Food Photography

[Youhong]

Well definately looking at more appealing angles, colour and compositions.

Food are not like people lar, infact food has no interaction with you at all. So you have to make the best of out it to make it look good until when someone sees a food photo they will want to eat it.

Hmm. Wat I meant was that I feel that each dish is unqiue. You can't possibly use the same style for all of them... It has come to my attention that many of the food photography seems are mostly close up/macro shots.... And also they are those western food etc... Is it that local food are not appealing and not worth shooting??? I think "bak ku teh", chicken rice, "rojak", "po piah", Nasi lemak are all very local... and challenging to shoot too..

 

[Hobbesyeo]

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Taken with Nikon CP5400.:sweat:
Any of these three can pass or not? :embrass:

 

[reachme2003]

youhong, i am afraid these three 'point and shoot' photos do not pass.

 

[wiz23]

youhong, i am afraid these three 'point and shoot' photos do not pass.

I think the 3 pics were taken by Hobbesyeo, not Youhong

 

[Youhong]

We've seen so many "high class" food photography... or I should say see too much of this type of food photography... Isn't there anyone wants to challenge taking local food or even home cooked food which might not be as appealing as "high class resturant food"? What I'm trying to say is that like shooting a good looking model with a "not so good looking model". It tends to be easier to get good shots of good looking models coz they themselves look good already... but to make a "not so good looking model" looks as stunning, that's pure skills, right?

Maybe for Hobbesyeo's second pic of the "bak kuh teh", perhaps can also include a teapot with steam coming out also, then use shallow DOF where the background still can see some ah pek enjoying their "bak kuh teh also... Just a suggestion...

 

[markimark]

Belgium Street Food

Pics of food taken from street vendors in Brugge, Belgium.

Thanks Youhong for starting this great thread. Enjoyed it so much its inspired me to contribute my first post.

Cheers.

 

[Hobbesyeo]

I think the 3 pics were taken by Hobbesyeo, not Youhong

Comparing my pics against the rest posted here, its quite obvious that the type of lens used for food photography is very important. (Of course, the fotog's skill counts for alot too.)

I don't think its a case of "good-looking" food vs "ugly looking" food that makes a good pic. I seen pics of local food in magazines and cookbooks that are just as appealing.

Anyway, I think its great that CSer's are sharing their food shots here as I can learn what works and what doesn't. So please keep them coming in. :thumbsup:

 

[Cheesecake]

Comparing my pics against the rest posted here, its quite obvious that the type of lens used for food photography is very important. (Of course, the fotog's skill counts for alot too.)

I don't think its a case of "good-looking" food vs "ugly looking" food that makes a good pic. I seen pics of local food in magazines and cookbooks that are just as appealing.

Anyway, I think its great that CSer's are sharing their food shots here as I can learn what works and what doesn't. So please keep them coming in. :thumbsup:

actually, in professional photography... most photographers are of a certain level. what really tears them apart, are the choice of equipments.

equipments are very important when u're a professional, not just good eyes, creativity... etc.etc... because the right equipment can give u a slight edge over ur competitor and that could mean ur business survival.

 

[Hobbesyeo]

<drool> ... waffles.... mmmmm..... :lovegrin:

 

[reachme2003]

my apology to youhong. yes, the three photos were taken by hobbesyeo.

I think the 3 pics were taken by Hobbesyeo, not Youhong

 

[Pro Image]

Hmm. Wat I meant was that I feel that each dish is unqiue. You can't possibly use the same style for all of them... It has come to my attention that many of the food photography seems are mostly close up/macro shots.... And also they are those western food etc... Is it that local food are not appealing and not worth shooting??? I think "bak ku teh", chicken rice, "rojak", "po piah", Nasi lemak are all very local... and challenging to shoot too..

Local food are as challenging as high class western food. It's how you design your shots. Local food are mostly deep fried and colours are less appealing. Of course not all are bad but it depends on the chefs on how they plate their dishes.

