Toliver

Nice picture! I like the rustic texture of the doorway. It adds a timeless quality to the overall ambience of the image. But it's also a problem in the photo. It took me a while to notice there was someone back there in the kitchen which brings up a good point when it comes to photographs: What is lit is what will be noticed first. Photography is often like a magician doing a magic trick, directing the audience to see what you want them to see. Stare at this picture and notice how your eye keeps wandering to either the very brightly lit stucco on the exterior framing of the doorway or to the white plastic chairs inside. Sure, you eventually begin to notice the rest of the details in the image but that's where your eyes go first. Is it fixable? To an extent....you can post-process the photo, darkening the doorframe stucco and then brightening the kitchen interior to provide a better balance. Or you could do some judicous cropping, losing most of the stucco/door frame so it's not so "there". Here's what I did with some cropping (the photo has not been processed otherwise): And this one is cropped plus processed (interior brightened and doorframe darkened): Another thing you could have done was, at the time the photo was taken, come back to the same spot later in the day when the doorframe stucco wasn't so well lit. But that's not very realistic because often, as people passing through, we don't have the time to come back to re-take photos. Cropping the photo also lost the nice porch light but that's cropping for you. As an aside, it would have been great if you could have gotten the woman to come to the doorway. It would have added another great dimension to the photo. Thanks for posting your work!

Che makes some good points about framing. What's important in your picture? What isn't? And if it isn't important, why is it playing such a big part of your picture? Lucy (bleudauvergne) said about the same thing back on page 2 of this thread and posted some pics to illustrate. Take a picture to tell a story and include just enough info in the pic to get your point across. So let me ask you, Owen, why did you take that picture? What was the intent behind it? Was it to show the gelato? Then make the subject of your picture the gelato. Do a closeup (or even a Jason-like closeup) and get us to really start salivating. Or was it more of a study..."Sunday afternoon in Seattle"? Then some judicious cropping, as Che showed, will tighten the focus of the image, leaving off the extraneuous table edge and ground at the top of the picture. The simple framing of the newspaper and the dessert says something..."Here's how I passed some time in Seattle." As you take more pictures, your framing will get better and you'll develop a photographic eye. Practice, practice, practice...and it will happen.

Found using the eGullet Search engine: favorite breakfast food, what's yours? The Breakfast Thread, From eggs Benedict to sardine sandwiches What's for breakfast? And last but not least: Hangover breakfast, after a long, hard session last night...

Ah. Two words for you my friend: Homemade Vinegar

Yes, and this is a great forum for learning. I hope it grows and continues to be a source of help for those seeking it. Regarding shadows, they aren't necessarily a bad thing. They are a natural part of what we see. I think, like beauty, it's all in the eye of the beholder. It also depends on your intent. Go back and look at the very first picture posted in this discussion. That picture is all about shading. It's the fact that the lighting is so directional that it reveals the texture on the egg which is what makes the photo interesting. It's when the shadows become distracting that you have to worry. Is your plate casting a shadow? So what. They cast shadows in the real world. It's when the shadows compete with the subject of your photo (your intent) that you have to worry. Yes! I am by no means an expert. Perhaps Ellen and the other photographers can answer the technical questions better. I think as long as you set your filter settings on your camera to match the type of lighting you're using you'll be off to a good start. Filter settings are important because the different lighting casts different-colored light. Fluorescent light has a blue tinge to it, incandescent light has an orange tinge to it, and so on. If you use the wrong filter, your photo can end up looking "off". Consult your manual. Which is why someone on eGullet...I can't remember who...puts their food on the floor to shoot it. Whatever works for you! And don't forget they had a staff on hand to plate the food so it looked its best, they had someone to coordinate the plates, napkins, etc, they had someone who set up the best lighting and relfectors and scrims. They spend a lot of time setting up the photos to look their best since those types of photos are "forever" (ending up in cookbooks). Here's the picture number two, with a before and after. I used Photoshop's AutoColor & AutoContrast which over-saturated the steak. So I had to remove some of the red to make it look palatable. Because the lighting is so flat, even after processing you can see that it's sort of lifeless (the picture, not the meat ): Picture #5: Again, I used AutoColor and AutoContrast. I tried AutoLevels which turned the plate blue. Yikes! I left the saturation as it was and then used the Unsharp Mask to sharpen the photo a little and make the highlights "pop". It ended up a little stark but looks much better. I hope the feedback is helpful. edited for clarity

