Capturing Your Cuisine

[Ed Rooney]

I do a lot of food shooting, in supermarkets, open produce markets, people dining, and overhead images of meals. I aim for a spot somewhere between studio-perfect and natural. I've found that simple, classic dishes sells best.

 

I'm personally repulsed by burgers that are supersized so they cannot possibly fit into a human's mouth. Yet all the point of purchase pictures and TV ads show giant burgers and other enormous meals. 

 

What do you think?

 

Here's the popular classic Spaghetti Bolognese that you can find everywhere . . .

except in the city of Bologna. 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2019 by Ed Rooney

[Mr Standfast]

I think fork on the right hand side fo the American market and spoon on the left for the UK market!

Cheers!

Edited August 23, 2019 by Mr Standfast
typo

[spacecadet]

We actually went to Bologna in May, for lunch. Of course I had pasta al ragú. But your looks better.

OH had a slice of piglet with baked tomato and so on- made for a better image.

Here's a big burger, though. I can't remember how I tackled it bite-wise.

[gvallee]

36 minutes ago, Mr Standfast said:

I think fork on the right hand side fo the American market and fork on the left for the UK market!

Cheers!

 

I would have agreed with this except that this image is a particular case. You actually hold the fork in your right hand to twirl the spaghetti in the spoon in your left hand. Perhaps not if you're left- handed?

 

Edo, I never had any luck selling food/dishes but, although I love cooking, I don't have many at all (.000001%). You once commented that my homemade 'Healthy Jumbo Tiger Prawn Cocktail with walnuts, apples and green salad' was too sophisticated (or words to the same effect). This might be my downfall, not simple enough.

 

Edited August 23, 2019 by gvallee

[geogphotos]

Never eat on an empty stomach. 

 

Theakston's Old Peculier 

 

Edited August 23, 2019 by geogphotos

[Mr Standfast]

11 minutes ago, gvallee said:

 

I would have agreed with this except that this image is a particular case. You actually hold the fork in your right hand to twirl the spaghetti in the spoon in your left hand. Perhaps not if you're left- handed?

 

Edo, I never had any luck selling food/dishes but I don't have many at all. You once commented that my homemade 'Healthy Jumbo Tiger Prawn Cocktail with walnuts, apples and green salad' was too sophisticated (or words to the same effect). This might be my downfall, not simple enough.

 

 

 

Yes, gvallee you're right, but until a few years ago I'd have eaten this with a knife and fork...

[Ed Rooney]

Ian, my daily pint has become a near-religious must. It's chilly here so I'm switching from lager to bitter. 

 

Mark, your Bolognese does look tasty and I'm sure it was. I bet the bistro called that pasta linguine but to my pasta thinking the width of the flat pasta makes it fettucine. Yum yum in either case. I cooked mine myself. And I would have had to eat that burger with a knife and fork.

 

James, Miss G is right, although in Italy using a large spoon is consider the peasants' way. And yes, that's my way. And Gen, I went through a "creative cooking" period in NYC awhile back. None of those complex dishes have ever sold. Pizza, pasta, ice cream, wine, burgers sell best. Below is a repeat seller.

 

 

 

 

 

[gvallee]

13 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

Ian, my daily pint has become a near-religious must. It's chilly here so I'm switching from lager to bitter. 

 

Mark, your Bolognese does look tasty and I'm sure it was. I bet the bistro called that pasta linguine but to my pasta thinking the width of the flat pasta makes it fettucine. Yum yum in either case. I cooked mine myself. And I would have had to eat that burger with a knife and fork.

 

James, Miss G is right, although in Italy using a large spoon is consider the peasants' way. And yes, that's my way. And Gen, I went through a "creative cooking" period in NYC awhile back. None of those complex dishes have ever sold. Pizza, pasta, ice cream, wine, burgers sell best. Below is a repeat seller.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bow to your experience. It makes sense.

Thinking about it, I did sell a Bunnings sausage sizzle, which is an Australian DIY store serving this outside on weekends. I actually gathered my courage to stop of woman having one of those to take a picture of it. Very unlike me but Aussies are so friendly and it paid off.

 

 

Wine you said? Humm... Now I have an excuse to open a bottle of wine...

Edited August 23, 2019 by gvallee

[Robert M Estall]

I do a lot of cooking but hardly ever reach for the camera. Too busy last minute stirring of the sauce and getting all the plates to table still hot. Jane insists she has never had a burger and means things to stay that way. Total abstinence in that area seems a bit extreme, but I'ld agree , getting those monsters into one's gob looks a real problem

[spacecadet]

1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Mark, your Bolognese does look tasty and I'm sure it was. I bet the bistro called that pasta linguine but to my pasta thinking the width of the flat pasta makes it fettucine. Yum yum in either case. I cooked mine myself. And I would have had to eat that burger with a knife and fork.

They had it down as tagliatelle- better than spaghetti, more surface area for the sauce to stick to- but I'm inclined to add your suggestions to the keywords. It was actually pork and delicious.

I resorted to the knife and fork for the burger as well.

Here's some more tasty piglet terrine with potato dauphinoise and crisped beef. Pasle de nata for afters.

Edited August 23, 2019 by spacecadet

[Allan Bell]

It's 7 minutes past 12noon and my lunch time. YOU ARE MAKING ME FEEL HUNGRY GUYS AND GALS.