Of course every dish has it's own unique style to it. At the moment it's not just close up and macro only. Go look at Borders under the magazine food section. It's a lot more.......and every dish is worth shooting if it is style properly. If you just go to any hawker stall and order any food, the hawker would try his best to make the food taste good. Looking good is secondary to them.

Modern hawkers would try to plate their food but when you have 20-30 people waiting in line, they would not bother too much on their plating. All of them wants to earn is volume sales as a plate of Fried Char Kuay Teow is only $3.00 compare to a plate of Spaghetti in a Italian Restaurant would cost $15-$20 bucks. It's not that local food is not appealing but local food was never a first choice but if they really want to style the food to make it look good, then there is more to it than just frying a plate of Fried Kuay Teow or Nasi Lemak.

 

[SpNik]

since chinese new year is around the corner, here's a pic of pineapple tarts i baked.

 

[fatcat52]

Hope to share some of the food I loved.
Kindly advise how do I insert the pics?:dunno:
Can't find the 'Browse' button.:sweat:

Tks.

 

[Cheesecake]

hi..

share some of my humble food photos...
all styled and shot by me.









*removed...*




will upload the T/S sometime this week when i get the images home.
will remove this post soon too.

cheers!

 

[reachme2003]

xiao long bao - the greasy blotting paper under the baos makes it look 'unappealing', for lack of a better word. don't know what is the food in the second photo? putu mayam?

 

[reachme2003]

right on the point that hawkers go for sales volume. me too. so long it does not give the impression as untidy, unhygenic and not having even little sense of presentation. i am sure each hawker has his own style of presentation but this suffers when there is a 'rush'.

Local food are as challenging as high class western food. It's how you design your shots. Local food are mostly deep fried and colours are less appealing. Of course not all are bad but it depends on the chefs on how they plate their dishes.

Of course every dish has it's own unique style to it. At the moment it's not just close up and macro only. Go look at Borders under the magazine food section. It's a lot more.......and every dish is worth shooting if it is style properly. If you just go to any hawker stall and order any food, the hawker would try his best to make the food taste good. Looking good is secondary to them.

Modern hawkers would try to plate their food but when you have 20-30 people waiting in line, they would not bother too much on their plating. All of them wants to earn is volume sales as a plate of Fried Char Kuay Teow is only $3.00 compare to a plate of Spaghetti in a Italian Restaurant would cost $15-$20 bucks. It's not that local food is not appealing but local food was never a first choice but if they really want to style the food to make it look good, then there is more to it than just frying a plate of Fried Kuay Teow or Nasi Lemak.

 

[Cheesecake]

xiao long bao - the greasy blotting paper under the baos makes it look 'unappealing', for lack of a better word. don't know what is the food in the second photo? putu mayam?

that xiao long bao is fresh from the steamer. super hot and shot quickly in case it loses its shape. so, the wet greasy blotting paper can't be helped. but it still looked very delicious, very yumz! hehehe

the 2nd one is a chinese dish, soft egg waffles, something like that. dun really know. :bsmilie:
deep fried fish fillet is wrapped in it.

 

[tubbykat]

hi cheesecake, the dumplings photo i think besides the paper at the bottom, the green parsley a bit big ah, too much stalk? maybe more of the leaves and less or shorter stalk will be better. second shot quite nice

 

[reachme2003]

so you are saying that the hardware they use differentiates them?

actually, in professional photography... most photographers are of a certain level. what really tears them apart, are the choice of equipments.

equipments are very important when u're a professional, not just good eyes, creativity... etc.etc... because the right equipment can give u a slight edge over ur competitor and that could mean ur business survival.

 

[reachme2003]

in food photography's lingo, what you are talking about is collectively termed as food styling.

hi cheesecake, the dumplings photo i think besides the paper at the bottom, the green parsley a bit big ah, too much stalk? maybe more of the leaves and less or shorter stalk will be better. second shot quite nice