RESULTS: It Looks Good....But... Does It Taste Good?

Thanks to all that played the game.  I'll probably do more of these games and quizzes in the future.  In any case I'm sure everyone is anxious wondering the Answer behind all these photos.   If you still want to try at guess first before getting the answers then click HERE and view the previous post first.
 .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Answers:

#1 - Tea Cup- 100% REAL

This was an impromptu shot I took after having had a very tasty Chinese Food Take-out Dinner.  I noticed the reflection of the lamp above the table showing up quiet clearly on the surface of the tea.    Having done some reading from one of my favorite lighting books I had a moment of inspiration and fired off a few fun shots.






#2 - Blueberry Cake- 100% REAL

So, a select few of you had an unfair advantage because no only did you see this cake....but you probably ate some of it too....Yes Lynn you're absolutely correct....It WAS very tasty.  The photo was taken in Seattle, WA at a long time friend of mine's wedding.  Erik de Bie is his name, and incidentally is a Fantasy Genre Author and has done some good stuff with the Forgotten Realms series that people should check out.  He also has a new short story that just came out that people should buy and take a look see.  Anyways, great wedding, great friends, great food, and a great photographer.... =D





#3 - Winter Cake- ~70 FAKE

This is one of those that gets kind of tricky...and those who have been keeping up with my FB PAGE already knew about this one.  So, this is TECHNICALLY an example of fake food for photography.  However, the only thing that really fake about it is the fluffy tasty cake insides that are just underneath the frosting, or fondant in this case.  The flowers, greenery, the outside of the case is 100% REAL.....just the actual "CAKE" part is Styrofoam cut-outs that cake stores use to put out display samples so they don't have to worry about them molding or decomposing or disappearing in the night by a swarm of 6 legged creatures.  This was taken for a very ambitious composite image where a bunch of candy and desserts were photographed individually and then cut out and pasted together to make a single winter wonderland landscape image.  Hopefully, I'll be able to post the final image later, however, it'll probably be a bit because it is still in heavy post production for the moment.









#4 - Champagne 100% REAL

This was a very quick and impromptu photo taken of a champagne glass in the hotel room of a high school friend at his wedding in San Fransisco, CA.  Very fun wedding.  It's a great job where you can get paid to take photos of people while they're insisting that they buy you expensive shots of whiskey and then shuttling you around SF in a limo and having freshly caught crab an oyster shooters off one of the piers and then being taken back to your car in a limo by a very nice driver.  It's alright to be jealous now.......  I am.






#5 - Ice Cream ~90-95% FAKE

I have been completely going nuts planning and preparing for this shoot.  This ice cream IS FAKE!!!!! I love it.  This was my first attempt at trying the recipe for fake ice cream as listed in a food styling book.  I have been reading this for 6 months now and it still blows me away.  That book is the reason why I love food photography so much.  It's a mix of magic, science, physics, special effects, art, and photography all rolled into one.  So, the short recipe to make fake ice cream you take one of those frosting tubs with the frosting color that is the closest match to your "flavor" of your desired ice cream.   Add food coloring if needed.  Then add basically the "better part of 2/3rds of a 2 pound bag of confectioner's sugar"........which is A LOT of sugar.  And there are some extra details to make it look like they're starting to melt (which I am trying the next time...also I need a better scoop for next time I try this.  But, these things are basically crunch balls of sugar overload.  Ahhhh......love it.  Oh, and the cones are real... as they should be.





More to come,



-Cheers


Brian

It Looks Good....But... Does It Taste Good?

Alright photo enthusiasts, and anyone else who follows the blog.  Today we're going to play a little game.


Brief Back-Story
It's no secret to anyone who has been around me in the past year, how fascinated and obsessed I am about food photography.  I'm sure almost everyone has notice that, there are a lot of times that the photo looks a lot better than the actual food on your plate.  The short answer for why this happens is you don't have a group of people spending 8 hours trying to make your food look good when you order a burger at your local fast food drive through.  On the flip side I'm sure most people have been to at least one local "Mom & Pop" restaurant where the food in their photos look like they came out of an industrial waste site.....but when you get the food, it tastes simply AMAZING.  In other words there is a bit of a disconnect between what we see and what we get.  Which is fine because they serve two different purposes... one is supposed to LOOK very tasty and doesn't necessarily have to actually taste good, the other is supposed to TASTE good and doesn't necessarily have to look like a piece of art.  There are many tricks, rules, and guidelines on when, where, and how you can make food look better or even use the dreaded....FAKE FOOD.   (I may got into some more detail about food photography in a later post).  But I digress......  ON TO THE GAME.

The Game- REAL or FAKE  (RULES)

I have a small collection of images that will be posted bellow that it will be your job to guess if the food in the photo is REAL actual edible food...or if the "food" is simply eye candy and a complete FAKE.  Pretty straight forward.  Bonus Points are awarded if you can figure out not only what is fake, but what is used to make the fake food.

Ready........Go!  (ROUND 1)


#1- Tea Cup

#2- Blue Berry Cake

#3- Winter Cake

#4- Champagne

#5-

Answers and full details soon...


Points Score:
5 Points for each correct Real or Fake Image
10 Points for the correct method used with the fake food

Good Luck All.


-Cheers


Brian

Welcome 2010

So, I've been on a little bit of a hiatus recently.  I've been working on a lot of exciting new projects and my schedule has become a lot crazier than I was anticipating.  Never fear, you have not been forgotten.  I've got several new posts that are in the works that should be up shortly.  Keep checking back withing the next 48 hrs for NEW content.   Should be fun stuff.

Also, welcome to all my new visitors who found the blog via the Stumble plug-in for Firefox.

If you haven't had a chance yet please check out my OFFICIAL WEBSITE.

Cheers,


Brian