# C&C Welcome, Paid with a heart attack.



## acparsons (Feb 16, 2014)

My first paid gig. The burger, 4 .5lb patties, 8 slices of bacon, and a ton of cheese, was my fee.


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## EIngerson (Feb 16, 2014)

Cool, The lighting is a little bit harsh. I would diffuse it more and get rid of as many shadows as possible. lol, though my mouth is watering looking at these so they did achieve the desired intent. Nice job.


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## fokker (Feb 16, 2014)

#1 I feel is shot from too low an angle and the DOF is too shallow.

#2 the big dark shadows are overly distracting

#3 DOF is too shallow (most of the food is out of focus) and there is a wet mark on the table

#4 Angle seems a bit low again

#5 The best of the bunch IMO

The lighting is all of them is pretty harsh. What were you using?


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## acparsons (Feb 16, 2014)

I was using a YN Flash with a small diffuser, 12-24 and 28-70mm lens. I agree, the lighting sucks. I'm still trying to acquire a better lighting system, hope the next one will better.


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## Gavjenks (Feb 17, 2014)

geez, way way softer light is needed. Increase the size of your softbox at whatever distance you were using it at by a factor of about 10 at least.
Also, in general, wider apertures for some of them where the backgroudn is distractingly near-sharp

And really with something like this you should have more than one light. A classic basic setup for food would be a nice big soft light behind you, above, and off to the side a bit (huge white umbrella or softbox), and then another smaller less powerful light behind the food and off to the opposite side. Make it a little harsher than the key light (smaller softbox or small _silvered _umbrella, or beauty dish and grid) to add gleams and edge definition and fill in the shaded portions a bit.

But you can get much more complicated if you want more specific results, for example:
Food photographer in Atlanta: chicken wings, photographer, stylist and a sauce «Photigy: Online Studio Photography Lessons
Pretty much the same kind of food as you. Same basic setup I described above, but souped up for a particular look: huge soft main front light near the camera (just x2 both sides, but same difference), then that little strobe with the beauty dish on it you see in the front in the second shot of the setup is adding extra gleams to make it look juicier and fill in a bit (so is the light above). The last light on the white ramp is to make the background bright enough to be featureless white, since that's what he wanted for this shot: food in no context for the menu.

He also mentioned a tight beam of light from a snoot aimed just at the iced tea glass to make the ice sparkle more. Obviously that kind of thing is highly optional and I think the iced tea is poorly composed anyway, but you get the idea. 2-3 normal standard lights (key and fill and background if you want to isolate it), and then additional ones usually serve specific roles for that particular shot, if there are any additional.

For certain kinds of food in high end parts of the industry (such as making nationwide box images for TV dinners that look way better than the food ever will), they also start doing some crazy stuff like slathering chemicals and plastic on the food, etc. to add certain expected characteristics.


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## Scoody (Feb 17, 2014)

A light painting technique would have probably worked in this case.


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## mmaria (Feb 17, 2014)

I love food photography and I did spend some time just doing food.

you have lots of issues here, starting from the light and environment where these are taken.

get just one plate of something and practice with it.  pay attention to geometry, composing, arranging food, colors, appropriate dof, appropriate background, utensils...

flash and food don't really match and you don't need to invest more money, why couldn't you use natural light with reflectors (black, white, gold) and difuser?

you have much more problems presented here that you need to solve before investing money


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## molested_cow (Feb 17, 2014)

I could have gotten similar result with my cell phone camera... this means that you probably don't know how to use your equipment properly. Sorry to sound harsh, but I don't mean like that.

You are using the wrong type of lens. I'd actually recommend the opposite end, either a telephoto or macro lens will be more suited for product photography like these.
Photographing food is complicated. There's all kinds of texture and surfaces, reflective or matte, color contrasts, etc. Lighting and environment is really critical and typically, this means you will need a controlled environment like a studio to shoot the food, not in a restaurant where there's nothing but chaos. Most importantly, you need to show the emotion that the particular dish is trying to bring. What is a plate of hot buffalo wings supposed to make a person feel when he eats it? What does a 16 ounce steak want the person to feel? Perhaps come up with those key words first and discuss them with your client. Get an alignment first before strategizing how you want to achieve it.


