Food Photography

I know, those of you who follow me because of my crafts or my baking are probably wondering if I left that side of myself back in 2010. I did not. But, I'll have to prove that later because I have one more photography post to share first.

I have been over at The Pioneer Woman's photography site all week. I get so excited when she runs a contest! The theme this time was food. My favorite! So I have been glued to PW's Flickr site like an addict of some sort.

I am pretty sure I am not allowed to share my favorite entries here (?), but you should go click up there and check them out. You will be AMAZED at the talent! Well, I certainly was.

It is no surprise I did not place in the contest since my skill level is pretty basic, especially as compared to some of these super talented photographers. But I am getting better and entering the contests forces me to look more critically at my own work.

One of the things that compels me to keep pushing myself to improve my skills is that I enjoy sharing my work here. And frankly, I am a bit competitive when it comes to artistic endeavors. I will always want to be the best; to keep reaching.


So here are my entries the good, the pretty good and the "uh-oh".


This is the one I thought might catch her attention because I was really happy with how the color and texture turned out. This picture came from the same photo shoot as the title picture above, which I also entered. If you click these pictures, you can go see the original in my Flickr, if you want to see more detail.


(I am still trying to figure out Flickr. It is cool, but I don't know all the ropes yet.)







Here is my "uh-oh" I wanted a damask texture on this and some dramatic lighting. I like the bright lighting part, but I think the cupcake paper is too dark at the bottom...and more yellow than I had intended. THEN, because I struggled with the layering, I somehow didn't line up the masks properly, so there is a bit of a "halo" over there on the left. It's hard to get a mask right when there are no sharp lines. If you are a photoshopper you are nodding right now. If you are my mom, you are saying "I can't even tell the difference!". Trust me, PW can see the difference! Once I realized what I had done, I was pretty embarrassed and wanted to pull it out of the line-up because, of course, it didn't have a chance of winning and I don't want this to represent my work, but I am making myself keep it up till the contest is over...for the sake of humility...and now for you. 
Then, I may have to pull it down, re-do or something. Yuck!






Some of you may remember this photo from last June. I like this one. I love the pink overlay and the all pink subjects. I also kind of like the fact that it is off-kilter and I hope that comes across the way I want it to. What I don't like is that the one cupcake that is in focus does not also feature a beautiful swirl of frosting. I think would have helped...*sigh*






Lastly, I entered this apple shot. In retrospect, it may not have been the best in the apple series I did, but it is still pretty good. I am on the fence about the cropping/ composition. What do you think?





Here's one I probably should have entered. I love the light and the composition. Oh well.




I am open to constructive suggestions. One of these days, I am going to place in one of her photo contests. (I placed in her editing contest last time! woo hoo!)