more on Fizzy Fruits from their website Thanks for the link. As a side note, if you stare at the animated bubbles on the web site long enough they turn 3D...sort of like those hidden "magic" pictures in patterns that were the rage a few years ago. Just let your eyes sort of go out of focus... Why, yes, I do have a lot of spare time. Why do you ask?

Jonathan, You say you didn't want to use your flash. The problem with that is that the first two images don't have any sort of directional lighting at all. The lighting is very even overall so they're very flat-looking which is compounded by your shooting angle which is almost straight-on. You end up with an image that lacks depth/dimension not to mention contrast. Lighting helps your subject "pop". That having been said, look at how much better pictures 3 & 4 are. You have good lighting which helps to show off the texture of the well-used skillet and cooktop in picture 3 and the crust on the cooked meat in picture 4. Plus, you've shot both of these pictures at about a 3/4 angle which is much more dynamic than if you had shot them straight overhead. As for how to deal with the smoke and spattering of cooking food, I'm not a food photographer so I don't know what the pro's do in similar situations. I guess I'd recommend using your zoom function if you're that concerned. Stand back, away from the stovetop and use your zoom to provide the closeup of your food in the skillet. It's not a perfect solution but do-able. The last image is good but, again, even though you have a direct light on the meat (see how the shadows fall), it's flat overall lighting. I'd recommend having the light at an angle off to the side or behind the plate. You can always use a white card/reflector to fill in the shadows if you find this sort of angle of lighting causes shadows that are too dark. I am also curious to read that you did some post-processing on these images. Pictures 2 & 5 appear "hazy" to me. I processed them both through Photoshop and they improved a lot (though since #2 had flat lighting, there wasn't much I could do to help the picture). I can post them if you're interested in seeing them. edited to add clarity

Last night: Rare Rib Eye steak with bone-in, a slice of onion tart (bought at the Farmer's Market) and a tasty tomato salad with diced cucumber (tomatoes and cucumber were from my mom's garden), kalamata olives and a chiffonade of basil with evoo, basalmic vinegar, fresh ground pepper and a little kosher salt. Heaven.

How can you tell when corn is ready to pick? On a lark, my brother planted about 8 to 10 stalks in a large pot and they've grown like weeds. They almost look like a bamboo plant, they're so close together. And I guess they liked the cramped quarters since they all seem to have healthy looking ears of corn on them. It's amazing. But my brother is at a loss as to how to tell if the ears are ready to pick other than peeling back the husks like you would in a supermarket. Any suggestions?

