pastameshugana

Here's a simple demonstration for those who are either new to photography or are questioning whether its necessary to purchase expensive equipment to make a decent photo. Two pictures of the same plate, same time of day, about 11am. The first is in my kitchen under typical kitchen (poor) lighting: Note the yellow tinge, harsh shadows and general unappetizing look. Second pic, I simply moved into my dining room which has sheer curtains on the windows: Note the much more pleasing color (daylight, like the bulb dcarch recommends), the soft shadows, and the beat up table. For what it's worth, this whole exercise, including writing the post, took all of 5 minutes. I think anyone, with a minimum of effort, can get truly appetizing pics of their food without wasting time. EDIT to add: these two pics are from a cell phone, not my fancy camera. (iPhone 5 if it matters to anyone).

I think I'd beg to differ. Many many of the great meals I see here, if pictured, are quick shots, even with cell phones. A couple years back I did an entire food blog with cell phone pics. I'm also with you in that I don't want to wait to eat when food is on the table. That being said, I also like to take pretty pictures (of many things, not just food). Food art is not what I normally make, but it's still pretty. Artistic food photography also takes time and is not always practical in the home, but it's still got a place in media (and in my heart). I think you might be going a little to far to indict all of eG about only wanting pretty pictures. The dinner thread(s) have plenty of mediocre photographs of food I'd die to eat. The reality is that communication has morphed into a very visual form, and whether quick snaps or professionally composed art shots, pictures of your meals are a vital part of the conversation here at eG.

There's not a court on eG that would convict you for slapping her...

My point is, you don't need a "setup" to take excellent pictures. My "setup"? a single CFL bulb with a kitchen plastic container, a tripod and a camera. dcarch I understand the simplicity - I'm just thinking the 'setup' pic would help, because in my minds eye I'm imagining your plastic container somehow taped to the ceiling light fixture in your dining room... I assume you're using a tabletop lamp or ? It would also probably be very illustrative for a photographic neophyte to see the results of a pic with & without the diffusor if you'd be so inclined.

I know you've already got mint - but I'm of the conviction that mint & chocolate together are integral to the stability of the universe. I'd pipe mint filling into those cookies in a heartbeat. What about something coffee flavored in between?

Could you possibly post a picture of your setup (light, diffusor, etc) the next time you're photographing a dish?

Whatever cheap software to allow me to crop and center the food and to eliminate distracting background. That's why all my photos are perfectly centered and no background. I think you are beginning to see how lack of creativity in my photos. dcarch For me, one of the greatest 'fixers' has been shooting in RAW formats (if you've got a dslr). It gives you lots of options for fixing exposure that you didn't get right in the first place.

This just in: Amazon has just announced a program called 'MatchBook' that appears to offer discounted and sometimes free digital versions of physical books you own. Google 'Kindle Matchbook' for the news stories.

Shoot. That looks fantastic. I think I may have to pick one up.

I suspect part of the problem is lighting or camera settings. With a little tweak of the colours, the food would look a lot better. As it is, while I appreciate the effort that went into making those dishes, I don't really care to look at the pics because the colours are so off (and the dishes sometimes look like "a plate of poo" or however you put it). There is, however, a kernel of truth to this. Please, mind the shameless plug of another thread, but maybe a simple 'how-to' for different levels of food photographers would help out? You could add to the general pool of knowledge over at The Food Photography Topic here. Maybe a simple tutorial such as 'Making food not look like a plate of Poo' would help some of us out?

Absolutely. Have you ever experimented with different 'looks'? Possibly long exposures lit by candlelight, experiments with lighting and post processing, etc?

dCarch, I'm surprised by your comment, because you create some amazing food art, but you also have great artistic skill in your photography. I do appreciate the distinction, however. There is certainly a difference between food art and simply beautiful food. Some of your dishes (my favorite being the one in your avatar, which I called the whole family in to see when it was posted) are incredibly artistic. That said, we can't ignore the artistry of the photography. That dish would appear merely interesting in a cheesy cell phone snap. My intention (or hope) for this thread is that we could explore the art of food photography. The old thread was just that...a little long in the tooth. Liuzhou, I can appreciate the ideas that may motivate some to withhold art, but I don't know how valid that is these days. It's hard to imagine art outside of classic oil paintings and sculptures that doesn't live in the digital realm. Reference our other thread concerning ebook cookbooks (ecookbooks?). Besides, I'm sure a food artist like dCarch isn't worried about low res photos of their work posted here damaging potential future endeavors. I think the difficulty lies in the fact that we're often talking about art in a multi-layered medium. There is the food medium to create in, and the photographic medium to capture and interpret. Yet, I'm curious as to why we've seen so little truly interpretive and evocative food photography? Remember the iconic Obama campaign poster that was little more than a rough impression? Yet that image spoke so much louder than a glossy 8x10. Is there space for food photography to achieve artistic expression like that, or is the fact that the subject matter is destined for our mouth make it off limits?