 

I will be having a Moussaka with garlic bread.

 

Allan

 

[Michael Ventura]

I shoot a fair amount of food pics and they have sold reasonably well.  One thing I have learned, over time, is always try to get a shot (especially if overhead) to include the whole plate.  The food related publications, that I see, often cut out dish and put it on white with a drop shadow.  They can’t do that so well if the edges of the plate are clipped.  I need to follow my own advice more....so more food shots to come!!

 

Edited August 23, 2019 by Michael Ventura

[Betty LaRue]

I got a steroid injection in my back 3 days ago. I think I feel well enough to be able to stand in the kitchen for the lengthy time it takes to make a cobbler with the fresh Colorado peaches I sliced and sugared last evening.

I’ll shoot it, of course. Right before pigging out.

Betty

[Ed Rooney]

Right, Mark -- tagliatelle! -- medium wide. I tend to stay with the standard half-dozen pasta shapes.

 

Betty, is there an app that can send a slice of pie across the Atlantic? 

[John Morrison]

2 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

is there an app that can send a slice of pie across the Atlantic? 

 

I once had a thin-crust pizza 'delivered' by fax...

[Mr Standfast]

Just back from lunch, bacon roll with brown sauce;  but to answer the original question.

 

I saw an advert on a bus promoting pizza deliveries from deliveroo, it said something like pizza tonight and a slice for breakfast...Yes portions are too big.

 

(and how many older brits used to eat pizza with a knife and fork.......)

[Allan Bell]

Just back from lunch too.

Moussaka was good, cooked by my own hand.

 

Well! Heated up anyway.😉

 

Burnt the garlic bread slice so had to do another.😓

 

Allan

 

[Betty LaRue]

1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said:

Right, Mark -- tagliatelle! -- medium wide. I tend to stay with the standard half-dozen pasta shapes.

 

Betty, is there an app that can send a slice of pie across the Atlantic? 

Wish there were, Edo. Maybe we need to meet in the old Sin Bin (as a visitor only, not as a prisoner) and I’ll bake it there. 😉 Ah, we did used to have some good dinners, didn’t we?

[Ed Rooney]

3 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

I shoot a fair amount of food pics and they have sold reasonably well.  One thing I have learned, over time, is always try to get a shot (especially if overhead) to include the whole plate.  The food related publications, that I see, often cut out dish and put it on white with a drop shadow.  They can’t do that so well if the edges of the plate are clipped.  I need to follow my own advice more....so more food shots to come!!

 

That's interesting, Michael. I used to include the entire dish but have been cropping closer lately. Hmmm. 

 

I just had a look and did a count on sale in the past year. I also took a look (no count) of all sales.

 

A third of my sales in the past year had to do with food. 7 were dining, 9 in markets, 11 of dishes. Only one of the 11 was not cropped. And I saw none not cropped in reviewing ALL quickly. Hmmm, indeed. 

 

Thanks, Michael.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2019 by Ed Rooney

[Michael Ventura]

19 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

That's interesting, Michael. I used to include the entire dish but have been cropping closer lately. Hmmm. 

 

My tendency, also, is to shoot tighter but then I have been seeing a bunch of cut outs lately, that includes the whole plate.  So I will do both from now on.

[spacecadet]

2 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

Right, Mark -- tagliatelle! -- medium wide. I tend to stay with the standard half-dozen pasta shapes.

 

Betty, is there an app that can send a slice of pie across the Atlantic? 

Meat pie??

Or onion?

Strawberry and chocolate mousse?

Or pastel de nata. That's a sort of pie.

Edited August 23, 2019 by spacecadet

[John Mitchell]

8 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

 

I'm personally repulsed by burgers that are supersized so they cannot possibly fit into a human's mouth. Yet all the point of purchase pictures and TV ads show giant burgers and other enormous meals. 

 

What do you think?

 

 

Me too. I think that TV and billboard ads like these are basically "food porn." There's a reason why so many people in first-world countries are now obese.

 

Being an odd sort, I prefer veggieburgers. However, restaurants here tend to do the same thing with them as they do with traditional meat burgers -- pile them so high that you need a loading crane to lift them off the plate.

 

Plain and simple rules in my book. 😃

Edited August 23, 2019 by John Mitchell

[John Mitchell]

4 hours ago, John Morrison said:

 

I once had a thin-crust pizza 'delivered' by fax...

 

I just tell the pizza delivery person to slip it under the front door...

[Bill Brooks]

I sometimes take a shot of my meal when dining out after selecting a table positioned for photography. I do not shoot down, but shoot with a wide angle at 45 degree angle and show part of the restaurant, thereby taking the studio look out of the photograph.

 

Like this 24mm shot of Opah (moonfish).

 

[John Mitchell]

1 hour ago, Bill Brooks said:

I sometimes take a shot of my meal when dining out after selecting a table positioned for photography. I do not shoot down, but shoot with a wide angle at 45 degree angle and show part of the restaurant, thereby taking the studio look out of the photograph.

 

 

 

Good idea. Putting subjects -- food and non-food -- in a wider context usually makes for more interesting images. Even including just a touch of context, as in some of the images posted above,  can help a lot.

 

Personally, I find studio-like closeups of food sitting on a plate to be ... well... a bit boring. However, it sounds as if there is a healthy (or sometimes unhealthy) demand for images of this type.

 

Edited August 23, 2019 by John Mitchell