Bon Appetit Digest – August 2004 – Fresh & Simple I'm subtitling this the "Greek Issue" since a lot of the recipes in this issue seem to have a Greek influence (there are also some Italian & Indian recipes, too). This month’s contributor’s: Cookbook author Rick Rodgers, writer Michele Kayal, Pastry chef from Patina & Campanile, Kimberly Boyce, former Chez Panisse Pastry Chef David Lebovitz and photographer Raymond Patrick Starters – “Quick Bites from the world of Bon Appetit” by Hugh Garvey Beach Reading with Flavor – Summer reading suggestions for the “foodie”: “Sirio: The Story of My Life and Le Cirque” by Sirio Maccioni and Peter Elliot ($30) “Schott’s Food & Drink Miscellany” by Ben Scott ($15) “A Meal Observed” by Andrew Todhunter ($23) “Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life” by Mimi Sheraton ($24) “Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America” by Steve Almond ($22) “Eating Crow” by Jay Rayner ($23) “Stalking the Green Fairy and Other Fantastic Adventures in Food and Drink” by James Villas ($27) “At the Table with Lilly Pulitzer & Jay Mulvaney” – A little Q & A with Lilly (infamous for her tropical prints in the 60’s & 70’s) and author Mulvaney on staging every type of event. A side panel “Taste Test: Top Dogs” lists six makers of “artisanal” hot dogs. “Neighborhood Watch: New York’s Meatpacking District” – It’s a quick look at some of the eateries in the district. An unrelated side article mentions the “Cleancurve Grill + Floss Barbecue Grate Cleaner”, a tool to help clean grill grates. The editors tested it and it works according to them but they found brushing better than flossing. R.S.V.P. - Readers’ Favorite Restaurant Recipes Recipes: “Ginger ‘Marjarita’ “ (66 in Tribeca, NY), “Cilantro, Lime and Pecan Pesto Pasta with Spiced Nuts” (The Straw Hat in Anguilla), “Spiced Nuts” (The Straw Hat in Anguilla), “Breakfast Cookies” (Tutti’s soon to be in Ventura, CA), “Black Bean Cakes with Salsa” (Charlotte Street Grill in Asheville, North Carolina), “Scandinavian Iced Berries with White Chocolate Sauce” (Bang Café in Dublin) Entertaining Made Easy – “All the Raj” by Rozanne Gold Rozanne gives new meaning to the phrase “Indian Summer”. Recipes: “Tandoori-Style Chicken”, “Green Bean Salad with Fresh Tomato Chutney”, “Indian-Spiced Potato Salad”, “Cucumber-Mint Raita” A side article offers some new twists on Lemonade, like adding Watermelon juice or some Ginger-Lime. Tools of the Trade – “Dishing it Out” by Dorie Greenspan Dorie takes a look at different ice cream scoops on the market. Wine & Spirits – “Twist and Shout” by Ted Loos Bon Appetit gives a “thumbs up” to screw caps for wine. A side article lists some wine companies that offer screw cap wines. “Drinks, Etc.” – “O” Wine Tumblers by Riedel– Wine glasses without stems! 732-346-8960 “Sofia” – It’s canned bubbly by the Coppola Winery. Tasting Panel – Greek Wines Achaia Clauss Muscat de Patras, Patras ($9) Alexandros Megapanos 2002 Savatiano, Pikermi, Attica ($9) Boutari 2003 Moschofilero, Mantinia ($15) Estate Hatzmichalis 2002 Chardonnay, Atalanti Valley ($15) Spiropoulos 2001 Porfyros, Peloponnese ($17) Christoforos Pavlidis 2001 Ktima Pavlidis, Drama ($18) Palivou Vineyards 1999 Nemea, Ancient Nemea Valley ($18) Evangelos Tsantalis 1999 Metoxi, Macedonia ($22) “Sundaes for Summer” by Kimberly Boyce Kimberly offers some suggestions to improve the decadent combination of Ice Cream, Chocolate and Caramel. Recipes: “Caramel and Crème Fraîche Sundaes with Cashews”, “Rocky Road Sundaes” (with homemade marshmallows) Going Out – “Hawai’i Update” by Michele Kayal Michele island hops to find out who’s cooking and where: Vino – Kapalua, Maui - owner D.K. Kodoma A.K.’s Café – Wailuku, Maui – Chef-owner Elaine Rothermel Marbella – Honolulu, Oahu – owners Ash & Magdy Matar Le Bistro – Honolulu, Oahu Merriman’s Market Café – Kohala Coast, Hawai’i – Peter Merriman The Hualalai Grille – Kohala Coast, Hawai’i – Peter Merriman Restaurant Kaikodo – Hilo, Hawai’i – Mike Fennelly A side article lists some Japanese izakayas (Japanese bars) in Honolulu. Top Tables – “The Restaurant Reporter” by Tanya Wenman Steel A side article has a blurb on Charlie Trotter’s newest restaurant “C”, at the ultra chi-chi spa, One&Only Palmilla in Los Cabos, Mexico. The Buzz - Hudson Valley: Valley, The Garrison – Chef Jeff Raider Bølgen & Moi – Owner-Chef Trond