Food Photos

I am not much of a photographer, but I love great pictures of food. How can I improve my photos? What tips do you have for getting clear pictures with good lighting?

Tags: photography

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Permalink Reply by Mrs.W on March 27, 2008 at 11:53pm: I sure don't know... but I'm glad you started this thread, because I'll be interested to see what people say! (I need help, too!); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mrs.W on March 28, 2008 at 8:29am: By the way... my method is taking LOTS of pictures and playing with the flash settings; the more I take the more likely it is that I'll get one or two good pics. Sad method, I know... but with digital cameras these days it's do-able without wasting lots of film!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jill McKeever on March 30, 2008 at 9:06am: This is a GREAT discussion, thank you for starting it!
I've invited Peter to join us, he seems to have it going on. I'm hoping he can share equipment tips with us.

I'm learning that natural light is the best light and never, never use the flash. If you're using a digital camera, get out the owner's manual and learn to use all those extra features; increasing the EVO a few points helps the camera to draw more light and gives a brighter picture without using the flash. I use it a lot!

Depending on the mood of the picture, I play with the direction of light and consider the time of the day. Morning light is whiter, clean feeling. Noon is too harsh and makes flat pictures b/c there's no shadows. Late afternoon is warm, toasty and inviting. It's harder to get a bright picture but great for photography stews or comfort food.
I tend to shoot breakfast and salads in the morning or lunch, I'll even cook dinner early before the sun starts setting so I can have good light.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mrs.W on April 1, 2008 at 5:27am: This is good advice, Jill; I haven't the foggiest idea what an EVO is, or where my camera manual is, so I'll have to see if there's something downloadable from the internet. I admit that my photography skills are basic, at best!

Though I will say that some of my best photos are taken either (a) at lunchtime in my dining room with the natural light streaming through the cream-colored curtains (which diffuse the light); or (b) using the red-eye flash setting! (Go figure!)

So apparently I need to educate myself on my camera's functions. AND learning how to fully take advantage of my photoshop program (well, actually I have a macromedia program called firefox) for sharpening and resizing.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by gizelle on March 30, 2008 at 9:22am: I agree with Mrs. W, takes lots of fotos both with and without flash and in different settings. True, natural light is always the best light for whichever kind of photography, but not for night shots =) I almost always only have time to do my recipes at night so I need a lot of flash...I just make sure that before the flash, I had all possible lights in the kitchen turned on =D

Be it said, a good camera is always good to invest on. And turn your plate to amyn angles to see which one would have the most tempting side to it!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Peter on April 1, 2008 at 4:23am: Sorry to be late to the party! Lots going on so I hope I can shed some light on this topic.

Just to let you know in advance I'm NOT a professional. I'm what you would term a keen amateur photographer. I try to put a lot of effort into my pics and I'm still learning myself.

Jill already touched on lighting. It's probably the most important element of a food pic (or any pic for that matter). Natural lighting is the best. I believe so anyway. Get near a window or use it as your backlighting. To compensate for the darker spots I use large silver and white reflectors to bounce the light around a food picture. This can highlight certain parts of the food and bring out its natural textures. Again, like Jill said be wary of shooting during lunchtime. Early morning or late afternoon is best.

The next most important part is white balance. This has caused me the most headaches. What your eyes see doesn't necessarily translate the same for your camera. Adjusting the white balance can help colours appear as they should. The best thing I have learnt is to use a "grey card". They retail for about $20-30. You place the grey card in the scene your shooting and use that as your starting point for correct balance of colours and whites.

Cameras: I use the Nikon system and I use a nikon D40 DSLR. Its the most affordable entry level DSLR in the market and it has the advantage of being "backwards compatible" with older Nikon lenses. This means I can use older nikon lenses on this camera that can be purchased for very cheap prices on ebay! (the only "disadvantage" is that you have to manual focus and meter everything. This isn't so bad because when you shoot food and its all set up you can take time to get the exposure and focusing right. Auto focus is over rated as far as I'm concerned). When you buy into a brand whether it be Nikon or Canon or Sony etc...its the lenses that can cost the most. I have seven lenses (its an addiction!!...lol). They cover all kinds of shooting. 50mm is a good starting point and you can buy some macro lenses that get "right into" the scene for those great close ups (these are also the most expensive...).
If you use a "point and shoot" (p&s) the best advice I can offer from reading around is understanding the camera you use and how far it can go. There are a lot of p&s's all with different options. Once you understand its limitations you can achieve good results with them. The camera does play an important role in all this but in the end its the photographer and how they convey their ideas.

