It's an easy dessert that anyone can do  and it's sure to impress; I love this version with pears even more than the original tarte tatin made with apples - that's because I have a sweet tooth and pears can be really sweet. Serve it warm,  with ice cream and don't look back.

A decade ago I used to make this dessert " a la minute " in my restaurant and we served it with a glass of dessert wine from Pantelleria ( Sicily ) that was like a jam, but liquid - unbelievable concentration of aromas and so persistent. Awesome.

As you already know I'm not too big on recipes, but I'm sure this tip will be more interesting than a recipe; it's about matching dessert with wines: the rule of thumb is that the wine should always be sweeter than the dessert, otherwise the very sweet dessert will make the wine seem more tannic, dull and acidic - did you know that?

On a different note, going back to the first picture, I think it might be worth spending a few words about composition, since that seems to be an issue for many of us; I'm not sure if you noticed, but lately I've been posting quite a few photos shot from this angle: the approach is always the same: board on the floor, camera on a tripod and light source from either 10-11 or 1-2 o'clock ( either natural or studio lighting ). The images shape up one step at a time, looking through the viewfinder: first things first I place the hero ( or a " place holder " ) in any of the four corners of the frame- I usually try not to crop the main subject ( unless I'm very close up ); secondly I counterbalance my arrangement by placing the next important thing in opposite direction to it - in our case, it's the tray with the unturned pear tatin and the two emptied ramequins; these components tell the whole story of the dessert: how it's cooked, where it's cooked, what it looks like when it's ready to be dished out.

Finally I offset this sort of diagonal composition by laying down one or two props in an apparently random fashion : the aim is to engage the viewer by having his/her eyes keep moving in circle to read every clue.

Balance is the key, if the dessert's too sweet it will overpower and kill the wine.

I think soon we should have a contest, how do you like the idea?

Dario Milano, professional food photographer and food stylist, Sydney.

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Posted in tarte, tatin

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I am pretty much a self-taught food photographer; two and a half years ago I could not take a decent photo - of anything.

I took a couple of courses at the ACP in Sydney because I didn't even know what the meaning of aperture was, or hot shoeâ?¦ then my curiosity and determination pushed me to learn more, and more, all along trying to find a personal style that is still in the making.

When you learn this way, trial and error style, there is no teacher to tell you what you're doing wrong -or right; mostly, you are your own judge and that's not enough. The majority of the people that come across your work couldn't be bothered to tell you what they think about it, and the worst thing is : those who know you, I mean personally, but also your best internet-friends, they're more likely to kiss your #****# than to give you a honest feedback.

If you want a feedback, you actually have to ask for it; and if you don't want it, you are either stupid or arrogant, or both - pardon my frankness!

I learned more on Flickr than in school, and I'm so very grateful to all of those who pointed out my mistakes and suggested alternative compositions, lighting or styling; they made me a better photographer.

So now we are starting this new chapter and I sincerely hope this will be useful to many of us; if I receive enough submissions I'll write a " critique " every week, but let's see what happens.

Your contribution in the comments section will be crucial to make this work.

Here we go !!

Richard Haber - Asparagus stand on their own

Composition and subject : a little bit odd, that's the first impression; you actually have to know the story behind this shot for it to start making sense to you - and I recommend you hit the link, as you'll find interesting info about the setup. This image has potential as an advertising shot, not sure about editorial. Good angle.

Lighting: Richard has done a good job lighting the background and the subject separately, but I keep looking at those asparagus and they look underexposed ( they're not ) because of where the light is coming from; and since there's no doubt that the asparagus are the hero, not the bowl, I would move the light a bit more to the side ( kinda 9 o'clock instead of 10 ) and maybe just a touch higher.

Styling wise, I usually peel ( with a potato peeler ) 3/4 of the asparagus stem for better presentation and probably here it would have made the all composition look " lighter " and more interesting.

One more thing: the texture of the soup looks too lumpy and doesn't work with the rest of the image; the only texture I want to see here is that of the asparagus, everything else is shape and color.

The difference between odd and original is in the details!

Xiaolo Hou - Butter Paneer Curry and Leftover Curry Naan Pizza

Composition and angle: I commend you for doing something a little different here; the main subject is a little too centred and maybe I'd like to see a bit more of the chairâ?¦ maybe not, tell you why: the food is great, looking rustic and country, I love it! the chair, on the other hand looks a bit IKEA style, not as interesting as an old chair could be - might as well shoot this on the table and focus 100% on the food.

Styling :I love the little pan you used to present the curry in though; it works with the style of the food.

Lighting : I like the backlight; it seems quite hard when I look at the shadows on the chair, but you must have used some sort of reflector for the food?

Jennifer - Honey Roasted Butternut Pumpkin Soup

Composition: the camera angle is too low and you are too close to the bowl which occupies 70% of the frame; if you notice, everything is cropped, the image is stressed. I think you should have shot this from above.

Lighting: the light is coming from roughly 7 o'clock, kinda too frontal, makes everything a bit flat . I'd try to avoid that annoying highlight on the spoon by changing its position.

Styling : instead of those two slices of bread in the back, I'd like to see some rustic, chunky, pan roasted croutons in the soup, drizzled with olive oil and maybe a jar of honey in the background with the rosemary in it- since that's in the title too.

Pepi Pattern-Nasution - Blood Cockle Clear Soup

Composition: nice angle but the hero is dead centred and the handle draws my attention to the bottom left corner of the frame where there's nothing interesting to see. The top half of the frame is quite busy, while the bottom half is just table cloth; if you want to keep this composition I'd move the fork to the bottom right corner of the frame. But I would probably move the pot down a bit and turn the handle to point at 10-11 o'clock, and I would crop part of it, no need to see the whole thing.

