Thread: ***DSLR Thread***

Thought I would share this link: 50 Wonderful, Inspiring Photoblogs | Inspiration | Smashing Magazine

I agree with everything you said, Glenn. But....had you not said all of that, I would still think it's a great shot. 100X better than 95% of all the other food/menu photography you/I see out there.

Great work.


(I don't want this to sound weird or anything else, but your work really inspires me.)

Originally Posted by FlyBoeingJets

More foodtography:



I'm disappointed a bit by the loss of detail in the far side of the plate. The light setup was quick and dirty, with ambient from the high right, the SB-800 at 1/2 power above and slightly left. Looking at it after the fact, I need a reflector in the front and camera left to illuminate the front of the broccoli a little. The wine bottle turned out to be meaningless to the image, because I was a in tight to the plate. I had to, because of the edge of the cooktop that is in the top right corner of the image. And I'm not sure I'm happy with the angle of the plate. The camera was set up so the right side of the wine bottle was vertical in the image.

Rip me a new one, guys. Tell me if this shot works or doesn't.

so somehow I stumbled upon this site... very interesting... (and no, I didn't stumble because the word PORN was in the web addy...)

good stuff.... check it out!

CameraPorn

Originally Posted by FlyBoeingJets

Tell me if this shot works or doesn't.

I think the food itself has been well lit and well photographed. I think where the image falls a little short is in the dressing the area around the plate (wine glass, cutlery, center piece, etc.) that really help make a plate of food a family, romantic, or fun meal. Also, for me, I think I would like the see the plate just a little more in frame.

I think your self critique is right on as well, adding a little fill to the broccoli area of the plate to preserve some of the detail there would help. Also, I'm not sure what your situation was (if at home or a restaurant), but having a bit more light so you could stop down and get just a touch more depth of field so we could make out more of the things on the plate. For instance, the peppers or tomatoes on the far side of the plate are hard to resolve.

All in all though, I think you have the knack for the actual lighting of the food, which is the hard part. I think the first Granville photo is right on, minus just a touch of fill, and the angles in this one work for me as well. The one thing I would try and play with (because I don't know if it would work or not, but might be a fun exercise) is there is a lot of diffuse light reflecting of the chicken, but not much direct light, which is giving the chicken a slightly dry look. If you move you key around subtly to try and get that reflection in the chicken, I wonder if it would help it feel a little more moist.

Nice shot, and nice work Glenn!

Good points. I thought about the peppers being too far out in front of the focused area, too.

I moved the key around to get this pic, and this was the best of the lot, really. I was looking to get a shine mark or two off the sauce rather than the chicken. I think had the chicken been more moist to begin with, it would have helped. I thought about hitting it with a bit of olive oil, but decided not to. Also, I think spreading the slices out just a little to give it more texture and depth might have been good.

That's all food-stylist stuff, of course. But if I'm doing this by myself, I'll need to keep all that in mind.

Thanks for the critique.

In need of a cheap toy fix, I put a fair bid in on one of these:


Reflex-Nikkor-C 500mm f/8

I can hardly believe how inexpensive reflex lenses are! Sure, they're manual focus and fixed aperture, but in good daylight that shouldn't be an issue. This outta be a great "little" lens for daytime wildlife type stuff. Hope I win it.

If I don't, I might just pick up a ProOptics 500MM F/6.3 Mirror Lens. You can get them new for around $150.

I got a call today and might have a Rivers Cuomo pic used as a CD/DVD cover.

It's a limited release but still, it would be rad to get a CD cover. It's one of my goals.

It's not for sure yet but I'm crossing my fingers.

/crosses his fingers for Mike...

I'm hitting the Ragga Muffin Festival in Long Beach. They had a pretty tough release that gives them the right to all of my photos taken for promotional uses. I don't mind but signing things is always kind of strange.

I added a paragraph or two of my own saying that any commercial use of the pics would require further negotiations and that the web site use is fine with credit. (I do that with most anybody anyways)/ I'd just hate to have someone make a poster, t-shirt or cd cover without hearing from them first and being compensated. Ya heard?

Anyway, now that all that is out of the way, I'm going to go OFF at the two day festival. I have pit access for the first 3 songs of each group, no flash at all. I'm taking the magic lens so it should be a weekend to remember. Just seeing a few songs of the Mad Professor will be worth the entire weekend. ALSO, I can take the bus there in about 10 min.