6 REALLY Helpful Articles About Photographing Food

bunnygrace — Wed, 06 May 2009 12:22:30 +0000

I googled “food photography” to get a better understanding of what I want to accomplish. Below find synapsses of what I thought was the best of the best and most relevant to foodies cooking and blogging about eating.

I suggest you read the complete posts. They are full of useful information that may suit your particular needs or interests.

Photographing Food Like A Pro | Digicamhelp

Lighting: “Food is happiest under natural light, so get the food close to a window when shooting”
Hmm… Believe it or not, my kitchen is nowhere near a window. I could shoot outside though- that is definitely close enough but would require some setting up my porch to do so. The author, Lara Ferroni, also suggest your turn off your flash.
Probably the most important thing I learned from this site is depth of field. Blurring the background will add to the interest to the subject and this is something I can accomplish in “post”…
Set your white balance.
Use a tripod.
Shoot quickly before the food wilts.

Food Photography for Bloggers | Vegan Yum Yum

Dishes: have a good selection of dishes for “presentation”
Mise En Place: Layout out your prepped ingredients in a geometric way
Simple Setups and Natural Light.
Natural Lighting ( She stressed it…)
Take Lots of Photos.
The article extensively covers different cameras and settings. Probably the most helpful information for a shy dabbler like me.

An Insider’s Look At Food Photography | Shutterbug

This is an article about professional food photographers and includes food styling tips like:

“One thing I always take to a food shoot is a bottle of glycerin and several sizes of artist’s paintbrushes. Glycerin can be purchased from larger pharmacies. Food dries out quickly sitting on a table under 500-1000w of modeling lights, and the glycerin makes it look wet, shiny, and fresh.”

The writer goes on to describe using smoke pellets and dry ice and how to create 1 minute of steam. (Cotton balls soaked in water and microwaved will give you up to one minute of steam). Interesting reading but not exactly what I was looking for.

Food Photography – An Introduction | Digital Photography School

Lighting: Natural Light
Simple Props
Be quick.
Get Down Low: Try to shoot at plate level or slightly above.

Food Blog Photography Lessons, Pt 1 | The Constables’ Larder

This blog understand that some of us are actually trying to photograph dinner and gives really good ideas for photographers who don’t own a digital SLR and very detailed instructions on lighting on the fly, color correcting in photoshop,

Set for ”digital macro”
Set the default focus point to center
Manual white balance
Turn off the Flash.

Food Styling From The Front Lines | Still Life With…

Actually this site is running a food photography contest.

The recipe: Malloreddus alla campidanese or any pasta and simple sauce.

The contest runs through the end of May

Art School Bullies

bunnygrace — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:37:37 +0000

When I decided to start this blog, I realized that I would need to start photographing my food. You would think that wouldn’t be a big deal but I am friends with some professional photographers and, to be honest, I am cowed by their talent. While I am a pretty good painter (been in some shows), a good draftsman and graphic designer (it is how i make my living), and a great cook (if I do say so myself)….

But, to be able to capture a moment in a blink of an eye and be confident enough to accept the content of that frame? I was just never that confident.

So I decided today to join the online photog community and reach out and try to breathe in their rarified air for a bit so that I can suck it up and start shooting my own food. Not a bad plan, at least until I made my big mistake- joining DPCHALLENGE to ask about a photoshop plugin Roach had written about.

Wouldn’t you know that my first post I run into a bully? If I wanted to deal with Art School Bullies I would have sought to become an academic.

The worst? When I called him on it, his response was.

“Maybe I’m wrong. But still….”

Bite Me- Bear_%$#@!

Better yet. I wish you all the happiness you deserve.

Shithead.

I hold said bully personally responsible for the loss of my favorite tea cup from Golden Food Supermarket.

(BTW- Golden Food Supermarket on Bellaire is the place for really cheap asian ingredients. The ginger there is lessthan half the price anywhere else and the selection of soy sauces and specialty cooking oils is as impressive as their low prices)

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