Lloyd Himself's Commercial THREAD.

[ukanfoff]

doin this for a thai restaurant. their makin a new menu.
ive never done food photography











ill have the mat ons later...

[Five]

If it looks as nice in print as it does here, I think you've done your job. :-)
I sure would eat anything you've shown just from the looks of it.

Personally I wouldn't have had the balls to show the broken side of the soup's plate in the second to last image.

It's visible you took the photos in the restaurant because in a studio setting you'd not used a table cloth with visible creases.

Is this done with natural light?
From my teacher, who's often photographing food, I've learned that you can light up dark patches of shadow with small directed mirrors. In this case maybe a white sheet of paper on the left would have lessened the shadows, too. It's not bad as it is, but it might have looked even more friendly that way?

[ukanfoff]

ha, i didnt even see that broken part.
well gotta redo it then.
I edit photos at night and sometimes i dont see it.
Im going to replace the white cloth with a bamboo mat so no creases.

yep, natural light. yea ill bring a mirror with me nex time.

thanks for da input.

[JonS]

A mirror will give you heartburn dealing with the hotspots reflected.

Use a white sheet of foamcore, it will give you a good bounced fill without the local hotspots. Black foamcore is also your friend for absorbtion and minimization of unwanted reflections.

When you switch to the bamboo mat, you're going to lose a surprising amount of reflected light, it would be a good idea to have some extra light sources available to bounce around and even things up.

Thumbs up from where you're headed from here.

[purplerose]

The first one is really nice.

Would iron out the creases in the fabric next time though.

[ukanfoff]

ok.... went to the fabric store.









didnt tape it down...

[Grumbledook]

I prefer the first set in all honesty, the white background works well. Really don't like the idea of the bamboo mats as the background though, so good idea of the dark cloth.

However I think you should have let the food cool down as the steam coming off them is rather distracting.

Oh and damn you, I was hungry before I clicked on this thread, now I'm really hungry :]

[ukanfoff]

yea i prefer the white cloth, i just like things clean.
but its what the restaurant owner wants...
i tried the white foam core... but it didnt help much.

[ukanfoff]

tryin out backrounds n lights.

white cloth.




bamboo





black cloth







black with the ring light... looks bad. but just wanted to try.

[purplerose]

Wow.

I like the bamboo mats, fits the purpose of the photos really well. I like the black cloth as well, however it looks better when there is no steam coming from the food.

I'm hungry now...

[ukanfoff]

cant fight the steam, the food was goin to be served right after i taken the shot. so i got like 7 sec tops to shoot

[Valadilene]

i like it, looks good. though i feel like that is an insane amout of visual tension in the shot of the drinks. they look like they should be falling in my lap.

[Grumbledook]

have you tried suggesting to them that letting the food cool down for no steam will get them better photos?

assuming you had that problem with all the food, the steam is only showing up on the black backgrounds

again after looking at this thread I want some chinese food ;o

[ukanfoff]

cant really wait till the food cools down cause it gonna be served.

[cleonor]

I really like the bamboo background, it makes the photograph seem atmospheric. The colour of the food matches the bamboo perfectly too. Good choice ^.^

[ivy'sgrandkid]

bamboo mats bamboo mats!!! love the bamboo mats! the last set really came out well! did you get any to eat?

[ukanfoff]

imma try couple more with the mats, gonna get some more food today

[dognamedblue]

if you have to wait till the food cools then you can go with the old favourite method of adding steam - a cigarette!

I do like the gray background, works well with the plate and colourful foods
but I guess it all depends on any background colours that pix are printed/used with
dnb.

[Valadilene]

Gotta agree about those bamboo mats, really adds to it I think. Looks great! Also, watch out for those specular highlights on the white plates

[eazym]

nice to see all the different approaches you're taking here. Food is notoriously difficult to light and present in an appetizing manner (with the plates and all). Especially if you only have 7 seconds to shoot it! Kudos on working under those conditions.

[roidvoid]

i would tell the owner to chill out and if he wants good photos to let the food cool down and then take the shots
for commercial work with food you rarely see steam coming off the food

the beverage glasses are another thing
condensation!
show it
or create it with a mister bottle

there is a reason why pepsi and coke always show condesnation on their product.
it makes the consumer want to drink it to cool down.

dont let the client bully you into taking sub par shots

[ukanfoff]

WC BULLIES.. MORE TO COME... im so freakin tired right now... ugh

[ukanfoff]

[purplerose]

The first and the last pics are cute.

[Cypher]

Great stuff you got there!

Altough sometimes I think there's a bit to much of the same food at the same place,
like a big wad o food,especially the rice and spaghetti dishes.

Maybe nextime you could try and ask if the cook could reduce the amount of food on the plates a little
and use a bit more decoration or variation sometimes.

And I agree with RoidVoid about the steam and the drinks could use some oomph, like drips on the side of the glass and indeed condensation; a spraycan of springwater can do that trick quite nicely. The camera angle could have bin a bit more exciting too.

( alltough steam can be applied in many creative ways because some things in cooking are just meant to be hot, like ricetable heaters, boiling water, hot dark coffee, freshly cooked patatoes etc )

I interned with a food photographer for about 5 months and he made some really awesome stuff using all kinds of handy tricks!

Otherwise; I like it keep shooting!

[MathieuLuethi]

Ok now you made me hungry too :=) I really like the bamboo matt food. it gives the food a more exotic looks..maybe incease the holiday bookings to asia even more :=)...everything else is already said but i really need to gove you a compliment on all the effort you went to make it look good. Keep it on!

[Iddi]

I really like them, but I dislike the fact that I think all the food looks cold. I'd like it better, had they had a bit warmer tones.

[Gentile]

Food pictures: Thanks a lot I'm starving now you made it look so good.
Dog pictures: Awesome. Seriously. Great lighting and compositions.

[ivy'sgrandkid]

i want one of those dogs...

[ukanfoff]

they are expensive. you probably can get a 40d with one of them.