Moi Buenos Aires: (all are recommendations by BBQ wizard Steven Raichlen) La Cabaña in the Recoleta District Cabaña las Lilas in the Puerto Madero District Sucre in the Belgrano District – Patricia Scheuer Napa and Sonoma: Willi’s Seafood & Raw Bar – The Hotel Healdsburg, Healdsburg – Chef Mark Stark Père Jeanty – Yountville – Chef Philippe Jeanty Bon Vivant – “What’s News. What ‘s Hot. What’s Good.” By Laurie Glenn Buckle Silver accented painted glass plates, Chocolate purses(!) by Choco Choco House, washable plush throws for that special picnic, olive oil body lotion from Olivina, handcrafted wood and silver salad and salsa bowls by Galena Sterling Silver Designs, scratch & sniff cards from Traylor Papers, an espadrille tote basket, acrylic-handled Diamante flatware, popsicles for grownups by Palapa Azul “Hamptons Afternoon” by Randi Danforth Recipes: “Fresh Dill Tzatziki”, “Hummus with Shallots”, “Baba Ghanouj”, “Sautéed Shrimp with Tomatoes, Olives and Feta Cheese”, “Saffron Couscous with Peas and Mint”, “Salad with Teardrop Tomatoes and Parsley Vinaigrette”, “Lemon Cake with Mixed-Berry Compote and Honeyed Goat Cheese”, “Mixed-Berry Compote”, “Honeyed Goat Cheese” “Summer Gold” by Rick Rodgers Rick offers some new recipes for sweet, fresh corn. Recipes: “Chilled Corn and Buttermilk Soup”, “Grilled Corn on the Cob with Jalapeño-Lime Butter”, “Potato and Corn Salad with Bacon, Blue Cheese and Sherry Vinaigrette”, “Tomato and Corn Salad with Marjoram”, Grilled Polenta with Corn and Parmesan” “Sol Food: Italian Alfresco Dinner, Swedish-Style Grill and Mexican Seafood Supper” by Janet Taylor McCracken, Selma Brown Morrow and Lena Cederham Birmbaum Italian Alfresco Dinner Recipes: “Prosciutto-Wrapped Figs with Gorgonzola and Walnuts”, “Chicken Breasts with Fennel-Mustard Butter and Radicchio”, “Orzo Salad with Heirloom Tomatoes and Herbs”, “Red and Green Grape Granitas with Muscat and Frozen Sugared Grapes” Swedish-Style Grill Recipes: “Eggs Stuffed with Smoked Salmon and Caviar”, “Grilled Leg of Lamb with Spiced Mustard and Rosemary”, “Dilled Potato and Pickled Cucumber Salad”, “Almond and mixed-Berry Shortcakes (Cover Recipe) Mexican Seafood Supper Recipes: “Chilled Avocado and Mint Soup”, “Seafood Salad with Cilantro Dressing”, “Cilantro Dressing”, “Mexican Rice”, “Tricolor Vegetable Sauté with Cumin Seeds and Oregano”, “Frozen Tropical Terrine with Mango-Blackberry Sauce” “Juicy Fruits” by David Lebovitz David takes advantage of fresh summer fruits. Recipes: “Prosecco Jelly with Nectarines, Blueberries and Candied Orange Peel”, “Chocolate Panna Cotta with Port-and-Balsamic-Glazed Cherries”, “Apricot Pie with Candied Ginger and Crunchy Topping”, “Peach and Pistachi Frangipane Tart”, “Plum Cobbler with Cinnamon Biscuits” “A Superior Vacation” by Raphael Kudushin Raphael braves the land off the Great Lake to discover city-chic and small town charm. Recipes: “Buttermilk Pancakes with Caramelized Bananas” (Old Rittenhouse Inn, Bayfield), “Walnut-Crusted Trout Fillets” (Greunke’s First Street Grill) Fast Weekday Cooking – “Every-Night Cooking” by Brooke Dojny and Melanie Barnard Recipes: “Grilled Asian Pork Chops and Baby Bok Choy”, “Chicken and Nectarine Salad with Toasted Cumin Mayonnaise”, “Grilled Porterhouse with Tarragon-Tomato Salad”, “Pan Bagnat”, “Cajun Red Beans and Rice Salad”, “Portuguese Clams with Linguiça and Tomatoes” “Readers’ Timesaving Recipes” Recipes from Diane Ives of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: “Spicy Turkey Burgers”, “Dried Fruit Strudel with Apricot Preserves” Recipes from Jennifer Smith of Tyler, Texas: “Black Bean Soup with Cumin and Jalapeño”, “Chocolate Cookie and Coffee Ice Cream Pie” “The Best Pesto” by Lori de Mori Your farmer’s market may be overflowing with basil so now is the time to make some Pesto Sauce. Recipes: “Classic Pesto”, “Summer Minestrone with Pesto”, “Grilled Halibut with Pesto and Arugula”, “Pasta with Pesto, Broccoli and Potatoes” Cooking for Health – “Smooth Operators” by Marie Simmons Take advantage of summer’s bounty of fresh fruit and whip some healthy smoothies together. Recipes: “Blueberry-Orange Smoothie”, “Berry and Banana Frullato”, “Spiced Mango Lassi”, “Watermelon, Strawberry and Mint Smoothie”, “Papaya-Pineapple Smoothie”, “Peach, Soy and Almond Smoothie” Feedback – End Page Q & A with multi-talented actor & singer Jerry Orbach

