Food Photography General

They all look like shit.

I think you need to use some lighting, not your camera flash.

I've got a friend that teaches photography, I'll ask him if I see him.

>boiled white fish in yogurt

It's like your shtick is to make the weirdest shit put together look appetizing via artsy angles, lighting, and color.

Now i'm just an amerilard in burgerstan but I've never seen food like this.. the weird fish thing makes me think Swedish or Scandinavian? Fuck I dunno. I've got a passport but never crossed the Atlantic.

I dont really do much besides cook since I moved to a city where I don't know many people. So I take a lot of food photos now.

I used to manage the social media and take photos for a small sushi chain

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well done you arranged some berries and nuts in a bowl

head on over to www.reddit.com to claim your reddit gold subscription

It's pickled herring fillets in dill cream sauce. Pretty common

Also there's nothing fancy about my lighting, though I do maybe spend a moment picking a red food to add to whatever I'm cooking for the day

I tend to cook at night so sunlight (best for food) isn't much of an option but you're right, I need a diffuser and a good white light, I just can't justify spending money on a hobby where I'm generally shit and spending 5 minutes max

These are mechanically fantastic shots (great soft use of contrast and light and colour) but your content is boring in my opinion

thats because I take photos of all the food I eat and don't cook intentionally for food photography.

now that is a square loaf.

>calls others out for being Reddit
>uses Reddit spacing in his post
Oh the irony, you thick cunt.

Fair, mostly the same for me still.
Could you post some of your professional stuff? I love your shots but hate the content.

yours are obviously more catered to food photography

I deleted most of my work for these guys because the bastards stopped paying me and a bunch of other employees and I have no interest in a photography career.

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They're shit.
You don't magically become a photographer just because you buy a D5100 or whatever it is you're shooting this crap with.
Read a fucking book on composition and lighting if you want to call yourself a photographer.

>yours are obviously more catered to food photography
Honestly I'm still figuring out just what the fuck I'm doing. I seem to be mainly following instagram trends rather than doing anything interesting but since I'm only interested in learning just now that's working for me

This is a great shot. I constantly see restaurants and client work where they try to get the menu items and the ambience/business/action in the same shot and ALWAYS put too much attention on the food. This gives you both in equal measures and promotes the restaurant rather than just the food

Front row could be stronger clarity but that's nitpicking

Someone over here is butthurt cuz he spent thousands on the photography school scam, the pictures are fine.

fine for what purpose? they're not of a professional standard.

>if you want to call yourself a photographer
I don't, photographers are all douchebags, the industry is retarded, and there's people like you that project their insecurities onto others (ask me how I know this).

It's merely a skill I wanted to have basic knowledge on in case I ever have a business and need to hire a photographer so I know what to look for.

It was actually shot with a 35mm rangefinder I just bought at the time so it definitely is not focused perfectly.
the trash all the other people before me were shooting for this restaurant were much worse. It was low paying side work and they allowed me to do whatever I want for the most part. Very helpful when I was young and learning.

Haha, no. I wouldn't be surprised if the retard who posted these snapshits dropped some dosh on "workshops" though. Stuff about how DoF is affected by aperture etc.
It's shit. It's shit by Veeky Forums standards and it's shit even by /p/ standards. And that's setting the bar pretty fucking low.
You're not a "food photographer" just because you set your $300 DSLR to A-mode and shoot some plates at the largest aperture. As I said; read some basic shit on composition and lighting if you actually care about photography.

The first one by itself doesnt stand, sure. But its clearly presented food. Do you want to see mysterious and artsy pictures when you want to decide what to eat?
The second one is immersive and friendly, looks like it communicates that atmosphere youd want for a restaurant quite well

He did it on behalf of a restaurant to promote their social media, that's literally what professional means. He also never boasted or claimed to be anything.

You're quite obviously butthurt. Did you get dumped this morning or are you just 12 and a faggot?

And projecting too apparently.

