Bite off more than you can chew?

Food photography is simple right? We see it all the time, blogs on food cell phone delights. Well, allow me to do a quick demo.
At one time in your life you’ve had one of these… this is what it looks like when you get it out of the box, just throw it on a plate, nailed it right?

Ok maybe not, food photography is much more complicated than it first appears.
I was given an assignment to have at least 5 items (ingredients) related to the main food item. Specific requirements given by the client can often turn a creative task into a problem solving exercise.

I started with choosing the food item, I was thinking chocolate cake, but my wife was thinking tiramisu… so ingredients for tiramisu were required.

Next step was placement of items, this is a time consuming process that is as much trial and error as it is visual composition.

I tried with the full tiramisu but it just was too overpowering. Cutting the tiramisu was required.

With a small piece cut I chose an interesting plate… however it was too interesting, and created issues with item placement.

Changing the plate out I was able to get items to fit… but still no easy task.

I got some shots for the session that meet the requirements, however I was still not thrilled with the results.

The image submitted is the following

I’ve only done a couple platings of food photography, and it takes 10,000 hours to master anything. So I possibly shouldn’t be your first choice in food photography.

If you like the images I’ll certainly accept the work, however I can also recommend someone who has mastered the art. Commercial photographer Akemi Matsubuchi, or another talented individual Paige, who both have produced beautiful food images.