Experiments in Food Photography

| Allison

Hello, my friends!

This post is going to be a tad strange because it’s full of dramatic photos of vegetables. Hehe. I had a lot of fun making it, though! I tried using ordinary props like an old sheet and a plastic bucket to create interesting pictures and you know what? I think it worked! You guys can give the final verdict after you finish the post. (Also read to the end to meet my new friend. 😛 )

Ready for some experimental food photography? Let’s go!

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I went through the kitchen, saw this bucket full of cherry tomatoes from our garden sitting on the counter, and immediately concluded that it needed to be photographed. *nods*

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I rummaged through the cabinet of rags under the laundry room sink for an old sheet to use as a backdrop since I don’t have any fancy food photography props. It worked surprisingly well! The wrinkles add nice texture.

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Then I carried it all to a spot in the Great Room where the sun cast interesting patterns on the floor and got to work.

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I was tempted to find a more photogenic container, but decided to try and work with what I have. The most distracting part was the bright blue handle, which I desaturated in Lightroom while editing.

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I love how these pictures turned out! I edited them a bit differently than normal – cool and dark and moody, to turn humble cherry tomatoes into something beautiful.

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I loved playing around with the deep shadows and low-contrast highlights. It reminded me once again of this apple photoshoot. Remember?

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Honestly I think the edits made the pictures. They’d just be tomatoes on a sheet otherwise, haha.

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One little guy tried to escape, but I didn’t let him. Cruel, I know.

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For some reason I love taking pictures of objects in my hands for photoshoots like these…? I suppose it adds a bit of personality and a glimpse of the person behind the camera.

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Switching gears now to dill and mushrooms on brown kraft paper. It was cloudy this go ’round, so I had to find ways to make interesting compositions without relying on harsh shadows for interest.

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I love the way dill looks, smells, and tastes. It’s so pretty and lacy.

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Guess what? Another annoying blue thing that had to be desaturated!

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Dill is shaped kinda like coral or seaweed, isn’t it?

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For these last few close-ups, I used my macro extension kit. The Nikon one is currently unavailable on Amazon, but here’s the Canon version if you want a fun and inexpensive camera upgrade!

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Such pretty dark green tones in this one.

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We’ll end with one of my favorites. Look, guys! It’s a mushroom with a mustache! Isn’t it perfect? 😀 He’s a little shy and doesn’t talk very much but would like to be your friend anyway. Okay… photoshoot is getting weirder and weirder. I’d better end the post.

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Welp, that’s all I have for now! I hope you enjoyed this random assortment of vegetable photos plus your weekly reminder that ordinary things are still full of loveliness if you know where to look. 🙂 Enjoy your food! And let me know if you find any more mustached mushrooms related to the little guy up there. *nods*

Mushrooms, tomatoes, or dill? Which photo was your favorite?

Thanks so much for reading, my friends, and have a lovely day!

***Allison***

74 thoughts on “Experiments in Food Photography”

  6. Mushrooms, tomatoes AND dill! 😂 I love them all! I didn’t think this photo shoot was that weird, I do amateur versions of food photography a lot! But come to think of it, I am a weird person, so that might disqualify the former sentence…😝😂

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  12. Beautiful!! I especially loved the dill🌿
    Thank you for these!👏✨
    What would you say your favorite subject to photograph has been so far? People, objects, landscape, ect.

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    1. Thanks so much, Alana! And that’s a great question. I think getting good pictures of people is the most satisfying and rewarding, but the most enjoyable and easy subject for me is probably nature, especially close-ups like flowers. 🙂 Do you like photography? What is your favorite subject?

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      1. That’s great! Yes very true about people. I do like photography, and have done some still life, but I do more video filming and editing. I’m just a mid teen, but hope to be an editor in the future!❤️✨
        I love all of your posts, thx so much!!

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  17. I love the dill picture that is macro I think…
    It looks like a Christmas tree photo for some reason…. ❤️

    Plz could you recommend a few WordPress blogs?
    Your friends?

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    1. Oh it *does* look kinda like a Christmas tree, you’re right!
      Sure! I love midnight-mind.com,
      summerof1999.blogspot.com, charisrae.com, arialewisphotography.com/blog, and
      thesarcasticelf.com. Enjoy!

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  22. Hi there….the tomatoes🍅 in your hand was my favourite…good for you with your experimentation in a different area..maybe it will help…down the road…to zero in on a particular photographic category….📷 you really want to concentrate on??👩 Cheers ~ Valerie from Vancouver Island🙂

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    1. They were fun to hold, like little pebbles. 🙂 I know, I’m all over the place with my photography – I just like taking pictures of everything! 🙂 I bet Vancouver Island would be beautiful to photograph right now! I have some family in British Columbia and they send the most beautiful pictures of autumn in B. C.!

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  23. Pingback: Experiments in Food Photography – MobsterTiger

  28. The pictures of the tomatoes are very interesting. And I quite like that last part about ordinary things being full of loveliness. Noticing that is what keeps the wonder in our lives and keeps us thankful to God for everything.
    I remember a few years ago I watched a movie about Alexander Graham Bell making the telephone and seeing how excited he was and being very excited my self. And I thought how we take our phones so for granted. It is so wonderful to be able to call someone thousands of miles away, and yet there voice is with us. It is so amazing that we can make something that does that.

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    1. YES, you’re absolutely right! I couldn’t agree more, Mandalynn.
      And oh my goodness yes, I was just thinking how glad I was for mobile communication the other day. It really is amazing!

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