So I need some help with FOOD!

[William_Robinette]

Ok, I have a possible job opportunity coming up in the next month or so. I would need to photograph some food served by restaurants for a local travel mag. I have never shoot food before and the more I read about it the more it scares me. I know basic lighting and such and I am getting an idea of the favored camera angles for food photography. Any tips out there you all have? Most likely I will be going into the establishments and photographing something the chef makes that day and I'll be bringing in a few lights, so it is not a traditional studio set up. Here is something I was messing with last night with just a simple P+S (I am waiting on some 35mm film which is what I shoot on)

For give the weird cookies.

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/6259/1195580672.jpg

Problems:

-Background is lousy, but I will be in restaurants so I am not too concerned.
-Food is slightly overexposed.
-Lighting is too harsh
-Strange looking reflection in the mug
-No steam :)

Anyway, tips anyone?

[egproductions]

pick up cookbooks and really study the photos. there is some diffused glow look on the picture which isn't working. Get closer on the food I don't think you need to frame in the other objects really make the food the main focus. In tabletop photography there is a lot of shallow DOF that you have do to the close up nature of this type of photography. Try to get a lens that you are really happy with how this out of focusness looks and make sure you stop down you lens at least 1 full stop so that your highlights reflect your shutter blades. This is good practice anyway because your lens will be sharper and you don't want your subject floating in an out of focus abyss. Final tip would be to get really interesting with the lighting. Give the illusion that it is a fruit by a sunny window or that it is a warm brownie by a fireplace. You really have to stage the photograph even if you barely see whats in the background.

[puredrifting]

Hi William:

I hate to say it, but to make food look really appealing to camera, you usually need a food stylist. Not to say that real food cannot look good, but when you work with a food stylist, they know all of the tricks of the trade to make food look REALLY appealing to the camera. A lot of the tricks involve non-food types of items and dressing like using dishwashing soap on meats to make them shiny and juicy looking, fake ice-cubes in drinks and creative use of dyes, etc.

The other factor will of course be lighting. I shoot a lot of tabletop and tabletop lighting uses the same principals as any other lighting but there are a lot of different techniques that can work really well with small subjects. Small lights, more hard light, filtration, etc. all play a part. I have a set of tiny flags that are helpful although you can make do with Cinefoil. I also have an entire kit of miniature grip type items, earthquake wax, monofilimant line, etc. that you may need to position items to be camera friendly. It's not really super tough to do but like every other type of subject, it's going to be the little details that you will need to attend to in order to set your images apart from what the owners could have snapped with their own cameras.

The cookbook and food magazines are good for inspiration, but just know that those types of shoots have a food stylist, camera assistant, lighting assistant and sometimes more. If you are doing this all yourself, you need a game plan. What kinds of foods do you need to shoot? What kinds of environments will you shoot in? Out on the floor with tables and customers or in the kitchens? Will the kitchens or floor be working or can you do this before or after-hours?

Lots to think about for you!

Dan

[Danstin Studios]

Ok, I hate to criticize to much, because I recognize what you are doing takes lots of effort. But I personally think that the depth of field is too shallow. I think that the depth of field should be a little bigger, and if I were you, I would shoot at a higher angle, so that way you don't have to worry about the background as much. You said yourself you're going to be trying to do everything yourself, so you might as well do that, and save yourself the trouble. Also, in my experience, most good photographs are at a higher angle, or have continuous food going off in the background.

[William_Robinette]

Thanks for the info guys, I need it!

I hate to say it, but to make food look really appealing to camera, you usually need a food stylist. Not to say that real food cannot look good, but when you work with a food stylist, they know all of the tricks of the trade to make food look REALLY appealing to the camera. A lot of the tricks involve non-food types of items and dressing like using dishwashing soap on meats to make them shiny and juicy looking, fake ice-cubes in drinks and creative use of dyes, etc.

I completely agree. Unfortunately I don't believe I will have the option of working with a stylist. As it stands right now I am lacking a lot of details on the questions you asked. I am currently a student and the editor of a travel mag asked if I would be interested in doing this, knowing full well my position and lack of experience with the subject matter of food. That said, of course I want to do the best job I can. I am definitely taking all the advise I can get right now, so thanks!

[Matt Grunau]

Hey Wil:

One thing you can do to make your food pop is do use a Hue and Saturation Adjustment layer and using its layer mask, desaturate the background a little. Maybe down to 75%, Maybe as low as 50%.

Also, remember that people expect to see food as they think it should look. If you were doing say, a cheeseburger, make sure the cheese is yellow, the tomato slice red as hell (even though they rarely are), the lettuce really green, and the bun leaning towards brown rather than tan (again, even though they rarely are).

I agree about the depth of field. Is is too shallow, but at the same time, you want some depth of field.

Check out this thread:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=60681&highlight=food&page=3

Oh, and I went by the name of Rapier at the time, so the quotes are a little odd.

And notice on the pic I submitted that the background has been desaturated and everything looks like it should. And it works.