In Frank's kitchen *new set of pictures 18 March 2019*

[golunvolo]

Filled peppers...ummmm again. Specially like, as a picture, the #9 in the series with the two colorful peppers in the foreground.

[Frank Fremerey]

So meat wraps: fine cut beef plus bacon plus pepper, salt and mustard as the hull, then green onions, Cornicons and Zuccini cuts for a filling

[Frank Fremerey]

Today It was a bright day, sunny outside, so I did not do any light setup, just my D600 with the 1.4/35 AiS as documentary tools.

As this is in the "Critique" part of the forum plese be detailed on what you like and what you do not like and why and and what I could possibly change to make it better.

[Frank Fremerey]

Love the 1.4/35 AiS!!!!

[rosko]

I like the pictures.

Some are not, however, at their sharpest level, due the lack of DOF, or perhaps motion blur if you hand held your camera. I understand it's not easy to use all this gear while you are cooking !

That said, I am not sure I would produce something as such as nice job, and I just tried to comment it as you required some piece of critique.

By the way, I am wondering what is the liquid you are using in the pan with the meat wrapping : Guinness, vegetable stock or white wine, or German beer ?

Brussels sprouts are very appetizing 

[Frank Fremerey]

Some are not, however, at their sharpest level, due the lack of DOF, or perhaps motion blur if you hand held your camera. I understand it's not easy to use all this gear while you are cooking !

By the way, I am wondering what is the liquid you are using in the pan with the meat wrapping : Guinness, vegetable stock or white wine, or German beer ?

First question:

There are many different levels at which I shoot food.
(Some people say I do eat nothing without having taken a photo of it first but that is not true.)

Professionally I use my Sinar Monorail with two different 120mm Apochromatic lenses
If I want to shoot fast I just take one of my cameras and a lens
If I have some more time, I do a light setup and tripod, Mirror up and live View focussing
Sometimes I even use my phone

The series of 13 Feb 16 suffers from the fact that I used the JPEGs. I did not take the time to do a proper RAW development which would certainly add much.
The series of 16 Feb 16 is taken with the MF 1.4/35mm without a tripod and often at wide apertures. Sometimes it seems difficult to decide how much bokeh a shot can bare to be nice & tasty

More hints appreciated.

Second Question:

The Meat Wraps are cooked for 60 to 90 Minutes in Red Wine, beef found, green Onions and fresh herbs. After the cooking I put the fluid through a sieve, sort out all hard parts and ground it with a magic hand mixer. That is what you see on the picture of the finished product. Very intense flavour space.

The Brusselsprouts are cooked with Salt, Sugar, Pepper and Anis

[rosko]

Thanks for these detailed pieces of information.

Do you use a digital sensor with your Sinar ? I mean a 4x5'' one or do you just adapt a 35mm camera

Sometimes it seems difficult to decide how much bokeh a shot can bare to be nice & tasty

That's very true.

I think the 35mm works very well for this purpose. So I have decided to use my Zeiss 35mm f/2 FZ2 for the next culinary shots.

I will probably preheat the lens to avoid any annoying condensation when shooting inside a pan...

About the second question, I noticed the red wine bottle waiting and the jug of stock but I wasn't sure as the frothy sauce is rather pale. (I know that any blended sauce gets paler though).

Cheers, Francis.

[Frank Fremerey]

Currently I use the D600 as digiback but I like to replace it with
a Sony because I win 37.5mm - 16mm flange distance.
I tether the camera. Light is most important. I use lots of
98% RAL converter bulbs, equivalent of 16.500 Watts of
classical incadescent bulbs. Plus a calibrated RAW converter
like Photo Ninja with Color Checker.

*

The wine, the herbs and the onions are cooked with the beefy
fluid for 90 minutes. The blending process makes green onions
look like white foam. That explains the color.

*

I recommend the 4.0/200mm Micro Nikkor for the purpose too.
See the above linked Gaspacho thread.

[Frank Fremerey]

Concerning detail rendering I will post some 100% crops later. Sometimes downsizing or display issues of the forum software change the impression. It help to right click .... show image ... sometimes

[rosko]

Frank, i have made some images of food taken with the Zeiss 35mm f/2.

I don't know where to post them, as this thread is your Critique thread ?

[Frank Fremerey]

Post them to a new thread. Like.

Francis Foodies ....

Whatever.

post them to Critique if you want words as answers

post them to Recent Work if you want mostly pictures as answers

Cheers

Frank

[ColinM]

Hi Frank, I'm only viewing this on a tablet so won't comment on the photography.

But I'm fascinated by the food and, as I scrolled through the sequence, began to get quite hungry!
So I'm curious on a couple of matters, which are (literally) a matter of personal taste:

• In some of the later images, it looks like the lower parts of the "joint" have been kept moist by the cooking liquid, but the upper parts seem darker, maybe starting to lose their moistness. Was that the case and what was the texture & taste like?
• I like Brussels sprouts much more now than when I was younger. These look like they would be quite soft - is that how you prefer them?
  I usually either cook them by steaming, or by stir-frying them. This obviously does not get them so tender, and with the latter you have a fully cooked exterior (often caramelised) whilst the centre of some is still slightly al-dente.

Bit above all, I would have loved to had a chance to sample the finished results. Especially seeing the care & attention that went into the preparation. This photographic record would really help any chef wanting to try out this dish.

[Frank Fremerey]

Thank you Colin for your kind words, esp. as I see how wonderful you prepare and light your food shots.

I was not aware that I have developed my own style after 11 years into the food shooting business.

I see a lot of so called food shots where food looks like ... whatever but not tasty and edible, more like lego or modeling clay, also the colors are all off due to improper lighting etc.

That is why I deviated from with principles like: what you see is edible and will be eaten, the colors shall loook like colors in daylight, very balanced or in a warm tone that does fit the mood.

To come to the Brussel sprouts: I cooked them cross cut in a juis of fresh tomatoes and ginger with a bit of curry, salt, sugar for many yeras, because I did not like the style of my grandparents where they are coocked to death and served in a hot cream sauce. Today, I peel the outer skin and cut them in half because they absorb the sauce better. My juis is simplified currently: I take Anis, Sugar, Salt, pepper and red onions sometims.

[Fons Baerken]

Frank are you cooking electrically? Thats a gourmet no-no,
you need real fire

[Frank Fremerey]

Frank are you cooking electrically? Thats a gourmet no-no,
you need real fire

In my old flat I had flames, but I am not a Gourmet anyway. At best I cook soul food that makes my wife and children and friends happy.

That is all.