Last week I decided to try some food shots and these are the results. All ingredients were pretty much raw to keep the body and bright colours. I then torched the areas that I wanted to melt or look toasted or cooked with a small brulét burner. Gloss and sheen were added by painting those areas with cooking oil using a small paint brush. The lettuce got away as I have not yet figured out how to keep it "standing at attention", but I was told that hairspray helps. I will try that next time around. :)
Lighting was very simple with an old yongnuo 560 speedlight.
Please let me know your thoughts about composition, lighting etc..
Greets from Berlin!!
To me you can't judge food photos without knowing the purpose of their use. Overall, harsh flash lighting does not work well for food photos and that shows here. Soft sunlight is much more flattering and common for the food industry. The compositions and use of DOF are good except for the weird food angle of the last photo. The third photo has good composition, but the sloppy white sauce spilling out is so easily fixable.
When you use good light and fresh food-you will not need any fixes, oils, or hairspray to make the food look great.