Tasty Frames

It's a great idea to include a human figure in this food study. It gives the viewer a relatable lead-in to the scene, creating a stronger emotional connection with the food. The composition and styling of the subject matter are exceptional too – clearly a great deal of time and thought went into the making of the shot. A worthy winner for this round!

The lighting, scene styling and framing are the elements that make this frame successful. The background contributes just enough to suggest the setting without becoming a distraction. The lighting highlights the subject nicely and maintains detail at either end of the tonal scale. Very nicely constructed.

The lighting, scene styling and framing are the elements that make this frame successful. The background contributes just enough to suggest the setting without becoming a distraction. The lighting highlights the subject nicely and maintains detail at either end of the tonal scale. Very nicely constructed.

Some of the shots entered into this round were big and expansive while others, such as this frame, make a feature out of small details. The composition is simple but it makes the best out of the yellow colour, which is reflected in the syrup. Sometimes simple is more powerful.

The lighting, scene styling and framing are the elements that make this frame successful. The background contributes just enough to suggest the setting without becoming a distraction. The lighting highlights the subject nicely and maintains detail at either end of the tonal scale. Very nicely constructed.

The lighting, scene styling and framing are the elements that make this frame successful. The background contributes just enough to suggest the setting without becoming a distraction. The lighting highlights the subject nicely and maintains detail at either end of the tonal scale. Very nicely constructed.

The lighting, scene styling and framing are the elements that make this frame successful. The background contributes just enough to suggest the setting without becoming a distraction. The lighting highlights the subject nicely and maintains detail at either end of the tonal scale. Very nicely constructed.

We're not quite sure what's happening here, but we want to know more! This is an interesting arrangement and we're glad the shot focuses on a drink. The colours are deep and impactful, while the lighting is ideally focused on the subject to make it pop.

This lie-flat scene is another example of how careful lateral arrangement can give food extra purpose in the frame. Each element of this scene contributes to the colour theme, which is tied together by the flowers. The lighting is painterly and is excellently managed to contour the food without clipping of the highlights or shadows.

There is a beautiful painterly tonality to the lighting here, which crafts deeply saturated colours and brings out the textures of the food. The colour contrasts work nicely and the styling effectively allows us to explore each piece of the setup in isolation and as part of the whole.

This shot makes us hungry! The colour contrasts are beautifully arranged and the lighting emphasises the succulent and fresh nature of the ingredients. The composition allows each one to stand alone and be appreciated for individual colour and texture, while the plating of the food gives an appealing sense of completion.

We love the clever interpretation of the brief for this entry! It's an interesting use of food to build an abstract and artistic scene. The advantage of this approach is that it creates a shot with both depth and height – the latter of which is often missing from food still-life shots. Nicely done.

Lay-flat shots are popular in food photography but, to really work well, they have to still convey depth across the frame. This shot perfectly arranges the colours of the food, making them the centrepiece for the theme of the photo. The lighting is very well controlled too, the shadows are dense enough to create shape without any loss of detail. Well done!

This shot has some serious sparkle! We love the concept and sense of energy introduced by the movement of the berries and the splash of liquid. It gives the scene a proper thirst-quenching tone while the directional lighting makes the droplets shine. Nicely planned and photographed.

We received many Christmas-themed images for this round and this one is up with the best. It is successful because of the inclusion of the background elements, which are blurred just enough to allow them to suggest the theme and setting. The flash lighting perfectly catches the falling flour too.