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## NedM (Feb 17, 2014)

These photos could really use some improving, definitely! 

I feel like most of the photos were killed by the use of too much flash and improper DOF.
I mean, the last one is good, but something is missing.
None of the photos really...POP!

Good try though!

BTW, That burger looks DISGUSTING


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## acparsons (Feb 17, 2014)

Thanks for the tips. The owner called me and wanted some quick shots for an ad on the spot. I had about 1 hour to prep before going to the restaurant to shoot and have no equipment other than a flash. Next time, I'll certainly use your tips.


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## runnah (Feb 17, 2014)

Only thing I will add is that a warm color temp is very important.


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## manaheim (Feb 17, 2014)

acparsons said:


> Thanks for the tips. The owner called me and wanted some quick shots for an ad on the spot. I had about 1 hour to prep before going to the restaurant to shoot and have no equipment other than a flash. Next time, I'll certainly use your tips.



This is going to sound harsh, but it's not intended that way...

Stop making excuses. If you feel you didn't have the prep time needed, then you tell the customer that you're going to need a little time. It's better than handing them a shot that doesn't fit the bill. You can't ever take these shots back. They're out there now.

Also... the ceiling makes a pretty darn good diffuser. When all else fails, use that.  You can even do it with an on-board flash using something reflective, though it's challenging.


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## KmH (Feb 17, 2014)

acparsons said:


> Thanks for the tips. The owner called me and wanted some quick shots for an ad on the spot. I had about 1 hour to prep before going to the restaurant to shoot and have no equipment other than a flash. Next time, I'll certainly use your tips.


Alarm bells should have been going off in your head.
"Thank you for considering me, but because of the severe time constraints I have to pass." 

Have you seen this? - Case Study: Producing A Successful Estimate | DigitalPhotoPro.com


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## Gavjenks (Feb 17, 2014)

> flash and food don't really match and you don't need to invest more money, why couldn't you use natural light with reflectors (black, white, gold) and difuser?


Well, I agree that he should probably work on a bunch of other stuff before spending more money. But saying that natural light and diffusers completely replace strobes and speedlights or that flash and food don't mix inherently is, I dunno... I kinda have to go with "wrong" though I don't mean to be flippant or insulting.

Some things you just straight up cannot do with natural light without superhuman effort (like blank white backgrounds, for instance), and even the normal key and fill lights, although possible to replicate, take way more effort with reflectors, and probably ultimately even more equipment and time to triangulate all the craziness and hold everything where it needs to be. And then half an hour later, your light shifts. And you can only shoot at day... And you are stuck with a certain color. And and and etc. Natural light is great, but only one of a huge variety of tools. It's called photography -- light writing. Being able to control what you're writing if you want or need to is very important, and you're hamstringing yourself by never doing it.

But yes he should probably master whatever he can do with one flash and better composition/aperture choices, etc. before spending a dime.


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## Overread (Feb 17, 2014)

runnah said:


> Only thing I will add is that a warm color temp is very important.



That was my first thought as well. The first photo shows it well where the image appears to have a cold colour temperature which in turn gives a cold vibe off so the viewer starts seeing the food as cold as well. Warmer colours really helps reinforce a feeling of warmth that in turn makes the cooked food look fresh and ready baked.


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## bribrius (Feb 17, 2014)

It said in the first post all he got paid for this was the hamburger. cc is fun but keeping the financials in mind, i don't think i would go to town spending lots of time and money trying to earn a free hamburger.


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## manaheim (Feb 17, 2014)

bribrius said:


> It said in the first post all he got paid for this was the hamburger. cc is fun but keeping the financials in mind, i don't think i would go to town spending lots of time and money trying to earn a free hamburger.



