Growing ever more tired of my poor quality food photos, I recently enrolled in a four week, online Introduction to Food Photography class. Last week’s assignment was to take food photographs using natural light and a reflector. We were instructed to set up a table with our camera and reflector as diagrammed. We were to shoot simple food subjects around the table from 0:00 to 3:00, moving the reflector and food to achieve the best look. We submitted out three favorites for critique by the instructor.
Here are my three photos and the critiques.
Hi Mary. The light quality looks great for the subject. I would like to see it coming from much farther behind though so that you don’t have nearly as much light on the fronts of the tomatillos. If the light were coming from 1:00(upper right corner of the frame) and then you placed a reflector at 7:00(lower left corner) to bounce back a little fill, this would have a much more dramatic look to it.
Also, if you can size you image to 800 pixels on the long edge it will make it easier to see more detail in them. They are all a bit small! Let me know if you need any help with sizing.
Beautiful subjects and the hard light is perfect for showing lots of texture and great for added contrast as well. I would definitely move the light source clockwise here( camera and subject rotated counter clockwise) which would help with the harsh highlight on the onion as well as solve the background issues. See the really dark vertical line back there? That will always create a distraction that pulls the eyes off of the subject(s) in any image.
Same thing with the light here. The quality is really nice but it needs to be moved farther around behind the subject to fix the glare issue. I would also avoid the tilted look as it’s very difficult to make it work especially with the table in the scene. It makes it look like the subject is going to roll right out of the frame.
The next assignment is due in three days. It involves using different lenses and angles, incorporating the lighting information from last week’s class. I am excited to get going on it. As soon as I offload granddaughter Emily back to her Mom, I will get started. This old farmhouse with its wrap-around covered porches presents some lighting challenges. I’ll post my photos and critiques on Monday. Wish me luck!