>It was actually shot with a 35mm rangefinder I just bought at the time so it definitely is not focused perfectly.
So you spent even more money on a lesser product. Yeah, you sure do know the "industry"

they're just not of a professional standard. they aren't striking and don't present the food particularly well. sorry to have pissed on your hugbox.

yeah they let me do whatever I wanted. Shot part of that shoot on film for fun. Just sold the rangefinder for more than I paid for it, same with a bunch of other film gear.

I'm more into the food than the photography, but in the right light a few of my dishes look good. This is a mac and cheese with a tapatio buffalo sauce and a deboned thigh

If you have decent job and don't need the money, try and work out something with a restaurant where they make food for you to shoot for fun. You will learn quite a bit, it's fun, and you'll probably get to eat the food.

The correct lighting and angle are key to filming food; as are height and using the plate (usually white) to create a border so the eye focuses on the color of what it is they're trying to enjoy.

Remember, people eat with their eyes and nose before their tongue. Colorful food that looks three-dimensional is more appealing to people. There's more than one reason to frame artwork.

I cooked breakfast. Took picture of breakfast. Wa la food photographer I am

Remember when Veeky Forums put more effort into its trolling?

I know it's not good but I just wanted to share the second steak I ever make with you guys! :)

Lookin good man, super juicy!
Get real plates though, buying paper plates is a money sink.

I wish you hadn't.

>2 lines and a space is Reddit spacing

kys

only two in the thread where the food actually looks good and not just the photo

How could we forget this guy?

Thank you! In my house I don't get to use the actual China very often. Mom doesn't usually let us unless we have guests over.

I'm sorry you don't like it. I haven't been cooking super long and I used a lot of money to cook this but I thought it might be a good start. Sorry.

Thanks user! Those were actually really good pancakes. I put a couple spoons of PB2 into the batter and with the berries it was like breakfast PB&J

what is PB2?

It's that peanut butter powder. Pic related. It's phenomenal for cooking because it doesn't add extra oils

>phenomenal for cooking
nothing screams "home cooked flavor" like peanut powder that has all the oil stripped away with industrial solvents!

But how else would we know that he's cool if he didn't criticise deprecated and recherché typography?

He probably thinks he'll get an upvote for it. You know, like on Reddit.com, a website he is familiar with and wishes to distance himself from.

Don't yuck my yum dude! You should try it

>You should try it
What for?
I cook Sichuan Chinese, Thai, French, Cajun, Japanese, American BBQ, and a little Italian. Oh, and I make homemade sausages. I can't think of any use for this other than just dumping it to random shit Veeky Forums-style. That's offputting to me. I don't know of any dish that I'd want to add peanut powder to that wouldn't be better with just plain ol whole peanuts, or perhaps some that are roughly chopped. I once added some overly-fine chopped peanuts to a Thai curry and the texture was fucked compared to whole nuts.

What do you use the powder for?

Not him, but I tried this shit after my brother bought it and it tastes just like regular peanut butter.

I'd rather just buy peanut butter but whatever

I use it for baking, sauces (especially bbq or other chicken sauces), I throw it into smoothies, sprinkle it over cereal and ice cream

Novelty aka fit-tier cook detected
Opinion discarded

And Veeky Forums continues to be somehow more pretentious than Veeky Forums or /tv/

Why would someone take advice from a cook who says "just dump it into stuff"

A credible response would be to discuss a specific dish or dishes that the product goes in, and then proceeds to describe how it's an improvement in taste, texture (or whatever) compared to the more traditional recipe.

That person is either adding it as a protein supplement (which is legit, but I have no need for), or they just randomly throw shit together (which is advice I am well beyond).

Hey you asked me what I did with it. And then proceeded to be a dick. Thanks for that.

>oil stripped away with industrial solvents!
Or y'know, separated like any other normal human being would do

Also it's pretty much blanched peanut butter/paste. Pointless and overly expensive for something you can do in 2 minutes, but definitely not bad

Also home cooked flavor would be a good thing, you're probably projecting because you live in a fat shit hole

>I can't think of any use for this other than just dumping it to random shit Veeky Forums-style
Brownies, peanut butter, satays, cookies, any number of savoury asian or thai dishes, nut salads, dipping sauces

All of these can benefit from a bitter blanched peanut taste.