Here is a FAQ page from the maker of the green discs. According to their info, Potassium permanganate is the ingredient that takes care of the ethylene gas. The price listed on the page for a set of four disks is a little more expensive per disk than buying the disks individually in your local Bed, Bath & Beyond store (which is where I found them). But if you have no other source, then it's a good deal, I guess. I just Googled "Potassium permanganate"...wow, that's some dangerous stuff! No wonder there's a California Prop 65 warning (hazardous materials) posted on Amazon's page about the disks (they no longer sell them so I won't post a link...you can find the expired page by doing a Google search). One interesting side effect from prolonged exposure to the chemical: fixed facial expressions.

Robyn, Thanks for pointing out that Photoshop Elements does have the Batch Processing command. I found that out after I installed it on my brother's computer during my vacation. Actually, I am very impressed that Photoshop Elements does have it. It's quite the good little program and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who can't afford the actual (expensive) Photoshop program. It can do quite a bit of image post-processing. Ellen, I'm sorry I didn't get around to processing your images until now. My plan to do it during my vacation didn't work out like I thought it would. Here are the three pictures you posted along with my post-processed versions. With all three images, there was a slight yellow hue from the lighting that AutoColor corrected. As you can see, I also cropped them and ran them through the Unsharp Mask (an odd name for a filter that sharpens images ). I also bumped up the saturation a little to make them even more vivid. I think that my changes to your images have changed their intent, if that makes sense. Owen, Count me in as someone who doesn't mind the reflection in your image. I think it helps provide texture to the foam. I also don't mind the tight cropping of the seconed photo since, having read your blog, I know how hard you work on getting the design in the foam and this seems to be the intent of your photo. The wood pattern on the table is dynamic and the overall tan color tone between the coffee and the table is offset by the stark framing of the white cup and saucer. Excellent picture! Behemoth, Here's your image with a little post-processing. I brightened it a little, bumped up the saturation even more and ran it through the usual sharpen filter. Regarding your comment about the image being a little dark (IMHO, I don't think it is), I think a small reflector at the bottom of the bowl (off-camera) would have added a "kicker" that would have provided a little highlight on the shrimp shell. But some good post-processing really adds a lot to the image.

fifi, I don't think Photoshop Elements has a batch processor. I've sent away for a copy of the program and should receive it while on my vacation (where I am now). I will be able to give you a better answer/confirmation once it's been installed. I know for a fact that Photoshop CS does have auto batch processing, as well as Actions which are recordable scripts. As for cropping and keeping the ratio (which you mentioned in an earlier post) I think that's an "eye" thing. Of course, you can always cheat and use a program like Photoshop to open a blank 4"x6" project window, copy and paste your photo into it, then size it and position it until it looks good...a sort of "faux" cropping.

