Savoury Food

What I especially like about this image is the wag you have captured the textures of the food. There is a lovely contrast between the thin flaky pastry and the soft cheesy filling. Also working well is the colour contrast between the golden brown pastry and the green herbs and spinach, which make the food look fresh and delicious. Great image, well done on your top ten placing.

I like how this shot has been composed, with a square crop and the pizza mostly filling the frame. The strips of cured ham are well positioned in the composition, running across the frame on a diagonal. Being a little critical I may have sdjusted the focus point slightly, bringing it forward maybe to the broccoli and strip of ham nearer the centre of the pizza, as at the moment the focus looks to be on the burnt bubbles of cheese towards the back right, which maybe was not the intention? Still a great image, well done on your top ten placing.

Whilst not a particular fan of sushi, this looks especially inviting to tempt even the sushi-sceptic. Lighting is fabulous, and this is one of relatively few images in the contest that shows real appreciation that a key to successful food photography is to light the subject in such a way as to make the food look tempting and delicious. I also like that we are at the diners viewpoint, so this really looks like this is MY meal; a further invite to tuck in. Due to the quality of the lighting, colours look natural, with a range of hues to show the food off to its best. Congratulations on your second place finish.

A great close-up view of a stack of sausage roll savoury snacks. Use of a wide aperture has nicely controlled the depth of field to bring sharp focus to just one pastry, with the rest being softly out of focus. Lighting is good and you have controlled the lighting and colour balance well, as everything looks to be a natural colour you would expect the food to be; an important thing in food photography where the aim will usually be to make the food look appetising. Well done on your top ten placing.

I love the high-key effect of this image, perfectly showing off the fresh food and the sharp zingy colours, which contrast wonderfully with the bright white. Even though high key, there are still good amounts of contrast from the black tray edging and the brown kofta. Composition works well, and the shallow depth of field suits the subject really well, as we focus fully on just ond bowl, but the others are not so out of focus as to be a distraction. Great work, well done on your top ten placing.

A fabulous composition of a delicious-looking pizza and some of the ingredients used in its making. Everything goes together well, with no random or unrelated objects thrown into the composition. The setup looks well planned but has avoided looking regimented or false, and the framing also works well, with some items cropped into, which gives the impression of a busy kitchen worktop rather than a photographic studio. Lighting is great to bring out the vibrant colours of the food, and set against the white backdrop everything stands out nicely. The crowd vote in this type of contest will often go to dark images with a black background, but for me a more natural setup brings a lightness and freshness to highlight the tempting food. Congratulations on your third place finish.

A great shot of some very appetising food. I love the close-in viewpoint with the open sandwiches virtually filling the frame, with just a small section of the serving board included to give context. Choice of aperture has worked well, as the resulting shallower depth of field has crested a visually pleasing effect with the foreground subjects in sharp focus, and the food in the background falling softly out of focus. The square crop suits the subject and puts full focus on the food. Great work, well done on your top ten placing.

I like the simplicity of this image, just some large juicy prawns set out on a board with a scattering of herbs. However simple the subject may be, everything about the capture is spot-on, from the general set-up and styling of the food, the lighting, composition, natural colouring etc. The highlights on the near surface of the prawns have been caught just right, as the gleam not only brings the image to life, but most essentially for a food shot it helps make it look delicious. I love the colour contrast bewtween the pinky-orange prawns and green herbs. Great image, well done on your top ten placing.

This image is just bursting with freshness and is a great example of how food should be photographed. Here the lighting reveals all the textures, and the reasonably shallow depth of field brings depth to the composition, all giving the impression we could just reach into the frame and take a deliciously healthy mouthful. Everything looks natural regarding the colour, with no ugly or off-putting colour cast. On first impression a relatively simple composition, but one which is extremely effective and very well captured. Well done on your top ten placing.