Lecker
These are my first ever attempts at food and product photography
To avoid distortion of the bottle and glass my chosen shooting angle was straight on, with my camera positioned on a tripod. I used a lens focal length of 50mm.
Natural light was limited so I used my speedlight as a side light and a reflector positioned opposite. I do not have a softbox so I used a piece of net curtain to seek to diffuse the light. I also experimented with using a small torch to backlight the glass in the first image.
I used the knives and spoons, dark shadows and highlights to seek to lead the eye towards the primary product which is the beer bottle and tried to use food and accessories that are synonymous with German beer. I also tried to use rich warm tones and a dark background to give a cosy feel. I edited the image in lightroom and quickly in Photoshop mainly to try to take some of the blemishes and marks off the sausages.
For the product related images I gave thought in my composition to space for any editorial / advertising narrative, an indicative example of which I have added on the second picture.
I like the rich tones and droplets of moisture on the bottle which I got through putting it in the freezer before shooting.
I found arranging the food and accessories challenging, particularly at a straight on angle where perspective is limited and will keep working on this type of photography in the coming weeks to try and improve my approach. As such I really look forward to your feedback on placement etc. as well as techniques.
My key takeaways are that sausages taste much better than they look and that beer froth and indeed beer itself disappears quickly
