Food Preparation August 17, 2010
Posted by Nicole : Food Photography, Photography , 3 comments
Canon 7D, Canon 70-200mm ƒ/4L IS lens, 1/200 sec at ƒ/4, ISO 100
I had a fun shoot yesterday in the studio … worked with a new model and we got some great images. I’ve had this idea on my plate (no pun intended, lol) for some time now and have been meaning to integrate people with my food images. I’m really happy with the results and will probably be doing more of these in the future.
Food Photography: Adding Props to the Scene July 1, 2010
Posted by Nicole : Food Photography, Food Styling, Photography, Tips & Tricks , 4 comments
Canon 7D, Canon 70-200mm ƒ/4L IS lens, 1/160 sec at ƒ/4, ISO 100
When I style my food photography I tend to keep things simple—usually it’s just the main food item and some silverware off to the side. I do like to add elements to the scene at times, but when I do I always make sure that the items in the scene are relevant to the dish. I place things in the frame as if I were sitting down to a meal … in this photo it would be perfectly natural to have a glass of water and some french bread on a plate, so adding them to the scene does not take away from the image I’m trying to create.
When you’re styling and adding props to your food images try to stay away from adding ingredients used to make the food next to the dish (like uncut fruits/veggies, eggs, etc.), unless you are photographing the actual prepping of the food itself. I’m sure there are ways to make these items “work” in an image, but most of the attempts I see just don’t look natural. Just do what I do … picture yourself sitting at the table and think of what makes sense to have nearby.
Food looks more appetizing if it seems “ready to eat” … you want your viewers to think that he or she could reach in and take the first bite. If you really want to add color and throw some of those ingredients in the shot, then do some prep-work to them and make them look tasty! A whole tomato doesn’t have as much appeal as one that’s sliced into bite-sized wedges, all juicy and ripe. Yum! :)
Food Photography: Ice Cream June 30, 2010
Posted by Nicole : Food Photography, Food Styling, Photography, Tips & Tricks , 15 comments
Canon 7D, Canon 50mm ƒ/1.4 lens, 1/250 sec at ƒ/2.8, ISO 100
Last week I did my first “ice cream” photo shoot. Everything you see in the above photo is edible, however it’s not real ice cream (just a LOT of sugar with a cherry on top). I used a recipe found in the “Food Styling for Photographers” book. It’s basically just a tub of cherry frosting with powdered sugar mixed together in a mixer. If you’re interested in creating photos like these I would highly recommend that book … there are a lot of other great tips for styling ice cream and other types of food as well.
After I got the “ice cream” mixed and placed in the bowl I used a can of “Pillsbury Easy Frost” to top the ice cream and look like whipped cream (this way it didn’t melt or ooze down the side of the frosting before I was done with the shoot). I also stuck a toothpick into the bottom of the cherry so it would stay in place and not topple over.
I’m really happy how this one turned out and plan on shooting different flavors in the near future. :)
Food Photography: Styling a Sandwich June 11, 2010
Posted by Nicole : Food Photography, Food Styling, Personal, Tips & Tricks , 15 comments
The last few days I’ve posted photos from a food shoot I did, and I thought I’d share some tips on how I styled it.
When you make yourself a sandwich at home they don’t usually look all poofy and airy, they usually end up flattened with all the ingredients mushed together. Well, I wanted my sandwich to look like all of the ingredients were stacked up beautifully, and wanted those nice little curls to the deli meat, so I did more than just place all the pieces on top of each other.
In order to keep the sandwich from being flat and saggy I cut small pieces of cardboard and layered them as-needed in-between the elements. I put one under and on-top of the lettuce, and then I used tooth-pick halves to pin the bunched-up deli meat in place. The toothpicks also helped to add bulk and hold up the tomatoes, which were placed (along with the top piece of bread) directly on the deli meat.
Mini-Review: Canon 85mm f/1.2L Lens June 9, 2010
Posted by Nicole : Food Photography, Gear, Photography , 5 comments
Canon 7D, Canon 85mm f/1.2L lens ISO 100
Left side: 1/1250 sec at f/1.2
Right side: 1/125 sec at f/4
Click on the image to see a larger view
Today I tested out the Canon 85mm f/1.2L and 50mm f/1.2L lenses. I thought I’d share some initial thoughts on the 85mm (I’ll post more on the 50mm tomorrow).
My first reaction to the lens is that it’s pretty heavy and it’s got a lot of glass in it. Looking straight at the front of the lens it almost looks like there is nothing BUT glass in the lens, which is always a good thing.
I wanted to use the lens in an environment that I shoot in often, so I styled a sandwich and put the lens to the test. I shot this photo on a tripod and wanted to see the difference between it’s widest aperture (f/1.2) and the aperture I shoot most often (f/4). The depth of field at its widest aperture was way too shallow for my taste when shooting food (see the two images on the left) and it also introduced a significant amount of chromatic aberration (a.k.a. “purple fringing”) around the in-focus area.
Another thing I noticed was that I couldn’t get in close enough. I like be able to get in tighter on my food shots and the image above shows the closest distance I could get in on this subject. I don’t want to get in “macro” close, but just enough so I can highlight different parts of the food instead of showing the entire plate.
Now, this isn’t a complete and scientific review, it’s just a few observations I made while shooting today. I’ll share my thoughts on the 50mm f/1.2L in tomorrow’s post.
