Into Food Photography

[Donald]

There's a lovely young couple (Kate & Sam) who run a mobile food van (The Cheesy Toast Shack) at Kingsbarns Beach in Fife (not far from St Andrews). We got talking one day that I was there and Sam asked if I'd to some photography for them in return for a Cheese Toastie whenever I was there. A bit of good old-fashioned bartering.

Well, anyway, we've got into this quite seriously together. Great experience for me. I'm going to take the portable Lencarta lights over there next time to shoot the van (which has its back to the sun). But yesterday was shoot-the-sandwiches day.

This is my first serious attempt at food photography. Kate and Sam are delighted with them (which is the main priority), but I'd still welcome critical analysis from colleagues on here. These are a sample of the 13 images I supplied to them after the shoot.

Technical stuff - Hopefully the EXIF data is there for anyone who wants to look at it. I had my two Canon camera bodies. The 24-70 f2.8 L was on the 7DMkII and the 11-24 f4L was on the 5DS. I had a flash unit but didn't use it. For some of the shots Sam was acting assistant and held the reflector screen (silver) just off to my left.

[billtils]

An enjoyable set Donald

[IzzieK]

Donald...these are beautiful shots. I like the last one best because it is unique in such a way that it also shows the environment -- clearly outdoorsy shots. All of these are "hero" shots. One thing similar about all of these are that the angles are the same. I think what you wanting to show here are what kind of fillings the sandwiches have. If it will help, also put some accessories like a glass of drink (water, soda, etc.), perhaps a cloth napkin on the side, a knife. Just to create some interest if you know what I mean...You can also shoot on the top angle, or half a plate with some accessories and some of which are blurred too or accompany the first shot with a bottle of Heinz ketsup and a knife, slightly blurred. Just some suggestions...not to offend you. Vary the angles too. Thanks for sharing. They look delicious especially the Mac and Cheese sandwich. I kinda like spaghetti in my sandwich, not the elbow kind.

[Donald]

Just some suggestions...not to offend you.

Not in the least. These are great ideas, Izzie. Thank you. That's what I'm looking for - different thoughts and suggestions as to how to do this type of shoot. I'm quite happy to hear from colleagues on here about any obvious weaknesses in these shots.

[mugge]

Donald, good fun! The forth picture is not appetising as I am looking at a darn coastline
Cheers Ole

[John 2]

They certainly look appetising enough and that's the objective. The outdoor approach works as well. There is nothing like fresh air to work up an appetite. My only other thought is ...I wonder if there is anyone around here that wants a 12oz steak photographing?

[Shadowman]

Nicely done, one thing that stood out for me in a franchise taco photo was the inclusion of the hand, it made the sandwich look big. Your shots look big but the plate could be an illusion as it could just be a saucer, Izzie's idea of including utensils might work but you also want to add a human element to the image.

[Mike Buckley]

The most important characteristics to my liking are that you consistently showed the interesting environment (though the last shot inconsistently shows it sharply in focus) and displayed the food without any glare. The photos are certainly bright and inviting.

If you deliberately chose to use hard shadows, that's fine; just make sure your style of shadows is deliberate. If you want soft shadows, photograph when it's cloudy and/or use a diffuser. If your friends wanted the photos to display what it's like to eat at their establishment and if they provide silverware, glassware, napkins and the like to customers, you could have included those elements as well. It really depends on what your friends wanted to convey in the photos.

The one characteristic that bothers me is that the plate and table in the last photo look as if they are tilted. Nobody wants to feel that they have to worry about a beverage falling over when they sit at the table.

[Donald]

All good stuff, folks. Thank you. Keep the comments coming.

[ST1]

Just a few thoughts Donald, what about including Kate or Sam either delivering a sandwich to an imaginary customer (imagine a waiter bringing the food to you) if they have a company logo on their aprons/work clothes to include that as well as the sandwich plate. Thus the clothing/ logo become the background with the food offering to the foreground.
My reason for this thinking was probably triggered by the differing DOF you used in these images, the OOF ones distract my eye from the main course IYSWIM. The last one makes me think landscape rather than food so that DOF approach also becomes a distraction. As the client is happy showing their food in the environment which they serve it in maybe it's best to stay with what you have. Whilst I have no experience of food photography my thoughts are probably biased toward the sort of images that you see in the colour supplements of weekend papers/ cookery books where a food technologist has dressed a plate of food for the photographer to make an image of. The whole purpose of which is to convince the viewer to want to eat/make the food.


