A very interesting little selection. I assume that all the cooking and plating was done by the chefs and you were working around them?
#1 - While I do like feta, red onion and pine nuts I don't particularly care for raw tomato or courgette, so I shouldn't really like this shot based solely on the ingredients. But that's never really an issue with food photography and one of the reasons I love it so much - you don't necessarily have to like the food to think that it looks delicious.
And there lies the problem with this one. To me it really doesn't look very appetising. I think that's partly to do with the way it's been constructed and plated up and partly to do with the viewpoint you've chosen. We're faced with a top-down view of what looks like a load of tomatoes with some roughly-chopped chives on them and a drizzle of oil and balsamic vinegar. Say that to yourself with your eyes closed and you think 'that sounds nice' but look at the result and you'd probably be forgiven for passing on this course.
I appreciate you are probably at the mercy of the chefs here, but given the opportunity I would have spaced the rolls out a little more evenly and gone for a slightly different viewpoint to try and show more of the elements that go into this dish - your title doesn't even mention what our eyes are telling us is the main ingredient and we're faced with a relatively unnatural angle of view to the food, which doesn't really work in this situation.
A slightly more natural angle and a bit more finesse with the plating up and this would have worked a lot more successfully. As it is I can't say I care much for the photograph or the subject matter, which is a shame as I so want to like them both.
#2 - This is much more like it in terms of the angle of view and showing all the ingredients off in one shot as you can clearly see everything you'd be eating and it's almost like you're looking at it as if it has just been sat down in front of you.
I don't want to sound too critical here as I appreciate it's not your doing, but that scallop doesn't look as perfect as it really ought to. It's caught on the top side and honestly doesn't look evenly cooked and while that might be how the chef intended it to be served, it doesn't make for a good photo. I'd have also picked up that frond of micro cress and removed it from the sauce as it's unbalancing the shot, but you might very well have been shouted at by chef for touching his food!
The other points I'd raise about this one are the two distracting elements in the corners of the frame; the second plate at the bottom left doesn't add anything to the shot and can be cloned out without any great loss and the hand holding the bottle of balsamic glaze that's just been drizzled around the plate either needs to be more in the frame or not there at all. You might also want to tweak the white-balance a little as there's a distinct yellow cast to this one which doesn't sit well with the subject matter.
Certainly up there with the best shots of the bunch though. A little tweak here, a clone there and you've got a keeper.
#3 - Now, this is much better. The only immediate downside is the rather horrid crop which is squashing everything up and making it feel distinctly cramped. Can we see one with a little more space?
The photography in this one is okay but a little uninspiring, although you've captured the plating-up well and everything that should be sharp is so. But I feel this lacks some creative use of DOF to really pick out the focal-point of the dish and concentrate the eye on the main elements. As it stands my eye wanders around the plate looking at the small piles of salsa before it settles on the sea bass and the saffron foam and I really feel like I should be directed towards a certain element rather than be left to look at everything. The lighting is also a touch harsh but that's easily forgiven as I bet the conditions weren't conducive to perfect light!
With regards to the plating-up and the cooking, my eye is instantly drawn to what looks like a dirty smear on the left edge of the plate. I'd guess this would be wiped down before it was sent so you ought to do the same and clone it out. And I'm really not sure about these 'green beans' as they certainly don't look like any green beans I've ever seen. Whatever they are they don't look very appetising, especially with the brown tips facing us. It might have been worth waiting for the foam to be draped over them as this would have given you an excellent little 'action' shot and covered up that massive area of shadow under the spoon.
#4 - Ah, pork belly; one of my favourite things. And that looks like a rather fine slice of belly there, although it does seem a touch dry. Not a problem when it's probably about to be sent but a lick of the juices from the frying pan would make it look much more luscious and appetising. I'd still scoff the lot though.
The photography on this one is good and bad, in equal measure. We've got that creative DOF that was lacking from the sea bass and I'm instantly drawn to the belly pork, but we're now far too close to the 'action' and I can't really see enough of the dish to form an opinion over whether I'd actually want to eat it. I can just about make out an asparagus spear, a carrot and what looks like a root vegetable of some sort in the background, but all of that is a total guess. This feels like a really close crop of a fantastic food photo - I really need to see more of what I'm supposed to be wanting to eat.
We've also got what looks like a rather funky little plate that the chef has used for this creation. Unless my eyes are deceiving me, and they frequently do, the vegetables seem to be in a little shallow in the pate along with some jus - is that the case or just a trick of the light? Either way I'd really prefer to see more of the plate but with the same excellent use of creative DOF that you have employed on this one.
#5 - Mmm. I'm sorry to have to say this but I don't think I'd want to eat this one. The potatoes look dry, the watercress looks limp and the balsamic vinegar on it makes it look like the cress is going mouldy and the lamb looks a bit pale and insipid. The jus also feels like it's just been sloshed on rather than placed with any great care. No doubt were this placed in front of me in a restaurant I'd scoff the lot, it's just that here, in this photo, it doesn't appeal.
You've got an incredibly difficulty subject to work with here as I really feel there's not a massive amount you could do to make the plate sparkle, but a little more work with your shallow DOF approach of before would have worked wonders. Perhaps you might focus on a single element of the dish and allow the others to sit in the background where they can be seen but not immediately drawn to the eye? Although there's also the reflections in the jus to deal with here so perhaps this was just shot in a trickier location that the other courses and I'm being a little unfair on you when you've tried your best.
#7 - I'm afraid to say it feels like you're going backwards now. We started off promisingly with the first two, made great strides with the second two and the last three have somewhat let the side down. This one is simply far too close for comfort and whilst it has immediate visual appeal it lacks any sense of making me want to eat it. We're so close that the actual construction of the dish is its own downfall - the textures of the meringues and the cream don't work when we're this near to them. And whatever the yellow-ish smear in the background is, it's incredibly distracting and wholly unappetising in colour and overall appearance.
Eton mess is a lovely dessert and usually works so well but this just doesn't tick any of the boxes for me I'm afraid. I should be able to tell what the dish is without your title but on this one I'd be hard-pressed to figure that out and I'm not sure if I'd even care. I'm sorry to sound really critical of this shot but desserts are the one course where the chef should really go all-out for an attractive dish but this just feels like a mess. To be honest you've done quite well with what you've got to work with.
