Food Photography Part3- Field Of Depth

In food photography, depth of field plays a very important role in popping out the picture from the props. It can tell a story of what the picture is trying to project.

I want to show that there was tea party and a special raspberry tea is my focus.

When we look at the picture, our attention should go to the subject and not be distracted by props.

Props should be used to add to the field of depth that can tell the background story.

These are the pictures I took today.

My food photography guide Mr Neel

Food Photography; Part 2- Understanding Angles

While clicking the pictures of  food, it is important to consider the angle of the subject. If the subject has height, and depth, then it is better to click it at angle of 0-20 degrees to show the depth of the subject. But if it is flat dish like soup, clicking at 90 degres top-down can give better images.

Today I made Spanish egg omelet. Now Spanish omelet is stuffed with veggies and it looks like a cake. Removing this picture from top, did not give any idea of depth of this omelet.,

Later I cut out a small traingular piece and then focussed on different angles to show the depth. A cut piece of the omelet gave an idea of the depth of the subject and the light from the back of the camera,  we could see the texture of the omelet more clearly.

I clicked one more pictures from opposite direction and keeping the small triangular piece next to the the larger one

Which one looks better???

I took another set of photographs with different angles of a pair of red-and-green Capsicums. I took eighteen photographs from different angles and positions. After studying different angles and the light effect, I like this one.

I went on photoediting tool to adjust the light with filters and got this final picture.

What do you think?

Points to take home:

Notice the food structure to decide on the angle

To check for noisy or distracting background

To understand the direction of light

PS: My food photography guide Mr Neel

Food Photography, Part One: Soup Pictures.

Food photography is an art and I will be studying pictures on the net ( with the help of Neel ) to improve my own photographs. I may join hundreds of workshops but I have noticed that the best way to improve your skills is to study the pictures of the experts.

So here I am ..learning photography…..startinga series…. With soup pictures

Some observations on my own soup pictures:

My picture was of vegetable soup but I was distracted by the plate containing meat in the background and I think I should not post two food plates in one picture. The soup color is quite dull, I think I need better light exposure, I went to check the photographs of other bloggers and I have decided to follow them on Instagram, their pictures are beautiful, will try to study them more carefully. What i have noticed is that they have used lots of colors to make the picture attractive, the background is normally dark and the light plays the important role in the picture....

Some of the soup pictures I saw of other food bloggers

The miso soup from this site http://theviewfromgreatisland.com/miso-soup/

My observation:

The picture is bright from the light above…the props are clean and of contrasting colors with background mat a bit darker shade so that our eyes are directed towards the soup at the centre of the frame..

Lemon coriander soup from this site http://www.saffrontrail.com/recipe-for-lemon-coriander-soup-indo-chinese-recipes

My observation:

The picture is well lighted with light coming from above. The props are the things used in the soup like lemon and coriander and the background is the lemon colored checks table cloth that enhances the picture…..

So, I decided to prep up my picture on photoshop, cropped and adjusted the brightness, manipulating it to my satisfaction and this is what I got…

 Like it? would greatly appreciate if you share your soup pictures in my comment box. Thank you