Oops, sorry about that. I don't eat 'em...don't know what they look like cooked. Perhaps if you had some in their raw whole state in back of the plate, I'd have put two & two together. As it was, I thought they were some big-ass mushroom caps, obviously! Yes, you're right. Professional Food Photography is an art unto itself. There are oodles of tricks to it but do we need to know them in order to post our dinner to the "Dinner!" thread? I think there's a happy medium here somewhere. Ellen, I didn't comment on the postprocessing because it looked like the intention of these two photos was on-the-spot documentation of a meal being cooked. That usually means shooting in available light and shooting from the hip, so to speak, meaning you can't really interrupt the process to stage a photo. Given that, I thought they were both very good given the circumstances and didn't need to be picked apart since you didn't have control over the situation (I assume). Does that make sense? That's why the intent of posted photos can be important. Yes (here I go critiquing them!), both are a little on the under-lit side and some cropping could help them but, again, given the spontaneous shooting conditions, they turned out quite well and your point is still made. I will process the pics in Photoshop (I'll use what you posted) to see if they can be tweaked any but there may be a delay in posting the results because I am leaving on a week's vacation to the Land Beyond Computers (i.e., my mom's house in San Diego ). I will attempt to borrow a computer down there to do the processing and posting. And thanks for the gorgeous salmon photo! In the picture, your point of focus is very narrow and I don't have the know-how to suggest how to broaden it so more of the salmon is in focus. The lighting is good...perhaps a little reflector could have been added to the left side to fill in the shadows, but it's still very good overall.

Jason, Regarding your Chicken Mole Poblano, I, too, prefer the wider shot. If you're taking a picture of what you had for dinner, then I don't mind seeing a plate at all. Your plating is part of the subject matter so the plate itself becomes just a background note. The closeup of the black beans didn't do it for me due to their lack of texture. Now a closeup of the rice or the sesame seeds on the chicken would have been, texturally, better pictures. Having read the original discussion where it was first posted, fifi's lard picture was perfect for it's intent. The lighting is good and if anything, it could have been cropped a little tighter, but overall, it was well executed and made its point. zilla369 - The first image (the bottles) needs either a less complicated background or more depth of field to put it out of focus. If the purpose of the photo was to do a study of the bottles and their contents, the background pulls the attention away from the foreground. Plus, it looks like the background has a sharper focus than the bottles do. AutoFocus is like a temperamental two-year old...if you don't take charge of it, it will do what it wants and can end up ruining your picture. The Yolks pic...as it's been said, it's out of focus. I would also crop tighter, losing the exterior bowl rim completely and going more towards an abstract image. The Salads Pic...the chefs are "soft"/out of focus. I would recommend either focusing on them or lowering the camera so the first couple of salads are front and center and in focus and then the chefs would be out of focus but the intent of the pic would still be communicated. Egg Wash....very funny pic. Could have gone with a tighter crop so you can better see that you've got eggs there or perhaps a bigger bowl of them to stress the joke. Ice Sculpture - The pineapple is out of focus and the reflection of the people in the window is in focus so, again, it makes me ask what is supposed to be the intent of the image? Ellen - Beautiful soft lighting on the tofu shot. It's a little wide for my tastes but the background does help tell the story of what's happening. I am assuming it's one in a series. Again, beautiful lighting and, again, the salmon in the steamer/wok shot is a little wide for me. I'm assuming it's supposed to show the chinese steaming/wok technique but the hungry man inside of me wants to see a closeup of that darn salmon. esperanza - I'd like to see a larger size version of this. Can you repost it larger? spaghetttti - Both pics are great. The crab shot is a little tight for me. What is it? Is it dinner or "A Study of Crab"? I'd either pull out to show more of the pot/serving dish or go to the other extreme and do a Jason-like closeup on the center claw, showing the pincers in the middle or focus on the meat at the bottom center. The Onde picture is very, very nice. You can almost feel the texture of the seeds and the texture of the tabletop. One quibble would be the upper right quadrant background is dirty and is a wee bit distracting. If this is a "Stufy of Onde", then it should have been cleaned up to leave all focus on the Onde itself. If it's a picture of dinner, then I think it's forgivable. jinmyo - I agree with a lot of what's been said about your photo. The reflection in the table glass is distracting. Perhaps cropping would help eliminate this. Your simple presentation showcases the food. Girl, you know how to plate! Personally, I could care less about napkins and forks. I want to see and taste and smell everyone of your creations so I would have preferred a tighter shot to concentrate on the food. The Zoom function won't work as well as physically moving the camera closer which would allow the flash fill to better light your food, which, in turn, would have made me drool more. helenas - The greens photo is great. The lighting seems to be the same intensity overall. Next time I'd recommend placing a piece of cardboard off-camera to the right to cut off some of the light coming from that direction. It'll provide some contrast to the image. I think the pros use something like a round disk of black netting to achieve this...don't know the real name of the tool. The photo of stuffed mushrooms (?) is very busy. Do you want me to look at the food or the pattern on the plate or even the wood pattern of the table? I'd recommmend putting the mushrooms on a solid-color plate, even a simple white plate so it won't compete for the viewers' attention and will showcase the mushrooms. edited to clarify