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[Donald]

Just a few thoughts Donald, what about including Kate or Sam either delivering a sandwich to an imaginary customer (imagine a waiter bringing the food to you)

Thanks, Peter. Good idea. Will include that. These are still to come. We're putting a shooting list together. I'm going to some with them making the sandwiches in the van, serving customers. I did one yesterday of 'The Satisfied Customer', but I want to do some more of those.

[Manfred M]

Donald - sorry to be harsh, but three of the four do not work for me at all. In those, the background competes with the subject and the result is that the background just overwhelms your foreground, which also is your subject. In the fourth one, my eyes go straight to the background and I just about miss the plate of food. The third one, a similar story but at least the background is simpler and less distracting.

I think you come closest with the first image where the background is blurred and abstract. The second one comes close and if you simply it by eliminating the sky, I think it gets close too working too.

I wonder if you had a simpler background, things might be more effective? I just pulled up a number of food shots on the web and the vast majority of these had simple backgrounds that complemented the colours in the food subject. In general they were either plain of totally soft and out of focus with limited textures and details.

[Mike Buckley]

I just pulled up a number of food shots on the web and the vast majority of these had simple backgrounds that complemented the colours in the food subject. In general they were either plain of totally soft and out of focus with limited textures and details.

Photos of food in magazines have every imaginable look, especially when the food is being photographed outdoors.

[Tronhard]

Personally your second photo looks best to me - it has the hint of the coast which is, after all, a major characteristic of the business locations, but it is defocused so it hints at the sun and sea, yet the food is well lit and in sharp contrast.

[Manfred M]

Photos of food in magazines have every imaginable look, especially when the food is being photographed outdoors.

The issue to me is the end use. In Donald's instance it seems to be driven as a means of representing a mechanism to show off the local young couple's fare.

In food magazines, the food photography approaches the fine art genre, where the look and presentation are important and the marketing aspect takes a more minor role.

We see this same trend in other speciality maganzines . In high end travel magazines; the location images look like something you might want to hang on your wall, rather than really head off to the places for a visit. In high end architectural offerings the buildings and interiors are offered up as art. Compare this to what we see in actual travel brochures or real estate offerings. Same subject but two totally different purposes. In one case they are trying to sell the magazine and in the other the destination or property.

[Mike Buckley]

I agree, Manfred. That explains why I emphasized in my first post that decisions should be made in accordance with the goals Donald's friends have in mind. As I alluded in my post, we have no idea about those goals; we can only make assumptions I'm not willing to make.

[Donald]

I should have made clear. My Apologies. These are indeed for marketing purposes; i.e. to getting folk to the location and to buy toasted sandwiches.

The images will be used online and in printed marketing material. Possibly local newspapers.

[Mike Buckley]

These are indeed for marketing purposes; i.e. to getting folk to the location and to buy toasted sandwiches.

Your second image seems to accomplish that combination of goals the best. None of the others are bad in that regard, just not as good in my mind.

Possibly local newspapers.

If the images are to be printed in black-and-white, consider making those conversions yourself rather than leaving that control up to the newspaper.

[bnnrcn]

#2 and #3 for me Donald #1 doesn't give any idea about the environment and the environment competes with the food in the last image. That's why I don't prefer them.

[rpcrowe]

Donald,
I like the idea of a seascape background for the sandwiches but, wonder if a closer crop on at least one of them might not be the way to go. As an example here is a closer crop of your last image...

Generally, IMO, there is a bit too much white (tablecloth and plate) and if you might choose a different color for the cloth or plate, it might show off the sandwich a bit better. The way to do it WOULD NOT be to change the color of plate or tablecloth in Photoshop but to use another color material. That is why I did not work too hard to replace the colors accurately. Actually, there are other colors which would do better...



I also am not sure that I am enamored over the blue rim of the plate. I have seen some really nice images of cheese sandwiches presented on a cutting board...

You mentioned that you were getting or that you have a 5-in-1 reflector. My set (large 43-inch size) has a diffuser disk. That would be great to place between the harsh sun and the sandwich to reduce the harsh shadows a bit...