Favourite foods

A terrific shot that captures the moment that an egg is dropped into a bowl of flour. I love the movement of the flour and I've no idea how you managed to get the trail of egg white going down into the yolk. You've thought carefully about the lighting - it's not an easy subject with so much white flour. You've managed to pick up on the flour texture by keeping the light hard and low with just the right amount of fill light from the left. This is a classic food lighting set-up: a low spotlight from three quarters behind the subject to skim the light across it and a reflector to fill in the shadows - always a good starting point if you're setting and lighting a food shot. Finally, I think the choice of bowl was good, adding a bit of dark green to contrast with the flour.

A well composed and lit image of the weather-beaten and grimy hands delicately peeling a ripe red apple. I think it's good that there's a fairly restricted colour palette with the knife being the same colour as the apple. Also the fact that the man is wearing black means no distractions in the background and makes for a very strong composition. Close-ups of hands performing tasks like this often produce interesting images, so if any of you are looking for inspiration as to what to photograph, grab a friend and get shooting!

I like this photograph very much. The rich colours of the sandwich are dramatically lit, and an extremely shallow depth of field really helps it to stand out and make for a very strong image. As a food photographer working mostly in my studio, I'm constantly looking for interesting backgrounds that set the dish in some sort of context yet don't detract from the main subject. I love the subtle shades of grey in the background of this image. I don't really know what's happening, but in my imagination those few light relections are enough to convince me that it's on a table in a cafe. Anyway, who doesn't love fish finger sandwiches?!

I was first attracted by the richness of the colours in this display of spices at a market stall. The very shallow depth of focus (the image was taken on a 50mm lens at f1.4) works really well in creating an impressionistic effect of the spices in the background. Because the spices are displayed in clear containers there's no distraction from any crates and this is probably why I find the shot so appealing. I think that the symmetry of the composition works well too.

A very accomplished photograph and I'm not at all surprised that it took a couple of hundred attempts to come up with the final result. This sort of image is only possible with the use of some sort of high speed flash in order to freeze the action. One of the problems is that the strawberry gets covered in milk on each drop and it's not easy to clean off. I don't know if you used a new strawberry each time! At least with digital cameras you know when you've got a shot that you're pleased with. I remember trying to do a similar project using film and just not knowing how long to carry on for, hoping at least one would have worked. Very well done.

This image is almost like an illustration with it's highly saturated colours, but it works very well. With the strong perspective and shallow focus it's a dramatic photograph. The composition is a classic example of the 'rule of thirds', which is probably why it just feels right. (If you don't know what the 'rule of thirds' is you should try Googling it.) Experiment with your own compositions using this rule, it makes for an interesting layout more often than not.

This is the sort of shot that I'm occasionally asked to take and I think that you've done an excellent job. A client will say to me something like: "We need a lovely shot of a freshly baked loaf and it should be on a natural background - something like wood or hessian sacking". My immediate reaction is that there's going to be an awful lot of brown in the shot and it's then my task to make it look interesting. My reaction to this image is that I'd be very happy to have it in my portfolio, so well done.

There were two similar shots submitted by this entrant, both taken at the same location and I was somewhat torn between the two. I finally chose this one because I thought the balance between the contents of the display cabinet and the people on the outside was slightly better. I particularly like the way that the lighting from the cabinet falls on the boy's face and the frosting on the top of the glass diffuses the upper part of the image. Very well observed and composed.

I thought there'd be loads of images like this one entered in this competition - shots of people's meals and snacks when eating out. You frequently see people snapping their meals on their phones and putting them on their Facebook pages. Anyway, there weren't many entered, but this is a good example of how to do it properly. Some nice back lighting going on here, but enough detail in the shadows. There's a shallow depth of field yet all the ingredients can be seen and identified. It's shot from a low angle which works well for a stacked sandwich like this. It also means that we have an impression of what's happening in the background so we can start imagining what the place was like and a story starts forming. In my mind it was probably taken outside on a pavement table in the early evening with people passing by. Much more interesting than an overhead shot of the same plate. Always consider the angle that you photograph from and make sure that what's going on in the background enhances what's going on in the foreground. Nice shot!

A lot of thought and work has gone into this shot, but unfortunately the only thing in focus appears to be the vapour rising from the chilli pepper. It's a shame because it spoils an image that had some potential. I'm sure you were disappointed too, but you have a good idea and nice lighting so I think it would be worthwhile having another go at this shot. Every photographer knows the disappointment of finding that an otherwise good image isn't quite in focus so don't be too upset, just learn from your mistake and get it pin sharp next time!

I thought this was an interesting photograph with lots going on and it is nicely observed. In the end it didn't get a Commendation though, because everyone is looking away from the camera. I suppose that the focal point is the bowl of noodles - that's where my eye is naturally drawn to. I think it would have worked much better, though, if the woman serving had just interacted with the customer and raised her head a bit. In my view it would have changed an interesting shot into a very good one.

The lighting on the grapes in this shot is lovely, especially where it creeps through the gaps in the wicker basket. The two things that spoil it a bit for me, though, are the yellow leaves and the basket handle. I think that the leaves take away from the freshness of the fruit, and the handle just spoils the composition. Such a shame that it wasn't some sort of open basket. It's not far off from being a very good image, so keep on observing these sort of subjects.

A very good effort here, but I thought it was just let down by something that unfortunately was outside of your control. I think there's just too much of the foam on the food so it begins to take over. I like the composition, the close-in crop and the camera angle, and the lighting works well too. I also quite like the mixture of daylight and ambient light. If only there was half the amount of foam it would have worked much better.

This is an interesting shot which has been set up and lit to give a specific effect. I particularly like the low viewpoint that this was taken from so that the asparagus appears to be towering above us. Back lighting steam or smoke against a dark background can give some very interesting and dramatic results and I think that the amount of swirling in the steam is just about right. The criticism I have is that the hard lighting has burnt out the edges of two of the stems, which I think has spoiled an otherwise very good image. I think it would be worthwhile having another go at this shot to get softer highlights.

I liked this shot as soon as I saw it. I tend to be attracted to images with restricted colour palettes and with just shades of red and blue along with black and white, this is very eye-catching. I would have preferred it if the slight yellowness reflected into the rim of the colander had been removed. I also think it works very well cropped a lot tighter, so none of the rim of the colander is showing. I particularly like it with a portrait crop and think it would make a terrific full-page image in a foodie magazine.