A summer pheasant dinner.

Had about 10 minutes to do this before hungry people pushed me out

of the way (plus, that nice chilled Gewurz wasn't getting any

cooler). An SB800 with a reflective umbrella is providing the soft-

ish fill light, with daylight doing most of the work.

i love good food - and this is making me hungry. Do you think you would have gotten a better photo had you stood on a chair and shot the table from above?..with nothing but the blue table cloth as a backdrop.

 

The lines of the fence and garden beyond do nothing but distract me from the food :( ken

Hi Ken--Thanks for the comment. In fact, the photo was used to illustrate a meal meant to be had outdoors, and I had some limited background options at the time. I was a little worried that a strict look-down would have eliminated a sense of context for the meal (it's meant to feel appropriate to shirtsleeve weather).

 

You can see another variation on the shot here, and that actually works better, I suppose, with the cropping. Thanks again, -Matt

matt: this is about food - first and foremost. if you cut out all the food and beverage items from you photo, you are left with about 60% background, right?

if you didn't say anything about the photo and you showed it to me, I would say this photo is about landscaping.ken

Taking this as a stand-alone image of food, out of context, you're completely correct. The layout that used it has other (plate-centric) images along with it, but that sure isn't obvious here! It's a good reminder that when looking for feedback, a little context really helps frame the conversation (if you'll pardon the pun!).

Hi Matt,

 

In general I find your food shots simple and natural.

 

Coming from a very different school of learning where less is more and where Art Directors from food mags request the style to be where ONLY one point of the subject must be in focus whilst the rest is not, your imagines have an air of the 'country kitchen' which is very much associated to the European trends.

 

In general I like the attempt you have made and if anything I feel that I would have liked to have had the layout of the table in a more ordered state and perhaps a close up of the dishes with perhaps a shallow DOF and bread and butter background out of focus....but that's just me.

 

Artur

"Had about 10 minutes to do this before hungry people pushed me out of the way..."

 

Matt, you have some nice food photos here, but don't you have to switch your priorites to get the best food photos? It's a choice between food that's good to eat or food that's good to be photographed.

 

Best,

Helen