October 2024 Competition - Food

[Tim Mayo]

=== Please Read Before Submitting Your Entry ===

• Only submit images taken during the current and previous two months (August, September, October 2024).
• Metadata must be included and embedded with the image.

======================

Theme
For this month the theme is food. If you need some help with inspiration then head over to our Food Challenge Thread. Images don't need to be limited to what's on your plate, but could include images of food halls, street vendors, people eating at restaurants, animals catching they prey, or as one of our submissions shows, Bugs Bunny eating a carrot graffitied on a wall.

Competition Dates
Entries start: The date that this post is published.
Entries end: October 20th at 3am Eastern Time (9am GMT)
Voting starts: October 20th at 3am Eastern Time (9am GMT)
Voting ends: October 27th at 3am Eastern Time (9am GMT)

Shot Taken Date
Only submit images taken during the current and previous two months. The metadata including date must be included in the uploaded image.

What Do I Get if I Win?
I'm afraid now it's just the joy of taking park, but I will look into adding a special profile banner to winners profiles. In the past there have been vouchers for 1st and 2nd places, but we want to try and encourage people to enter without dangling a voucher code in front of them. Let's see if there's much of an impact this month!

How to Enter + Rules

1. Post your entries in this thread by scrolling down to the reply box then hitting the 'upload images' button. Insert image as full not thumbnail.
2. Sony cameras only.
3. Camera metadata must be included in the images to verify.
4. Only submit images taken in the current and previous two months) The date must be included in the image metadata.
5. Only one photo entry per member.
6. Keep the photos clean and family friendly.
7. Please don't use sky replacements or AI image generation.
8. You are free to change you image during the entry period.
9. Not essential but it would be nice if you added a little background information on your entry.

How to Vote (when voting opens)

1. Use the vote button (up arrow) to the right of the post (below post on mobile) to vote up images that you like
2. You can vote on as many images as you like apart from your own

Upcoming Themes for 2024
Our themes for the year have already been decided to give you a heads-up on what's coming next.

• Oct: Food
• Nov: After Dark
• Dec: Festivities

Feedback
I'd really appreciate feedback about how the competition is running but please don't post it in this thread. Instead please post any feedback in this thread in the Feedback Forum.

Thank you for participating and good luck!

Tim

 

[Tim Mayo]

Please note the rules folks, especially regarding the date of submitted images.

1. Sony cameras only.
2. Camera metadata must be embedded with images to verify.
3. Only submit images taken in the current and previous two months (August, September & October 2024). The date must be included in the image metadata.
4. Only one photo entry per member.
5. Keep the photos clean and family friendly.
6. Please don't use sky replacements or AI image generation.
7. You are free to change your image during the entry period.
8. Not essential but it would be nice if you added a little background information to your entry.

Thank you!

 

[Alan Clark]

• E 28-200mm F2.8-5.6 A071
• 34.0 mm
• ƒ/10
• 1/400 sec
• ISO 400

 

[twamers68]

Osprey 511 obliged by landing approx 80m away from a public hide (not set up) and proceed to eat his food for about 75 mins Poole Harbour UK

• ILCE-1
• FE 600mm F4 GM OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/4
• 1/3200 sec
• ISO 500

 

[Unframed Dave]

I've landed a few of those, that's a sea bass.

 

[twamers68]

I've landed a few of those, that's a sea bass.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Probably the least amount of entries I've seen in one of our comps at this state. Is everyone here dieting or something?

 

[iamdlewis]

Probably the least amount of entries I've seen in one of our comps at this state. Is everyone here dieting or something?

At least for me this is an odd one. I do not take my camera with me to restaurants and the meals I tend to eat at home are less photogenic. Tried a couple things and they just didn't work out. Still got an idea or two to try.

 

[evacguy]

Dinner with a view - dinning at the roof top resturant of the Embassy Hotel in Valletta Malta.

• ILCE-7M4
• FE 24-70mm F2.8 GM II
• 24.0 mm
• ƒ/2.8
• 1/30 sec
• ISO 400

 

[Clix Pix]

Probably the least amount of entries I've seen in one of our comps at this state. Is everyone here dieting or something?

For a few reasons I won't get into here, right from the get-go I am not enthusiastic about food photography and certainly don't venture into that realm myself and rarely enjoy seeing others' images, especially since so often on social media quite a few people seem to think that others will be excited about and interested in their snapshots of their breakfast, lunch or dinner....

