Lobster Tail Fail!

For those of you who don’t know, a lobster tail is an Italian Pastry. This one was purchased from Touch of Italy, a local bistro/restaurant in Lewes, De. I told the guy at the counter that I wanted to photograph it and he made sure to wrap it super carefully so that it would make the drive home without flaking or breaking.

This is the first food photo I’ve taken since I started reading Nicole Young’s “Food Photography” book and I think it’s already making a difference. For example this is the first shot I took of the Lobster Tail:

Right away something felt off. The lobster tail just didn’t pop. Thinking back to Nicole’s book, one of the things she mentioned was how important color is. So I quickly ran to my kitchen and pulled out a neon green cutting board. I figured the green would help balance out the the reds and yellows. Unfortunately, the green ended up being wayyyy too over powering, though I still like it better than the all white.

One thing I am proud about with this photo is the square dish I used to plate the lobster tail. Over the weekend we hit up a bunch of thrift stores and antique places trying to snag random plates so that I could use them for food photography. This one, which looks cool, only cost me thirty five cents. As for the plating itself I once again flubbed up. There is an indent to the dish and as a result the lobster tail slunk down into the middle of the plate. I think it would’ve made a far more effective picture if the front part, closest to the camera, was protruding off the plate.

I’m also not content with the lighting. I used a softbox to take this and it was placed just off camera to the right. The problem is that the custard and front side of the lobster tail look too dark. I should’ve set up some reflectors to go in the front of the lobster tail to give that area a little bit more of a pop.