This thread is moving very quickly, both in posts and in techniques. I had assumed when this thread was started that it was going to simply center more on how to shoot your dinner for the "Dinner!" thread or for the Food Blogs but it has certainly grown beyond that. One thing that has been missing from a lot of the posted images is any mention of the equipment being used to shoot the pictures. I think that should be one of the rules of this forum since it's important information, IMHO. Listing the type of camera should be a "must". That being said, I think what fifi mentioned, stating your intentions, is also important so viewers/critics can decide whether the photo was a success or not. I can see any eventual eGCI class spread out over quite a few classes like the Stock classes were spread out...Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced or Lighting, Composition, Post-Production, etc.

Mags, I believe the book she is talking about is "The Dinner Doctor", from the same author of "The Cake Mix Doctor" (which contains recipes that start out using boxed cake mixes and show how to doctor them up so they taste better...and having made some of the recipes I can attest that they are very good enhancements). It's a sort of Sandra Lee concept but just one tiny notch better. I'm assuming "The Dinner Doctor" contains recipes along the same line, starting with something pre-fabricated and trying to make it better, which is why it calls for the canned stew as a shortcut. I believe the recipes are also meant to be budget stretchers and time-savers. Read the review on Amazon to understand what it's all about. That being said, the cookbook is exactly what it's advertised to be...but it's not for someone who would rather make everything from scratch.

Personally, I wouldn't use any in-camera settings/functions. I prefer to import the photo into a program like Photoshop and do the tweaking there. I have more control there, plus it's at a much larger size so I can really see the details. But, if you don't have access to a program like that, I guess having it in the camera is better than nothing at all. So, size does matter. Another thing I thought of is the Gamma setting on everyone's monitors will make a difference on perception. Everyone will see something different...in the original picture, some won't be able to make out Ed's face at all, some will see it perfectly. I surf eGullet using my calibrated monitor here at work so I saw a lot more than I would have on my consumer grade monitor at home. I guess you just have to aim for the middle ground and hope for the best. edited to add yet even more verbosity

Rachel Ray, in her "30 Minutes Meals". is great at keeping separate cutting boards, etc, and washing her hands after handling raw chicken. It's almost seems like an obsessive-compulsive thing happening everytime I see it.