All ll I can say about that is, well.....why would anyone else, a viewer, be enthusiastic about whatever one particular individual chose to eat for his or her breakfast, lunch or dinner? Beyond that, never mind the viewer then moving on to the point of actually taking and then sharing a snapshot of his or own meal??

That aside, actually, good food photography is actually an art and when handled appropriately and professionally, such as in the hands of skilled food photographers (who are usually shooting for advertisements and promotions for various restaurants and/or reviews of the food served at said restaurants or other venues), the images presented can indeed be quite striking and appealing.

On the part of the photographer, this requires a knowledgeable, professional and thoughtful approach. That's a far cry from someone shooting a snapshot with his or her cell phone of a lunch that he or she grabbed at a fast-food joint.....

I daresay that many of us who participate in this forum are not interested in food photography because we don't shoot casual snapshots of our meals and/or because we are not so keenly into the whole food thing that we are even interested in shooting images of food in a more serious way......

 

[Landshark99]

For a few reasons I won't get into here, right from the get-go I am not enthusiastic about food photography and certainly don't venture into that realm myself and rarely enjoy seeing others' images, especially since so often on social media quite a few people seem to think that others will be excited about and interested in their snapshots of their breakfast, lunch or dinner....

All ll I can say about that is, well.....why would anyone else, a viewer, be enthusiastic about whatever one particular individual chose to eat for his or her breakfast, lunch or dinner? Beyond that, never mind the viewer then moving on to the point of actually taking and then sharing a snapshot of his or own meal??

That aside, actually, good food photography is actually an art and when handled appropriately and professionally, such as in the hands of skilled food photographers (who are usually shooting for advertisements and promotions for various restaurants and/or reviews of the food served at said restaurants or other venues), the images presented can indeed be quite striking and appealing.

On the part of the photographer, this requires a knowledgeable, professional and thoughtful approach. That's a far cry from someone shooting a snapshot with his or her cell phone of a lunch that he or she grabbed at a fast-food joint.....

I daresay that many of us who participate in this forum are not interested in food photography because we don't shoot casual snapshots of our meals and/or because we are not so keenly into the whole food thing that we are even interested in shooting images of food in a more serious way......

I see this differently in that food is a valid a subject matter to shoot as any other, when done with creativity. Why do people want to see anything, if they like the subject then they may like the images.

 

[Tinopener]

Must admit finding this theme challenging .. Have the thinking cap on fingers crossed hope to come up with a idea ..... Gary

 

[Unframed Dave]

I like the theme and particularly admire the imagination one of the competitors has applied to it.

I have just been very busy this month and haven't had the camera to hand at an appropriate moment.

I am one of those folks who takes pictures of particularly memorable meals. Food is a major part of my life, I've eaten weird stuff all over the world. Why wouldn't you take a snap of beef cooked in red ant sauce with wasps?

 

[Tim Mayo]

All ll I can say about that is, well.....why would anyone else, a viewer, be enthusiastic about whatever one particular individual chose to eat for his or her breakfast, lunch or dinner? Beyond that, never mind the viewer then moving on to the point of actually taking and then sharing a snapshot of his or own meal??

As we have already seen from the few entries that we do have, there are a number of creative takes on food photography that don't involve shooting your own meal.

 

[alexpler]

I understand that the theme is not limited to "food you are about to eat", rather it aims for a creative approach. It could be a market stand with groceries, a close up of an edible mushroom or even more imaginative shots like those already posted. It's a tricky theme however, far from our comfort zone.

 

[Penners]

Food preparation in a Tudor English kitchen. Part of an authentic re-enactment event at Kentwell Hall in Suffolk, England.

• ILCE-7RM3
• FE 24-240mm F3.5-6.3 OSS
• 45.0 mm
• ƒ/4.5
• 1/45 sec
• ISO 1250

 

[PixelDoc]

Osprey 511 obliged by landing approx 80m away from a public hide (not set up) and proceed to eat his food for about 75 mins Poole Harbour UKView attachment 67561

Not really enamored of this shot; do hope this doesn't sound too negative. But not even a suggestion of motion blur makes it look somewhat like a posed and unrealistic studio shot - particularly without any background. However, overall technically superb. And, it's certainly about food.

 

[Doug Herr]

• ILCE-1
• FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS + 2X Teleconverter
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/5.6
• 1/400 sec
• ISO 1000

 

[Robart]

Game bird