhaps not. Retaining that detail might have required adding artificial light.

[Mike Buckley]

I just now tried increasing the detail on the left side of the bowl and was satisfied with the results. If your software allows you to select that part of the bowl and to apply a curve to it, the curve shown below works well. You might then want to slightly brighten the selected area. If you want me to post my results achieved in about 15 seconds, just mention it.




EDIT: Applying a really strong reverse S-curve also works well, but not quite as much to my liking.

[wlou]

Mike your help is always welcome, please do post your results.

[Mike Buckley]

Keep in mind that I spent only 15 seconds to adjust the left side of the bowl.

[wlou]

Mike this is great. Is it Photoshop? I use Lightroom 5, can it be done with it as well? PS: I am eating the said Cold Soup with extra pumpkin seeds roasted, taste great.

[Mike Buckley]

I used Nikon Capture NX2. Unfortunately, Lightroom allows you to apply a curve only to the entire image, not a selected portion. You might be able to get a similar look using Lightroom's Brush and the various sliders, but I'm skeptical because this curve is so extreme.

I apply that curve and a reverse S-curve so often to selected areas of an image that if I was using Lightroom as my primary editor, I would look for an inexpensive or free program for the sole purpose of allowing me to add the capability to my toolkit as a final adjustment. You might want to consider doing the same.

[purplehaze]

I apply that curve and a reverse S-curve so often to selected areas of an image that if I was using Lightroom as my primary editor, I would look for an inexpensive or free program for the sole purpose of allowing me to add the capability to my toolkit as a final adjustment. You might want to consider doing the same.

This is in fact one of the advantages that Aperture has over Lightroom. I just started using LR in the last few months, and I like a lot of things about it, but I think Aperture may have an edge when it comes to the variety of adjustments that can be brushed in.

Oh, and nice shot, Louise. Your soup looks delicious!

[Mike Buckley]

Unfortunately, Aperture is not available for Windows users.

[wlou]

Thank you Janis, the soup was delicious. I ate a big bowl with a lot of roster pumpkins seeds on the side.

[wlou]

Mike you give so much info as always, I'm sure I'll find a way to do that. The best way would be to get it right in camera and this is what I am looking for in a not so far future I hope.

[Mike Buckley]

I hate a big bowl with a lot of roster pumpkins seeds on the side.

Don't ya just ate typos?!

[wlou]

Mike , I just about left it the way it was, you could "ear zee French H in there, yes-no?"

Don't ya just ate typos?!

[Loose Canon]

Big jump here Louise! Very nice composition and the lighting has improved exponentially.

A couple of thoughts if I may be allowed?

As regards the lost detail on the bowl? You are of course right to want everything you can get taken care of in-camera. So this could probably have been seen quickly after the shot on review. It might be possible that just a slight adjustment of camera angle might have done the trick. Just enough to alter the angle of reflection for that side. A strategically placed flag may have also been an option.

The garnish? Beautiful and artfully placed. Let me bounce this off you and see what you think. Soup, or stew can be somewhat bland looking as regards a photograph. Not that this doesn’t look delicious because it does. And you have dressed this up very nicely. But what if you took some of the veggies (carrots, potatoes, celery, whatever is in there) and colorful items in the soup and blanched them separately to beautifully and artfully add to your composition just before you pull the trigger on the shot? Blanching (as you would know better than me) preserves the color and texture of the veggies and makes those ingredients really pop out and add color to your bowl. And it is totally edible as a side benefit! I wouldn't call that "cheating" at all!

I gotta tell you Louise, you are really tracking with this thing!

Now if you will excuse me I have to go pig out now!

[Mike Buckley]

Great idea to blanch the food, Terry. I would never have thought of that but I would be willing to bet that it works great. Now I wish I had blanched the chocolate cake before I added it to my wine shot.

As regards the lost detail on the bowl?...It might be possible that just a slight adjustment of camera angle might have done the trick.

Though that's always a possibility, ideally I like to go for the very best composition and to adjust the lighting setup to make that composition work. However, sometimes we do have to be practical and altering the composition slightly to make this or that happen can be a reasonable compromise.