Food Eating skills > Photography Skills

Nostrildamus · 11-04-2013, 06:31 PM

Guys, my cake eating skills significantly outstrip my cake shooting skills. Maybe you can help.

Any tips would be appreciated, especially lighting tricks, DOF etc.

Cheers
Nostril

Gregory_51 · 11-04-2013, 07:10 PM - **1 Like**

A few thoughts. As for DOF you won't have much using f2, using f5.6 or f8 would be a better choice. Using a tripod is recommended for framing and best quality. It also allows you to keep it composed while adjusting lighting and reflectors and such. The highlights are blown out, some pp will hopefully recover them. Softening the light with a diffuser is an option and a reflector to lower the contrast and get detail in the blueberries. Watch what's in the background. Some of the shapes are distracting, the white baking dish and the measuring cup. The colored bottles I don't mind but perhaps some desaturation to help keep the eye on the cake. Did it taste as good as it looks?

Nostrildamus · 11-04-2013, 07:21 PM

Originally posted by Gregory_51

A few thoughts. As for DOF you won't have much using f2, using f5.6 or f8 would be a better choice. Using a tripod is recommended for framing and best quality. It also allows you to keep it composed while adjusting lighting and reflectors and such. The highlights are blown out, some pp will hopefully recover them. Softening the light with a diffuser is an option and a reflector to lower the contrast and get detail in the blueberries. Watch what's in the background. Some of the shapes are distracting, the white baking dish and the measuring cup. The colored bottles I don't mind but perhaps some desaturation to help keep the eye on the cake. Did it taste as good as it looks?

Thanks for the tips ! This one was pretty delicious !!

imaspy · 11-04-2013, 10:38 PM

echoing the above. three things irk me... 1) DOF too shallow. stop down for food

2) busy background detracting from the main subject and 3) muiltiple white temps from right to left. work on those three things and you'll improve dramatically.

Alcazar · 01-28-2014, 07:13 AM

very nice!
i would add:
there's highlights on the fruit that seem very blueish. i think you used household light bulbs for your main light, and set the white balance to those, but had some daylight coming in through the windows as well, which seems blue compared to the lightbulbs?
get some light closer to daylight temperature, or if you want to use household lights, make sure no daylight comes in.
keep going, this is very tasty looking already!
Micha

mikemike · 02-03-2014, 02:40 PM

That looks so delicious. I think a wider depth of field would be the first thing I try and I would also get rid of the clutter in the background and more mindfully design your bokeh.

MSL · 02-03-2014, 03:07 PM

Others have noted the choice of aperture. One benefit you got from using F2 is that the background is a bit fuzzy. I think had the object been much sharper you would have realized that you needed to think more about this aspect. The other thing to try, especially for a object of this size is what might happen if you shot directly overhead vs at a sharp angle. The directly overhead shot would have been boring, but then you could have gotten away with a wide open aperture and not worried about the background. At a sharp angle, both issues come into play. Somewhere in between will be the happy solution.

**manishved** · 02-03-2014, 05:53 PM

Yummy. I agree - a deeper depth of field may look nicer....

11-04-2013, 06:31 PM	#1
Nostrildamus Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 29	Eating skills > Photography Skills Lens: Sigma 30mm F1.4 Camera: Pentax k7 Photo Location: My Kitchen ISO: 200 Shutter Speed: 1/90s Aperture: F2 Guys, my cake eating skills significantly outstrip my cake shooting skills. Maybe you can help. Any tips would be appreciated, especially lighting tricks, DOF etc. Cheers Nostril

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11-04-2013, 07:10 PM - 1 Like	#2
Gregory_51 Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: London, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 343	A few thoughts. As for DOF you won't have much using f2, using f5.6 or f8 would be a better choice. Using a tripod is recommended for framing and best quality. It also allows you to keep it composed while adjusting lighting and reflectors and such. The highlights are blown out, some pp will hopefully recover them. Softening the light with a diffuser is an option and a reflector to lower the contrast and get detail in the blueberries. Watch what's in the background. Some of the shapes are distracting, the white baking dish and the measuring cup. The colored bottles I don't mind but perhaps some desaturation to help keep the eye on the cake. Did it taste as good as it looks?

11-04-2013, 07:21 PM	#3
Nostrildamus Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 29 Original Poster	Originally posted by Gregory_51 A few thoughts. As for DOF you won't have much using f2, using f5.6 or f8 would be a better choice. Using a tripod is recommended for framing and best quality. It also allows you to keep it composed while adjusting lighting and reflectors and such. The highlights are blown out, some pp will hopefully recover them. Softening the light with a diffuser is an option and a reflector to lower the contrast and get detail in the blueberries. Watch what's in the background. Some of the shapes are distracting, the white baking dish and the measuring cup. The colored bottles I don't mind but perhaps some desaturation to help keep the eye on the cake. Did it taste as good as it looks? Thanks for the tips ! This one was pretty delicious !!

11-04-2013, 10:38 PM	#4
imaspy Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Melbourne Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 294	echoing the above. three things irk me... 1) DOF too shallow. stop down for food 2) busy background detracting from the main subject and 3) muiltiple white temps from right to left. work on those three things and you'll improve dramatically.

01-28-2014, 07:13 AM	#5
Alcazar Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Stuttgart, Germany Posts: 210	very nice! i would add: there's highlights on the fruit that seem very blueish. i think you used household light bulbs for your main light, and set the white balance to those, but had some daylight coming in through the windows as well, which seems blue compared to the lightbulbs? get some light closer to daylight temperature, or if you want to use household lights, make sure no daylight comes in. keep going, this is very tasty looking already! Micha

02-03-2014, 02:40 PM	#6
mikemike Inactive Account Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: New Orleans Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,053	That looks so delicious. I think a wider depth of field would be the first thing I try and I would also get rid of the clutter in the background and more mindfully design your bokeh.

02-03-2014, 03:07 PM	#7
MSL Pentaxian Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Greater Toronto Area Photos: Albums Posts: 4,365	Others have noted the choice of aperture. One benefit you got from using F2 is that the background is a bit fuzzy. I think had the object been much sharper you would have realized that you needed to think more about this aspect. The other thing to try, especially for a object of this size is what might happen if you shot directly overhead vs at a sharp angle. The directly overhead shot would have been boring, but then you could have gotten away with a wide open aperture and not worried about the background. At a sharp angle, both issues come into play. Somewhere in between will be the happy solution.

02-03-2014, 05:53 PM	#8
manishved Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: N. Calif Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,372	Yummy. I agree - a deeper depth of field may look nicer....

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