I totally disagree with this logic.  If you don't go in to the cheap jobs bringing your A game, then how do you expect to get the bigger jobs?

Always do your best work.

Granted, this may be a lack of equipment and skills (and I mean no offense at that), but I'm arguing your logic in approach here, not whether or not OP can rise to the challenge, or whether or not he tried his best.


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## mmaria (Feb 17, 2014)

Gavjenks said:


> > flash and food don't really match and you don't need to invest more money, why couldn't you use natural light with reflectors (black, white, gold) and difuser?
> 
> 
> Well, I agree that he should probably work on a bunch of other stuff before spending more money. But saying that natural light and diffusers completely replace strobes and speedlights or that flash and food don't mix inherently is, I dunno... I kinda have to go with "wrong" though I don't mean to be flippant or insulting.



I haven't taken this as an insult, just to be clear and I didn't tell that natural light completely replace strobes and speedlights. I did say/do think that flash doesn't go well with food. That's my honest opinion and you can shoot me if you want for not liking the flash in food.



Gavjenks said:


> Some things you just straight up cannot do with natural light without superhuman effort (like blank white backgrounds, for instance), and even the normal key and fill lights, although possible to replicate, take way more effort with reflectors, and probably ultimately even more equipment and time to triangulate all the craziness and hold everything where it needs to be. And then half an hour later, your light shifts. And you can only shoot at day... And you are stuck with a certain color. And and and etc. Natural light is great, but only one of a huge variety of tools. It's called photography -- light writing. Being able to control what you're writing if you want or need to is very important, and you're hamstringing yourself by never doing it.


I'm just saying that he needs to learn much more about food photography and then to spend some money on everything he wants and needs. By the time he buy some strobes he should understand why he needs them, Natural or even available light is every day with you, no matter where you're going and what you're doing. Why not observe how that light behaves and when he understand how the light behaves and what it gives to the surfaces, he could do whatever he wants and with whatever he has available. 

you mentioned something and...it's not the food photo but, you have here a highly reflective subject and one that's not...  can you guess how it's taken?







Gavjenks said:


> But yes he should probably master whatever he can do with one flash and better composition/aperture choices, etc. before spending a dime.



yes, my suggestion is always, learn as much as possible with what you already have!


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## acparsons (Feb 17, 2014)

Thanks for the input. I'll put this is the valuable learning experience category.


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## mmaria (Feb 18, 2014)

acparsons said:


> Thanks for the input. I'll put this is the valuable learning experience category.




I think you got some really nice thoughts here. you'll be fine


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## lennon33x (Feb 18, 2014)

<-This


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## bribrius (Feb 18, 2014)

manaheim said:


> bribrius said:
> 
> 
> > It said in the first post all he got paid for this was the hamburger. cc is fun but keeping the financials in mind, i don't think i would go to town spending lots of time and money trying to earn a free hamburger.
> ...


I could very well be wrong here. My better half says all I care about is money. :mrgreen: But that logic is basically my theory on business transactions in general. I have a family I support I don't work for free. I directly equate what i'm supplying for time, equipment and labor with monetary compensations. If I give more than i'm receiving in compensation i'm taking food out of my childrens mouths. But it goes even further than that because time is money. I need to bring x amount a year just to cover overhead. If others want to work and spend more money and time then they get back (work for free) then that is their prerogative I don't even consider that a option.

 i'm not even in the position to do that im not rich and if I don't clear a certain amount things go downhill fast.. No games my budget stays in the black. So near every hour of every day (only so many days in a year) has a price. A twenty dollar meal = about twenty minutes with no equipment and they better be paying the standard vehicle mileage expense on top. But even that really wouldn't work because I wouldn't show up for twenty bucks period. No reason to I could stay home and play with the kids or put energy into making more money elsewhere. Maybe if I was real wealthy it be different? But right now money is no joke and if it isn't five hundred to a grand minimum it doesn't even show up on my radar. Nothing funny about munny.


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