Food Posting Rant.

[Robin Garr]

All snarking aside, I'm fine with food photos here. They don't have to be Southern Living quality, you know.

The only thing that might put me off my feed would be pictures of something you've already partially eaten ...

I'm guilty of posting some of my home efforts on Facebook. It's an important part of our family life so I'll post a photo every week or so - it's ok if it doesn't look great. If it does look good, fabulous - I just use my iPhone camera.

http://a1.urbns.pn/w/s/aU/OrmvfgyspMYnIx-640m.jpg

This was taken with a digital point and click. While not professional quality, do you feel that this is appetizing or representative of a good dish? I guess I'm trying to gauge whether or not I should post pictures of dishes that I've eaten on sites like Urbanspoon, Yelp, etc.

I'ld Hit Tha.... errr... I would order that. Actually not a bad picture and food looked appetizing.

Like Robin, partially eaten food on the other hand, we do not need photos of, thanks.

Richard

http://harpers.org/archive/2005/10/0080776

I remember this being an interesting article. It's entitled, "Debbie Does Salad: Food Network at the Frontiers of Pornography."

I have not read it in a number of years. It might be dated now.

http://a1.urbns.pn/w/s/aU/OrmvfgyspMYnIx-640m.jpg

This was taken with a digital point and click. While not professional quality, do you feel that this is appetizing or representative of a good dish? I guess I'm trying to gauge whether or not I should post pictures of dishes that I've eaten on sites like Urbanspoon, Yelp, etc.

Why are you posting??? If it's to record what you ate, then go for it. If it's to entice others to order this dish, then you aren't doing the restaurant any favors.

Look at the labels on most canned soups, frozen dinners, etc. Those are "real" photos of real food (in the old days you could load a bowl of soup with marbles to make it appear filled with stuff, but those days are long gone). While digital cameras can do an adequate job of recording, you just cannot duplicate a $14,000 shoot with trained experienced photographers using $10,000 cameras and $14,000 lenses (not to mention lights et al).

Don't try! Record what you eat, if you want to send it in to whatever sites you want, go for it, but do it to record your dinner and just don't expect people to take one look at your picture and rush out and buy that dish.

Andrew,

I think the point I am going to make goes back to your point about the turkeys ever 15 minutes. The pictures of food we see are never meant to duplicate a picture of what appears in front of someone at a restaurant. Furthermore, the setting is never going to be the same.

Staged food photography is just that. Staged. And professional. But, it has changed the way we perceive how food should look (at least in a photograph).

That may or may not be what the article I posted is about.

A good photo of a beer is far more likely to trigger a Pavlov's dog response in me than an image of some plate-o-grub!

point given to Ray. I just returned from the garage fridge and poured myself a beer. Had to do it really. I blame the incredible imagery conveyed in Ray's highly graphic reference earlier. You know the one I mean. "A good photo of a beer" woof! slobber.....beer is food I keep telling you!

Anyone with enough time and energy to complain about what I post on Twitter or FB is 1) possessed of too much free time; and 2) welcome to un-friend or -follow me anytime they like. Last I checked, you signed up to hear and see whatever I feel like showing you when you subscribed.