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Morning coffee
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I am shooting a set of photos for Ristretto Coffee – a local coffee roasting company. The shots will be used as part of a branding package and displayed in cafes. This isn’t a final shot, but its getting close.
Critique very welcome. Nit pick, suggest things, whatever. I could use another opinion!
very nice. looks technically very good but just something about the angle seems to suggest to me that the cup is ready to fall or slide… Dunno what it is but it looks like its on a slop. But in fairness thats being very picky. haha
Lokks nice and bright though, would work well as an advertisement.
Brian
Cheers Brian. You’re right, its a little jaunty! I’ll be using a tripod properly the next time! I think its a combination of shooting from high, and to the side but with the camera rotated a little. Can’t fix it in post either. Certainly something I’d want to sort before it goes up in a load of cafes!
I tried taking photos of coffee before and found it very difficult. As Brian said, the tilt makes the set look unbalanced and although the colours would suggest a peaceful and relaxed morning, I don’t feel that great looking at it. The crop is too tight, loosing the right end is not the best idea IMO. The flowers blurred in the bg is a great idea, love the colours filtering into the picture. There is some stuff on the left, which is totally not good there(I guess that’s a vase). The lighting could be a bit more even to get more detail in the coffee foam (which is the subject of the photo basically).
Not bad, but you will play with this for a bit more I think :)
Hope I didn’t sound like a smarta**
Good luck!
I like the overall feel of this photo, however the handle of the cup missing detracts from the image for me, my mind keeps wondering ‘why?’. The yellow daffodils are a great idea but I would try to maybe tone them down a wee bit by maybe blurring them a bit more or desaturating them a bit as they are just a bit too bright and take away from the main subject….the great looking coffee I could do with sipping right now!!!!
Good luck with the shot and I hope I’ve been helpful.Ok, suggestions
add a bit more room on top, put in some water vapour,
emphasise the swirl effect of cream or bubbles.
If losing a bit of the handle, I would crop to cut the saucer bottom.
All good suggestions there-
so I wont repeat any of them-I wonder would a polarizer help in getting more detail in the froth?
I don’t know, just wondering-It might mean using flash to stop motion,
considering that you’re probably already stopping down for DOF-Looks like a good project, coming on well-
j
Excellent folks. That’s really good feedback. Much appreciated. I am a total coffee nerd – probably more than my photography – so this is a very enjoyable project. Though it is much more difficult than I ever expected.
Randomway – agreed on the tilt. I’ll watch that next time. The vase on the left is holding the flowers – they’re actually in the foreground so that I could get them in the right place, and to blur them a little more, since there is less dof in front of the focus point. But point taken, the vase perhaps not obvious what it is and not adding anything and I could try to keep it out of frame.
Meo – without going a lot wider, the cup sat right in the middle of the frame. I will have to try some other crops because it does look like a mistake, even if it was intentional! Thanks for you thoughts.
Pixelle – great ideas. The steam would seem like a good idea – but a cappuccino should never be so hot as to be steaming, would you believe! Yes, some people like their cappuccinos ‘extra hot’, but when the milk is steamed to jus the right temperature (about 150deg F) it takes on a beautiful sweetness. Part of the reason behind these shots is to educate customer about speciality coffee – so steam would send the wrong message. The final shot will also show some latte art – a leaf or a heart drawn on top of the milk. Good idea on losing some of the saucer and a bit more space on top. I think I’ll give that a shot.
JB – I’m glad you thought this was natural light. I actually used a couple of flashes for this. This was shot at 170mm, ISO 200, f4, 1/250th so I can stop down some more, to get more detail in the milk, but I don’t want to lose the blur in the flowers. And I will have to work on the reflections to get enough texture, but also good highlight detail in the milk. Its a balancing act, and food photographers certainly earn their money!!
Thanks again.
And just another thought..would the daffs be better full-face as it were rather than dangling in profile? Or not?
Yes good suggestion Pixelle, actually maybe the daffodils flat on the table, facing the camera at a slight angle pointing in the opposite direction to the cup of coffee and tied with something natural looking if you know what I mean!!
I like this too. And all good suggestions have been made. One more thing
though, I reckon the spoon should be the same side as the handle; that
cup is set up for a right-hander, not a South paw. Just an observation…Rob.
Great ideas for the dafs Meo and Pixelle. I’ll be sure to try them, and some other plants too – they’re there for a bit of context and atmosphere. I think the dafs perhaps give it an excessively springtime feeling.
You’re dead right Rob. It did start on the right…
Thanks again.
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