Lighting: nice and soft, I like that I can see very well in the broth, but I'd like a bit more contrast so to better capture the texture of the shells - less fill from the right side; and that highlight on the spoon is a little distracting.

Styling: why are all the cockles closed? I want to see the fruit, at least a couple of them. I like the pot with the cockles and the glass but I think the blue plate is â?¦ too blue and it takes away from the hero.

Kimberly Taylor - Jonboy caramels

This is the photo I like the best out of them all, but altogether a nice series of images and a well presented post, with good use of  light. Composition : nice angle and good framing; I'd want to make sure the left hand is not cropped.

Focusing: I'd like the main focus to be on the caramel strip being cut by the knife but it seems like it's more on the left hand and arm instead

Lighting : nice side- backlight, creates good contrast and well captures the texture of the caramels. Clean shot.

Kulsum Kunwa - Cumin rice

Composition: too tight, too close up - the picture doesn't breathe; I'd step back or zoom out a little and also separate the props a bit.

Lighting : backlighting is great for food photography but careful with highly reflective foods, such as white rice : picture  looks overexposed, especially the rice grains to the left of the cinnamon stick are starting to loose shape and definition. There might also be a problem with the white balance : there seem to be a green-ish cast.

Food Styling: the wooden bowl is ok, but I'd definitely lose the rectangular box with the chillies, and I'm not too fond of that cloth; it looks cheap, if you know what I mean, and it's not very interesting - maybe fold it in half, show less of it. I'd probably slice some of the chillies and add them to the rice, and also have a nice bunch of fresh cumin somewhere  on the table.

A piece of cutlery could work here, we need to add contrast to the image, no more wood.

Sukaina Rabajali - Spaghetti in a spicy tomato sauce

Composition: well done from above shot ! I think I'd like a slightly wider composition, just enough to see the entire plate on bottom left ( but maybe the lines of the cracks on the table were getting too distracting? ).

Lose the glass in between the two plates, one is enough and the composition would look lighter.

Lighting : nicely diffused light coming from 1 - 2 o'clock - you are pretty close to your source and it is getting a bit bright on the top spaghetti plate, but you've managed to keep the highlights under control; good work.

Focusing: is it a bit soft or am I wrong? I checked the other images in the post and they all seem to be sharper; when you execute these type of shots from above I recommend using manual focus.

Food Styling: very well presented food with nice finishing touches and attention to details. Good choice of the plates, the colour scheme works very well here.

Tanvi Srivastava - Vegetable Biryani

Composition: a little too tight, the plate is too centred and it's occupying almost the whole frame with its margins touching three sides of it.

If you want to focus on the food then get in even closer and blurry the rest, or else better to get a bit wider.

Lighting: light at 10 o'clock, still a bit too harsh, but it well captures the texture of the food; can't tell what's in the wooden bowl top right corner - it's blown away. Position the most reflective objects further away from the light.

Food Styling: it's a bit messy, the props are made of glass, ceramic, wooden and not sure about the red plate. And then there is the table cloth, with yet another texture, but not really appealing.

Since you've opted for such a rich red plate, that ( and the food in it ) should be the hero of your composition; here you want either a very dark or a very bright, plain background for your subject to pop against it.

OK guys, this is it for the first episode of " Food Photography Critique " ; I am interested to have your feedback and those who have not been included in this post , will be first in the next one; keep sending your links to dario@foodpixels.com

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Posted in Critique

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Banana bread ( or bread banana as I called it just to be always a bit differentâ?¦ ) is such a classic that I'm not gonna spend too many words on the actual recipe; you all have one that works super for you, I bet - my intention, one more time, is instead to lead to a constructive discussion about food photography and food styling .

So here we are critiquing my work, but soon you'll be my guest and WE will be critiquing yours - if you allow US; as of next week I will conduct a weekly review of some of your photos and publicly critique your work : we are going to talk about composition, lighting, propping and styling -it's gonna be a good exercise for everybody, me included.

If you are modest and smart enough, you will jump at such opportunity; seeking feedback both from people that know you and that don't, as well as both from amateurs and professionals is one of the best ways to grow your skills.

Send a link to your post, facebook album or twitter account to dario@foodpixels.com ; every week I'll include as many as I can and if you are left out, you'll be in for the following week.

The lighting for these 2 images is pretty simple, and if you read the previous post you are already guessing the setup: just one huge softbox camera left at 10 o'clock looking down on a 45? angle kinda mimicking daylightâ?¦ a very diffused daylight; in this regard I prefer the second image because it has more contrast and the hero clearly stands out, but I always like an ingredients shot: it tells the story

If you've been following me for some time you know I usually prefer moodier tones, but banana bread it's something that evokes brighter and more relaxed memories, so I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to create some pretty luminous images ( following ) - how did I go?

Composition wise, when there are so many elements in the frame you have to be careful to keep the viewer's eyes engaged: I usually don't place anything dead centred, everything is kinda off set and looking casual ( not staged ), the lines are not intersecting. Sometimes less is more, they say; if your composition is too busy, maybe better loosing something.

Don't block all four corners of the frame, let your images breathe. Sometimes it's better to shoot wider and then crop and fix your composition later in post.

I look forward to get many entries for the " critique " post andâ?¦ if you need a good recipe for banana bread here you go:

520 gr plain flour

550 gr banana

500 gr brown sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

zest od 1 lemon

270 gr butter

Cream the eggs and the sugar, add the bananas and the vanilla extract; weigh all the dry ingredients together, than fold into the egg mixture.

Add the melted butter and beat until well mixed.

Cook at 170-180 for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Dario Milano, professional food photographer and food stylist in Sydney.

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Posted in Food, Photography, techniques

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