My first attempt was inside the restaurant. I set up the food near the window and played around with different compositions, angles and lighting directions such back lighting and side lighting. 

I also took photos of the pasta and drinks on the same spot but noticed the warm color cast of the brick wall and the restaurant's artificial light so I thought of taking the food outside and take photos using the outdoor tables and pure natural lighting.

 

Same dishes but different spot and pure natural light.

 

 

I got hungry and ate my subjects so I ordered another dish to experiment with natural light until sunset :D

 

 

It was almost 6 PM when I took these photos. I played around with different angles, composition and styling to help capture the dish in the most appetizing way. :) I really love the effect of pure natural light and side lighting in the middle photo because it looks three dimensional. There's a lot of texture and it looks so yummy! :)

 

I really enjoyed creating this class project but also learned a lot. It's true that you learn by doing. I am excited to see your class project and how you experiment with natural light and your iPhone camera :)