Right direction with editing?

[sv_goon]

This is a shot I took mostly as a goof while waiting to eat dinner and trying out my new Gorilla tripod on the counter. But with the colors it seems like a good one to practice my editing skills. What I'm after is mouthwatering, not sure how to get there. The "before" is straight out of the camera, the "after" has been cropped, levels adjusted and the overall saturation bumped up a little bit.

Am I on the right track? Where would you go next to make a real food glamour shot?

Thanks in advance.

Before:


After Edits, Round 1:


EXIF:
Camera: Canon EOS REBEL T1i
Exposure: 0.033 sec (1/30)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 45 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

[hifigraz]

After the edit it is better. But I'm not totally conviced either.
Maybe you could try to emphasize the red of the tomatos even more....

KR Robert

[SusanH1970]

I prefer the before, actually. I wouldn't want to eat neon green spinach.

Your white balance is a bit off - the image is a touch too warm.

Looks yummy, though!

[Laurenbiz]

I agree with making the colors even more vibrant. And I would crop it more tightly so I do not see that person's legs in the background.

:-)

[sv_goon]

Thanks for the useful critiques. I'll keep playing and post some further edits. I didn't even notice the legs until this very minute. I'm going to ignore them till I get the salad looking good, then work on cloning/cropping. Good thing we were wearing pants!

Cheers...

[untitled99]

Originally Posted by sv_goon

Thanks for the useful critiques. I'll keep playing and post some further edits. I didn't even notice the legs until this very minute. I'm going to ignore them till I get the salad looking good, then work on cloning/cropping. Good thing we were wearing pants!

Cheers...

i didn't notice the legs either!

I would try a square crop to get out as much of that black triangle as possible-- while the food looks tasty, I keep getting distracted by the black spot. After that maybe try a soft focus outer edge to draw the focus even more to the food.

good luck, don't forget to show us the changes.

[Tammylynn45]

i love the second one, however if it were me i would make the background black and white while leaving the plate in all its glory, the stone on the table is a bit distracting so minimizing it is the way i would go if editing was an option.

great shot!

[Wifey]

Mmmmm, salad. . .looks yummy!

I too am pretty distracted by the legs in this shot. Ditto sv_goon. . .I'd go for a soft focus around the edges to pull the eye back to the plate.

In the second edit you gave the plate some depth - it's got a nice sheen to it. I always think it looks nice in food shots when the plate has a little sparkle, almost like it's in candlelight. I'd keep working on those veggies though. . .maybe play with the white balance some more? Since you shot with no flash and used whatever artificial light the kitchen had, the colors are off.

I think also that you should make another salad and shoot it with a bounce flash or natural window light, watch your composition so you don't have to crop so much (anytime you crop you lose some resolution), and keep shooting! Anytime you can avoid extensive PP, the better Cheers!

[lee kivi]

Hi, To me, both the edge of the countertop and the countertop material itself are distracting. Also, I know this was an impromtu shot , but my eyes weren't sure what to focus on, the tomato, the cheese or should I grab a fork and just start eating.

[IABoomer]

Originally Posted by untitled99

i didn't notice the legs either!

I would try a square crop to get out as much of that black triangle as possible-- while the food looks tasty, I keep getting distracted by the black spot. After that maybe try a soft focus outer edge to draw the focus even more to the food.

good luck, don't forget to show us the changes.

I tended to agree with some of this (distracting dark triangle, too much in focus) along with comments about the white balance being off.

Cropped in a bit tighter, but kept the aspect ratio. Fixed the white balance. Faked a shallower depth of field with a blurred layer and layer mask. I think the front of the salad has more interesting colors and textures, so I let the back of the salad blur away.