Hello Robert. This is absolutely lovely, the fresh colours are sharp and appetizing. I love how the beans are but on a slant.It looks like there is a delicious spice sprinkled on too, and those look like olives on the top, and sweet tomatos.. This is a vegetable//salad I would adore eating!. I also like the faded utensil backgroung. You should be very proud of the work you are doing to prepare for you cookbook, and the photo is fantastic!! Your friend, Verena

The photo is nice, colorful, but I don't like the food very much. :)))

Yummy! Ok. I'm not an expert in food presentation, but I do know something of graphic design and photography. In portrait photography, a general rule is to shoot horizontal (landscape) if the subject is wider than it is tall, and vertical (portrait) if the subject is taller than it is wide. So for this shot, I might have tried a horizontal shot. If, however, you were shooting commercially for a magazine that requires a vertical frame, you could try cropping in tight, or even shooting at different angles. Tilt your camera 45 degrees and see how that looks. Play with it, have some fun!
Technically, I think the photo could be brighter and the colors could be more saturated. This is a quick fix in a photo editing program like Photoshop.
And one last thought. If you do have a photo editing program, it may be a good idea to retouch or edit out any discolorations in the food, so that is looks appealing to the eye and the tummy!
That said, I know this is the first of many experiments with this kind of shooting. I think you are on the right track! I can't wait to see what you post in the future! Best of luck! Now, I'm going to eat dinner....:)

I like the angle you chosen to present the image. Nice DOF with the blurred utensils in the background. Nicely done and thanks for sharing.

I also love the focus on the green beans with tomatoes, the colors are great. The out of focus utensils seem to draw my attention away form your main dish. I can't explain why ,if the were in the foreground and a little more in focus it might help. Just a thought on my part.

I like the depth of field, too. I was happy to get the backstory on the photo! How exciting to publish a recipe book. Will it be foods & recipes special to Australia? Do you have a food network channel on television? They have such wonderful ways to present the foods...might give you some ideas. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

What a wonderful blend of cultures--Lebanese, West Africa and Australia. Your book should be unique, as you've probably found a way to blend all these different seasonings and flavors to make some original, tasty recipes!

Is this dish called Fasoliyyeh? If so, it is one of my favorite Middle Eastern dishes. I think your food photography is off to a wonderful start, and I can see that you presented this simple dish in a way that is very appealing to the eye. I also like the depth of field you achieved. Very well done, and welcome to Caedes! :)

Lori