Right on, @daan. The key to good food photography is the MINIMIZE the "polished" look. A lot of food photographers put an emphasis on CONTROLLING many of the factors of the shots. For a season photographic eye it is generallky easy to pick up on this. I agree that the dumpling shot above has special appeal, and I believe that is because it is more organic. The photographer caught the MOMENT and the MOOD of the image - although it is pretty likely that they used either a filter or post-production filter to add the purple hue to the hand of the chef, and this, in my opinion falls into the "not in the moment" category. In my opinion, that shot would be BETTER if they had just kept the blue-grey tone of the hand/arm, which would have made it look more natural, and kept the overall of the moment. Other than that, these photographers have some good shots. Keep it up, as I read/enjoy all of thesee posts, and follow through to check out the photographers...