I have a house full of props. Diff sized plates, glasses, linen and cutlery. I buy them from thrift shops and from sales at the big retailers. Mix and match and see what works. ( I've always believed that food bloggers are the hardest working bloggers on the internet. We cook, style, photograph and then write!). My styling is not always spot on but I play around with colours and props before i plate anything.

Phew! There is so much to cover. I have read a few sites that have been tremendous help with food photography. My favourite one is Still Life With Lara Ferroni is an amazing source of information. There are a couple of years of archives there so you have plenty to read. Hope some of this helps.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mrs.W on April 1, 2008 at 5:29am: Wow... thank you, Peter... some really great advice here! And thank you for the link to Still Life With! What a great site.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mimi on April 1, 2008 at 8:55am: I am so glad we started this discussion. I get tired of always having to apologize for crappy photos on my blog. I went out and bought a more sophisticated camera, but I haven't had time to go through all the bells and whistles on it.
Can't wait to see where this discussion leads us......; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ben on April 1, 2008 at 9:33am: But what if you don't have a professional camera? I got rid of my old Minolta Maxxum 5 35mm to buy a digital Canon a540 (a point and shoot) a couple of months ago. I didn't know anything about digital photography so I started to research. I think my pictures are getting better and I am no using a big expensive camera. I, of course, will buy a pro camera in the future, but for now this little fellow will have to do.

I will give you some tips of what I've done when I am back. I need to run right now to the store :-p; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jill McKeever on April 1, 2008 at 3:26pm: I wish I could take a picture of my beat up digital. I've got a small Casio QV-R62, I think it shoots 6 mega pixels (which was big at the time of purchase) that takes Amazing pictures! without the flash.

don't ask me about mega pixels - All I know is that when I set my camera to shoot the largest size print, on fine quality - I get beautiful details that can be blown up to 20x30 inch prints without seeing pixels.

Here's a funny story about myself.
I use to be the type that said, "SLR (single lens reflex) cameras all the way, why trust digital when I have my 35mm film?"
3 years ago, my husband bought the Casio for a project. I was not impressed with the tiny box digital point and shoot. It was a not real camera to me.

Then, he came in from the backyard and said, "look babe, look how close I can get with this camera!" He had photographed pollen heavy anthers on our Columbine flowers. It was like Georgia O'Keefe with this image! I had never been able to get that close with my Nikon 35mm.

I took the camera from his hands and ran outside to photograph my other favorite flowers and he never got it back. I haven't picked up my Nikon SLR since.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by K on April 3, 2008 at 4:19pm: I have one of the furthest things from a professional camera that one could imagine. I just recently switched to digital from 35mm, actually, so I'm clearly not a photography expert. However, I think that the most important thing covered above -- good lighting -- is really key, no matter what camera you have. From there, as long as you have a good eye for composition and can take sharp, crisp pictures, it's all gravy. Those are the three key elements for me -- lighting, composition and sharpness -- and I'm pretty happy with 90% of the pictures I take.

That said, ignore the latest pictures on my blog as they were taken hastily and without any effort. Reference earlier posts for better examples :D; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by gizelle on April 1, 2008 at 4:21pm: I still keep my old Canon t60 Jill, though digicams are more convenient, the art in photography remains with slrs. (I used to print b&w photos in the darkroom)

Your story reminds me of how I was too when my husband presented me with an olympus digicam =D I still used my t60 for a year before the lens got stucked (its more than 15 yrs old), hubby repaired it but he also bought a Sony f505v which I loyally used until the f717 came =)

Anyway, Peter got lots of good points! Food presentation, lighting, and tips to not make food look flat....thanks Peter!

Ben, mess up with the features, it will show you good things!; ▶ Reply to This