Last night I was in the back yard with my new toy (Canon EOS 70D) taking long exposure pictures of the night sky, and I began thinking about photography and its role in modern food media. For many of us, food is art. Wether we are creating it ourselves, our salivating at the artistry a chef places before us, or a fellow eGulleteer posts, we are all here because we've learned to appreciate the art that is food. Of course, the origin of food art must be linked to ingrained knowledge of what each individual believes tastes good, or what we imagine will. To look at a picture of a wet oyster is, to many, to crave. Yet objectively, it's merely slimy white stuff in a shell! Here at eGullet, we've all waded through many threads, packed with stunning food photography, but I would like to take a fresh look at food photography as art. It seems that the great majority of food photography these days falls into two categories: illustrative and informative. Illustrative food photography says 'here is what I ate and/or cooked," and is what most of us are producing when we post pictures online. Informative, or educational photography tells a simple story like, "this is how you make this, or where this ingredient came from," and is likely the category that much of the amazing MC@Home photography falls into. Of course, an illustrative photograph of an artistic dish is artful, but it's the dish, not the photograph that is art. The photographer merely catalogued what was already present. I think there is a third category that food photographers tend to shy away from, and that is interpretive art. My photography teacher told me that there's a difference between 'taking' and 'making' pictures. The great artists of any generation or medium are usually interpretive. A master painter doesn't strive for perfect photorealism, but strives to interpret the scene according to the vision in his mind. Isn't this what the greatest chefs accomplish? We revere men like Keller and Achatz not for their note-perfect replication of timeless classics, but for their artistic re-interpretation of them. I am starting this thread because I am sure there must be others who, like me, would love to see what art we can make of food photography. Let's create an up to date repository of answered questions on food photography. Tips and suggestions for achieving certain looks or results. But more than that, if there is a community anywhere that could redefine food art as interpreted by photography, we are it. In our midst are some mind-bendingly talented chefs and creative home cooks. There are people from every continent and people group, and there is a wealth of photographic ability represented in our membership. What is your perspective on food photography as art?

There's been talk (and even trial runs in some markets) of imbedding RFID in all grocery product packaging. You could have automatic checkout: Just walk out the door and they bill your card on file. An RFID enabled fridge/freezer would automatically track these things and display recipe suggestions... I know it's all very futuristic, but I regularly make wireless video calls to people across the world from my phone, which was pretty out there just a few years ago.

I haven't used it but there's an app called 'mini fridge' for ios that does this. You can enter items and dates, even photos. It looks like it helps you work out expiration dates/etc. EDIT: Now that I look, there's LOTS of little apps like this, with mixed reviews. You'd have to find the one that fits your lifestyle. We use a grocery app for our shared shopping list thats very helpful.

What a great thread so far. Here's my $0.02 (depending on exchange rates). I read quite a large amount in general (last year I purchased and completed more than 100 books through Amazon). Right there the ebook wins in the space/ease of use department. I travel a lot for work and taking my whole library with me (or just the handful I'm reading at the moment) is a huge boon. On the other hand, there are some things I want to hold. I've got a collection of books about, written during, or related to the Holocaust (lots of family history there) and for some reason those are books I prefer on paper. I'm sure a therapist could read all kinds into that... I've also got a small-ish collection of paper cook books that I like flipping through, but I've recently really enjoyed the digital (kindle via iPad) version of Jerusalem by Ottolenghi. It was great to have sudden inspiration on the road, pull into a grocery and pull up a recipe on the iPhone for an ingredient list (of which my grocer of course only carried 1/2 the items). As to GlorifiedRice's comments regarding the EOL of digital devices - I think you're right with a caveat. The reality is that ebooks (and their ilk) are where we're heading. When my iPad/Kindle whatever gets to the point it's phased out, there will be an enterprising individual who will enable us to make the change, bringing our 'old' ebooks into the new digital ecosystem. OTOH: Just watch environmental legislation over the next decade or so (about which I won't offer comment) and you're going to see the cost of paper going up with the availability falling. I can see a day when buying a paper book will be a decadent luxury (hopefully not in my lifetime) frowned upon by others.