I thought the pulled pork pile picture (with the checked tablecloth in the background) was too yellow because of the light filtered through the awning. I thought swinging it more towards red made it look a little bit more appetizing. The problem in Photoshop with using Auto Contrast or even just the Brightness/Contrast Adjustment tools is that (I think) the choices the program makes when making the adjustments are based upon finding the extremes (the brightest white and the darkest black) and figuring the proper levels for everything in between based on those two parameters. So if you have someone like Ed over a bright background, any fiddling with the contrast to bring out his dark skin tones and texture will begin washing out everything that's brighter (as you found out). I end up "fooling" the program by duplicating the original layer and then adjusting the brightness/contrast for the image, concentrating on the area that needs tweaking (Ed's face, in this case) and ignoring how everything else looks. I then add a Layer Mask to the tweaked layer. I fill it 100% black which makes it disappear completely. Then I use the Airbrush Tool on the Layer Mask using 100% white and airbrush his face, making his face on the lighter tweaked layer appear. So in effect, you have the original image underneath with just his face as part of another brighter layer on top of it. I'll be happy to email him my full-sized tweaking of his images if he wants them.

Jon, you're correct, the pics won't upload to ImageGullet due to their large size. I uploaded mine to PictureTrail and posted from there. I'm not too happy since it looks like the pictures lost something in the translation but they get the point across (I also made them a wee bit smaller in size). Photoshop's Auto Contrast helped remove the faint "whitewash" of the images. Here's my side by side of Ed's picture with the original next to my tweak. I did my Layer Mask trick and also gave the background a slight blurry quality to make Ed stand out more. The difference is subtle but his face is brought out more. This is Auto Contrast, with a little more added, plus a bit of the Unsharp Mask filter to make it pop a little. Just Auto Contrast Auto Contrast with a little Unsharp Mask filter to make it pop Auto Contrast with a little Unsharp Mask filter Auto Contrast with a little Unsharp Mask filter Auto Contrast with a little Unsharp Mask filter Auto Contrast, Color Balance Adjustment, and a little Unsharp Mask filter Color Balance Adjustment and a little Unsharp Mask filter Auto Contrast with a little Unsharp Mask filter And I did nothing to the bean picture because it needed no tweaking...great as is. Also, I tried to keep all of these images around 100k so they would load a little easier. That may have added a little "graininess" to the images but that's the nature of the compressed beastie.

The first weekend of september. I'll report. What a great idea, bloviatrix! I am looking forward to the festival.

My brother will make a greens-less Greek salad with just cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet onion, kalamata olives & crumbled feta cheese with a lemon & olive oil dressing. It's a good break from salads with leaf lettuce.

Thanks for posting this site. His work is gorgeous. It looks like he did some post-production work (dodging & burning) on some of his pics. And his "one part in focus and the rest out of focus" lens (don't know the technical name for it) is put to good use. Extraordinary images! As for Jason's pics.... Overall, they are just beautiful, especially after hearing they were just candid snapshots. You have a good eye for composition. I was puzzled to hear some image processing was done on them since I'd suggest a little more contrast on a number of them. After bringing out the contrast, they really pop. I ran them through my Photoshop 7's AutoContrast mode and they just came to life. Your "beans" photo is superb and nothing needs to be done with it. It shows great depth of field, great texture and lighting. It should be a book cover photo. Well done. A couple photos have a slight yellow tinge to them which was most likely caused by the overhead awning which changed the color of the natural light. Using Photoshop's Color Balance image tool would color-correct the photo and bring more pinkness/redness back into the meat. You did very well on Ed's pic. It tells a story and the busy background is far away enough to be slightly out of focus allowing Ed to stand out even more. I completely understand your post-production struggle to balance this picture's light tones when compared against the darker tones of Ed's skin. This is an example of where Photoshop's Auto features (Auto Contrast, Auto Levels, Auto Color) fail to work as well as they should. Thanks to your tweaking, his face is lit enough so that we are able to see deatils & texture. You could try using the Dodging/Burning Tools to try and bring out more of his features, though I usually don't have much luck with them. I use another trick which involves a couple layers and a Layer Mask. It's rather lengthy to explain and is probably off-topic for this current thread unless you request otherwise. I won't post the pics after my Photoshop adjustments to try and keep bandwidth down but will if anyone insists. They are all very good pictures and with a few "tweaks" could be sold as artwork, IMHO. I can just picture them on the walls of a BBQ joint. edited to remove extraneous letterss

From the title of this thread, I thought they were talking about Sandra Lee.