Sorta OT - Food Photography: It's the Light, Stupid!

Botch

When I first joined this forum I was expecting my food photos to just shine above everyone else's; I had thousands of dollars' worth of cameras, lenses, heavy tripods, and decades of experience.  My published photos were at the bottom, they  sucked!!   I couldn't figure it out.  I understood the concept of "color temperature" in light (two-thirds of my career has been in explosives, and I've been/worked in many labs that used sodium-vapor Safety lamps, which make human skin turn puke-green if your eyes aren't used to it (and, yeah, "sodium-vapor" sounds kinda explosive on its own, but I guess not).  I bought an inexpensive LED "light panel" that allowed me to adjust the color temperature of its output, played with it a bit, and gave up on it (a little too soon, methinks).    
My kitchen has extremely-mixed light sources: overhead fluorescent lights that change visibly every time I buy new tubes, a smaller neon light over my cutting board/photo stage (whose tube has lasted the 28 years I've lived here), a skylight that appears very bluish, incandescent "candle" bulbs in my adjacent dining room, and west-facing windows.  For a few years I would mount the camera on a tripod, and take at least four identical pictures, while varying just which lights were on, using flash/not using flash, etc.  Never got a combo that looked good.  I even set up a "stage" in my guest bedroom (with northern-facing windows) and they didn't look good either, also tripped on an errant bedspread and spilled my beautiful stir-fried lunch onto the carpet; that ended that.  I did try putting my food shots into my desktop iMac, and really going after temp adjustments via Infinity Photo, but that was a lot of fuss for an effin' BGE poke chop.  
Two years ago I got an iPhone.  I took one food photo with it, no tripod or anything, and suddenly my food shots looked at least "average" to what we all see here.  Argh.  
 
Sorry for blabbing again.  Adam Ragusea just released this video about light temperature (and both tint and contrast are also discussed) that was, uh, enlightening if you'll pardon the pun.  It may also explain the reason why most high-end steakhouses are so effin' dark.  A worthwhile watch, if you post pics.
 
https://youtu.be/vp3qE63cugk

Ozzie_Isaac

Interesting, thank you for sharing.  Your photos are much better than @HeavyG 's.

jdMyers

Laughing.  It took me years to get the shadows right.  Then it hit me.  Move the items further away from the back ground, raise the lights higher changing the angle of attack.  Boom no shadows.  Now take your frustration and add this to the mix.  

I'm colored blind.  Use photoshop color tool to see the numbers.  0 0 0 is black and 254 254 254 is white for example.  I eye dropper and read to get it right.  

Stick with it.  Keep your head up.  Stay strong and stay focused.  Keep with your craft.  I took these 10 years ago with a cheap camera and a chipped lens

GrateEggspectations

@jdMyers

Wow. Colourblind? Having seen your shots, this is incredible.

jdMyers

jdMyers

Thanks.  I would say they tend to be more contrast than others.  

StillH2OEgger

Interesting video, @Botch. Thanks for sharing.

texaswig

We have nice camera equipment . I stopped using it .its easier to use the phone. And I get better results.raw files too  Take the photo. Edit and post it. Faster that I can probably move it over from a SD card. I have the pixel 7pro currently. I really like it. 

Legume

I really can't imagine taking more than a few seconds or pulling out the good camera to take food pics for this forum.  I've seen some incredible photos here of ribeyes, but it's still just a ribeye and I know what that tastes like and it's gonna be about the same as the one with a mediocre pic, only it's a little cooler for sitting there and getting fussed over. I do try to take a decent pic with my phone, but when I'm looking at all y'all's posts here, it's the recipe/flavor/creativity that interests me because what I'm really thinking is...do I want to borrow that.

The video was helpful @Botch, I know I'll pay attention to this more, especially at the market.

Photo Egg

I certainly agree on how good the new phones do with food photos. I used a iPhone 8+ for years and recently upgraded to iPhone 13. Both are good enough for most forum posts.
For those who shoot people, this was an interesting read on skin color number relationship.
https://www.smugmughelp.com/en/articles/457