Food Photography: any other Chefs or Food Photographers here?

[Aswah]

I have been lurking on this site for over a year, rarely posting as most of you are far more technical and advanced than I am. I have had a Canon since I was 11 and enjoyed photography over my life. I recently upgraded to a 5D Mark III and am happy to have a camera smarter than myself. Since there is no food category I posted this here as it is a portrait of my food. I have had big time problems posting so hopefully this one will actually go through. My question is: anyone else here do food photography? Any favorite food photographers out there? I have had my food shot by several different photographers over the years and have liked Mark Lipccynski's work the best http://marklipczynski.com/food/... I prefer food photographers that do not alter, enhance or do too much styling. I love landscapes and other shots as well and the same thought applies to those. To me, food is sexy enough on it's own. The two shots I took with my old Canon are below. I piggybacked off of Mark's shoot using his lighting, so to be truthful, they are partially mine. I appreciate any commentary. The first picture is a dish I learned while staging with Joel Robuchon in Paris. His version is different but the genesis came from him. I call it Springtime Turban. It is a turban of pasta, morels, cepes and fava beans. The second dish is a Chilled Asparagus Salad with house made Pancetta, Parmesan Fondutta and 63 degree egg. Comments would be appreciated.

 

[Aswah]

here's one last food shot... it is a Chocolate and toasted Marcona Almond Bombe

 

[leGreve]

I'm a full time food photographer working for one of the best food photographers in Scandinavia (www.kam.dk). And before that I worked for this couple: http://www.skovdal.dk/portfolio/food.aspx who are also amongst the best.

Of course taste is a matter of locality and "up here" we enjoy nordic lighting which is one big source of light with a touch of coolness to it.

In regards to styling... I find it very rare to find chefs who can actually style for photography. One thing is to style food that is to be eaten and look great in regards to that........ food photography is another territory entirely.

So here in Denmark we work with food stylists, who have the eye for setting up the food right, in the right amounts.
We as photographers can of course choose to rearrange the food to make the photo work, I know my boss is pretty darn great at that. And then we choose the things that accompany the food, such as the plate, cutlery, glasses etc.

My boss has a cellar room, roughly 30 m2 filled with different styles of plates and so on, it's amazing to walk through.

The only time I would let the chef entirely decide how the styling of the food is to be is if I was shooting something for a restaurent to be used by the restaurant to show the customers.
Apart from that... it's my game.

In regards to camera, I'm still not conviced Canons are even remotely close to being a proper tool for food photography. I grew up with technical cameras like Sinar and Hasselblad and we still use those for our work today. They have far superior color rendition and focal control. I can choose to place my focus diagonally across the product, all along the table surface or keep the focus on a pin spot to highlight a certain detail.
I know Canons have TS-E lenses but those are no where near the optical quality you get from Sinar lenses.

In regards to that Mark character.... imo, you can find better.

Following photos are unedited

 

[distant.star]

.
LeGreve, those pictures are stunningly beautiful!!! A joy to look at -- thanks so much for posting them.

This is why I don't go near food photography. I have a "culinary" gallery on my site, but I limit it to chefs, utensils, food prep shot -- especially hands as I like pictures of working hands. But I know there is a real art (and huge challenge) to good food photography. I almost never see a food picture that looks good or makes me think I'd like to eat what's depicted. Obviously, you're a master at that.

Thanks again for posting such GREAT pictures!!!

 

[Meh]

Andrew Scrivani is on Creative Live right now if that's of any interest to anyone.

 

[samayer2713]

Hi,

I would say that most food's photographed by chef's are documentary style. It is a necessary tool for them. That is not a bad thing!

Food photographers, the good ones, create a sense of place by carefully building a set, picking props and using appropriate lighting, both natural and artificial. These are not limited to ad shots. These are images that can stand alone and yes, they are art.

I am including a link to an Australian food blog that illustrates this well.
http://www.whatkatieate.com/

I am a long time chef and when time allows fine art photographer.

Just my opinion and wanted to join in the conversation.

 

[Aswah]

this guy is an amazing photographer: http://www.richardhaughton.com/fdhm.html

what Katie ate is a cool site... great pictures..

The problem with a lot of pro food photographers is they go too much for the fine art photograph and lose the soul of the food. Food is beautiful on it's own and rarely needs embellishment. Sometimes food photography gets into a soapbox rant of mine of image over substance... but I'll save that for another day. I have had food photographers alter my food so much I no longer recognized it which is why I get final say in what they photograph and how it results. Although I have to admit, I had a food photog change a presentation and I ended up liking it better... I guess it runs both ways!

Seeya

FdeM

 

[Marvin]

I used to shoot food. Most of it was not about the food, but rather about a 'feeling' you might get when using certain products like a $500 skillet, or whatever. From time to time we did shoot food for foods sake, and that was fun. I'm posting a link to my portfolio page. The food is the bottom 1/3 or so. I had a regular stylist and a food stylist for a lot of this stuff, or a mix of both. ALL of the stylists I worked with were fantastic, IMO. http://marvinbowen.com/portfolio/

Regarding equipment, everything you see in my portfolio was shot using a wide array of Canon bodies and lenses. From T2i, to 5DIII and 'nifty fifty' to 100 macro. We had the tilt shifts, but really didn't use them for food very often. That said, you can easily pick out the parallel DOF in a lot of the shots, which could have been a much more pleasing perpendicular had we thought about that.

It took our studio a long time to grow to the point that we were truly proud of our food work. We stumbled into the job, coming from on-figure and tabletop knockouts and large rooms. Food is so totally different. I wish I still had the opportunity to shoot food because I have a lot more growing to do in that area and don't want to forget the skills I have.

 

[privatebydesign]

Andrew Scrivani is on Creative Live right now if that's of any interest to anyone.

Having watched a few hours of that broadcast I can't help but post that he is a terrible teacher and, frankly, wrong on much of his advice/lessons, particularly his post processing and file work. Horrible advice.

 

[Aswah]

Marvin your stuff is amazing... I guess maybe food photography is a wide subject and I am looking at too narrowly. I see it from my end of the spectrum with is food shot for use in magazine, web sites and other things promoting Chefs and/or their restaurants. A lot of this kind of photography tends to occur on site at the restaurant on their plates with their utensils. I guess it is almost documentary in the sense it seeks to capture what your dining experience will be like. I appreciate all the comments and input. I had a day off and went out into 100 plus heat to shoot in the Desert near my house. Nothing great came out of it other than I really try to push myself to shoot almost every day, even when I am melting.

 

[jdramirez]

So I went into a bakery today and I did the unthinkable... I took a picture of my food. And I think it turned out kinda nice. So I went onto their facebook page and I saw a photo they took. I can appreciate the bakers aren't photographers, but I think they should seriously reconsider allowing whoever currently takes their photos to continue doing so.