Mrs. Meshugana made banana bread muffins, and I got a new camera (Eos 70D!) and a breakfast pic is the result.

We had a couple of great looking burger patties given to us by a local farmer, and the kids are back at school so me and Mrs Meshugana had these for lunch: Fried bacon in the cast iron, then fried mushrooms and jalapeños in the bacon renderings with the burgers. Pepper jack cheese and cheap bread - was delicious.

Well said. We lived with our children in India for some time, and we've spent the years back home trying to re-create some of our favorite dishes to no avail. Even a note-perfect dish served in my kitchen is never going to taste like the Kati rolls on a busy street corner on a weekend night in Bangalore! The memories of the times, people, places all play into the memory of a dish, making it impossible to re-create. My first time eating great dumplings was in a friends (under construction) restaurant doing a menu taste test with several other friends. The experience magnified the food many times over, and I doubt I'll ever eat a dumpling that I'll enjoy more - even if they taste measurably better. I've evolved my 'memory cooking' - in other words, recreating favorite dishes - to doing 'riffs' on the dish. That way I can enjoy the memories of experiences without being disappointed with the results.

I think some of this trend comes from one-upmanship. The chef who makes burgers that are only as good as the guy across the street needs to differentiate, and some go to foodie hijinx like foie and lobster on a burger. In home cooking, most of us when presented with a premium ingredient (that we see rarely), like a great lobster tail, piece of foie, an amazing piece of beef - we're more tempted to make it simply and let it shine so we can indulge in and love it as it is. Of course, as the ingredient becomes more common, whether because of our financial situation, location, etc., we're more tempted to experiment with these things and play dress up with our fancy ingredients. Some things need to just be what they are. Beef Nachos at the ballpark (for example) are intrinsically more enjoyable (though not necessarily better) than 'Premium Wagyu topped tortilla crisps with aged gruyere and rare indonesian chillies'. Why? 1st because one costs $2 and the other $40. 2nd because nachos are something we want to gulp and laugh and talk around without stopping to savor the exquisite ingredients and contemplate the earthiness of the cheese and marbling of the beef. So, yes. Emphatically yes. I believe an ingredient can be too good for a certain dish.

I also got a lamb craving after the posts up thread. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any good lamb around here ever. Then I went to the aforementioned laughable excuse for a farmers market and found one gem. A young sheep armed who is absolutely passionate about his lamb. He waxed eloquent about feeding, raising, proper times for slaughter and keeping the meat, cuts and everything else relevant. I jut had to buy something from him. Unfortunately all that was left by the time I arrived was some stew meat. I tossed it in a dressing of Spanish olive oil, balsamic, chopped garlic and onion to skewer in a fe minutes, but then had to leave. It ended up sitting until the next day, but it tasted wonderful. I was able to educate a good friend who had never eaten lamb before, and was a fantastic meal. Mrs. Meshugana whipped up some cous cous and we toasted some supermarket 'French bread' with garlic.

Can't stand when they auction off your food: "who had the prime rib? And who had the soup?" It's your job to remember who ordered what!

So, at the (laughable) farmers market in our town, a lady was selling a small handful of what she called 'lemon mint'. It smelled like just that, and was one of the most intoxicating aromas I think I've ever encountered. I immediately thought it would make an amazing sorbet. When googling, I found it's commonly called lemon balm, and can be used in tea as well, which sounded great. So, realizing I'm leaving town and need to use it up, I tried first to make tea, dispensing hot water from my espresso machine with some rinsed leaves. After five minutes, it smelled even more amazing but the leaves had imparted absolutely zero flavor to the water and no discernible color. I tried again with boiling water from the kettle and the same results. Now I'm questioning my ability to get this flavor into a sorbet. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions? Or am I on a fools errand?

That sounds very yummy. BTW - you regularly host 30 at your house? And cook for them?! I'd be fascinated to see pictures of your kitchen and entertaining space. Do you book things word of mouth, online (especially when it's random people?) or ?? - sounds like a fascinating idea.

The gator we had was legs - and I'd say it was certainly chicken-ey, like dark meat but more complicated bone-wise. There was no fishy or aquatic taste at all, but was a little stronger flavored than the typical American chicken. Probably more like the chicken we ate daily when living in India. I'd get it again, but it was a bit pricey. Next time I'll check if they have tail.