Or y'know, use it like it was intended to reduce calories.

You're not only an edgy idiot, you're also an inexperienced cook

Looks like Yars Revenge

>this thread
Jesus fuck m8s

>Or y'know, separated like any other normal human being would do
Normal human beings can remove oil from peanut powder leaving behind a perfectly dry powder? I don't think so Tim. That stuff is a byproduct of the peanut oil industry. I know this because my employer manufactures the machinery which does this in peanut oil plants.

>>Also home cooked flavor would be a good thing
I agree. Wouldn't that imply using whole peanuts? What's wrong with that? What does a hipster-friendly new ingredient made by modern industrial manufacturing have to do with "home cooking"?

Welcome to Veeky Forums

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>photos taken on a plastic chopping board
jesussss chrrrisst

>Normal human beings can remove oil from peanut powder leaving behind a perfectly dry powder?
Obviously, even pressing is easy without any special utensils. It's called separation and it's been a staple part of food production for as long as we've known. I don't believe anyone is this stupid so stop being purposefully dense.

>What does a hipster-friendly new ingredient made by modern industrial manufacturing have to do with "home cooking"?
And grow up, your edginess is that of an embarrassing 12 year old. It's clearly intended for people concerned about calories, which makes perfect sense. You're the one getting defensive and projecting hipsterism onto it

Only white surface I have. I'm too lazy to use and wash a sheet for gay food pics

How do you edit your photos for insta?

>Obviously, even pressing is easy without any special utensils
Clearly you don't understand that a press isn't going to leave behind a perfectly dry powder. It leaves a thick, sticky "cake" because no amount of pressing will ever remove enough oil to leave it dry. The remaining oil is removed with a solvent. There is no other way to get it into a dry powder.

>>And grow up, your edginess is that of an embarrassing 12 year old.
Who said anything about being edgy?

>> It's clearly intended for people concerned about calories, which makes perfect sense
It makes no sense at all. Concerned about calories? Eat less.

This is a product that was invented in order to sell what was otherwise a waste product from the peanut oil industry.

>>projecting hipsterism onto it
who else would buy it other than hipsters or health nuts? It's far from being a budget food. It's not a usual ingredient in any style of cooking.

I've started doing this a lot for work. Took over the instagram feed late last year. As the person who cooks and plates, it just makes sense for me to be the one staging and photographing.

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Coming from someone completely ignorant of photography your work isn't bad but I can't help but think a good photographer would've done a much better job. I'm not getting a good sense of what the dish is through the photographs at all.

I'm not the guy who posted those pics, and I'm not a photographer either.

But am seriously confused. How the hell can you not tell what the dishes are? You can clearly see the foods in every photo. How could the photos possibly help you get a better sense of what the dish is? That doesn't even compute.

About the only thing I might agree with you on is , and that's easily explained. It's zoomed in too far. Back up and show more of the plate; get more depth of field so the stuff in the background is in focus. But all the other pics are easily understandable.

Am I the only one who sees a literal meat vagina here?

in all of them the colours and textures of the ingredients kind of bleed into each other and don't look like you'd expect. like that shrimp on a stick kinda looks like chicken

I don't see that problem. And I don't think you do either; after all you can tell it's a shrimp, right?

It's chicken and shrimp on those skewers.

So you could actually tell what all of it is...

I've got some that are harder to tell what it is without a description of the dish. This whole food photography thing has been a learning experience, as was the plating.

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that's the exact problem. the shrimp looks indistinguishable from the chicken outside of its shape.

look i don't want to overreach cause i don't know that much technically about photography. but anyone can tell those photos aren't very clear.

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That's some very nicely cooked beef, user

Good composition, but it looks like nothing is really in focus. That may just be the result of using a phone camera or that low resolution