On my 2008 visit to Patong Beach, Thailand, I was constantly ordering meals that I could never afford back in the USA, and I got in the habit of photographing them before eating. I sure do miss those days!
Anyway, the owner of the hotel I stayed at kept asking me to take photos for him, for brochures, advertising, whatever. He got to see some of my photos and we made a deal - he had recently hired a new gourmet chef, and he wanted photos of those meals. I didn’t charge him anything, but we agreed that after I had taken a photo that the hotel found useful, I would get to eat those meals. What a wonderful arrangement!!!
This is not one of those meals - Patong Beach is loaded with seafood restaurants, each trying to show theirs was the best. That’s how this photograph came about, as they laid my meal out in front of me. Of course, they all came with a bottle of Thai Beer!
As time went on, I made better use of the available lighting. This photo is what I saw, but with a little planning, I could improve the photos. Oh, and while a lobster dinner was a big thing in the USA, seafood was so readily available in that part of the world, the cost of a feast like this was not that much.