Food photography Thread

[Fat Bob]

What camera and lense are you using for the macro shots?


I do have reserves about the C pic with the Einkorn Flour, the stabbed knife is a bit 'unusual' but the indestinct dark bread knife leading into the dark packet puts me off.

I have an old Nikon that is very good for macro photography - I would post some pics but me secondary hard drive has decided to go stop working. I only hope it can get a new motor or whatever as it has all my photos.

You have done weel to capture the dragonflies as they hatch - when older they are boogas to photo.

My favourite insects are micro moths - they are sadly under studied - my local fav is one that is 8mm long and has antennae up to 50mm long.

It is hilarious watching them fly, the antennae bounce around - darn difficult to photograph and get the moth and the antennae in focus.

Great thread and I like to see what could be termed off topic stuff. It is a good way for people to find new things they may never come across but for their love of fine food.

[minesamojito]

Thanks Matt, I really can't stand the soulless shots you see in a lot of food magazines, good food photography should be an understanding of the process and a story, not a perfect soulless image of a plate of food.
I'd never expect my images to be used in a magazine, but I like that my images show life, and pleasure and enjoyment of food, and a bit of fun, after all that is what food is about surely?
Sorry that you'd be "put off" the bread by the bread knife Bob, but a great number of people weren't and felt inspired to give the bread a go, try the flour, and have a new positive experience of baking bread, job done
Cheers
Marcus

[Fat Bob]

It's not that it's a knife it's the way a dark indestinct object leads me into the picture.

Hey the bread is on my wish list!

If I vist UK this year I will endeavour to source some of this flour.

Please tell us what lenses/camera you are using?

[minesamojito]

Well it's a bread knife, and it was there because I was cutting the bread, and the knife was in the butter because i'd used it to spread butter on the bread. I'm really not one for staging shots, it all gets a bit silly, my photos are real and as I enjoy the food. I could have positioned the knofe so it was more "aesthetically" pleasing, but I just wanted to get the photo and get on and enjoy the bread with my family
Please let me know if you do have a go at the bread, you don't need the einkorn flour to give it a go, just use good white bread flour, and some wholemeal.
I use a Canon EOS 450d, a few years old and with it's quirks but I like it. 90% of my shots are with a sigma 24-70 f2.8, I also play with a Canon 85mm f2.8 macro, and a Canon 50mm 1.8.
Cheers
Marcus

[Calaf]

Bob, I have close-ups of all the dragonfly body parts and stages of hatching, even the larvae crawling out looking like an alien. June bugs are my next thing.

Olympus E1 (5Mp and 8 years old now) and the Macro lens is a Zuiko f2/50mm with extension ring.

[Fat Bob]

They sound great - craziest pics I have seen were of a larvae turning/morphing into a stag beetle.

I have some pics of mole crickets they are weird critters and big!

[minesamojito]

Taking photographs of food is a funny thing, I always try to get my photos so that they look like the food that we have enjoyed as a family, so that it helps to inspire others to give the recipe a go themselves. Some of teh subjects are easier to photograph than others, and there’s so much to think of, is the light good enough, is the composition good enough, and most importantly is the food good enough.

Well I usually get the food right, I have the occasional disaster, but luckily these are few, and usually to do with baking cakes with a hangover. So just need to ensure the light is right, not always the easiest with a hungry young family who’s needs do not often coincide with the timings for the “golden hours” of early and evening light. As far as composition and dressing the image, I like to keep things simple and rustic, and as we’ve eaten them. Ok, ok so sometimes there is a rogue tea towel or a strategically placed beverage, but I believe that the best pictures tell a story about the food.

But sometimes it’s nigh on impossible to get the food looking right, and the hardest things to take a good photo of are the “brown foods” which can often taste out of this world, as the two examples I’ve included here, a Cauliflower Cheese with roasties and Bangers in Gravy which were served on piles of fluffy mash. Although warming and comforting meals that were enjoyed by my family, the photos just didn’t cut the mustard (pun intended as both dishes contain mustard) as they don’t jump out of the page.

It does make you wonder as you browse through all the lovely images on the plethora of food blogs and in food magazines, are they biased towards the photogenic dishes, the deconstructed foams and spheres of pea puree?

Cheers
Marcus

[matt]

I have the same issues taking pics of bread - I usually bake at the end of the day, and its the absence of daylight which makes the pictures a little yellow and a little flat. Your shots still look enticing to me though.

Here's your cauli with a bit of Photoshop adjustment to pull the warm colours back in the highlights.

[minesamojito]

That looks great to me, is one of the issues with the 450d and I never quite get there with white balance adjustments, so will try your way, did you just pull back the yellow?
I always apply an S curve to get the picture really popping, and this can affect the WB a bit in the highlights. Appreciate your comments. Still working to get the best out of my camera, maybe one day will look at upgrading
What kit do you use?
Cheers
Marcus

[Calaf]

I think the first photo is superb and perfectly exposed. However, in addition to white balance issues some Canon's also have a tendancy to bias the red channel. There is a strong Sepia cast that I would photoshop with a blue-cyan filter (not too much or the hi-lights will turn green) and desaturate the reds.

Matt, I think using that method would work well on the RAW fiile but on the low dynamic range jpg it has blown the hi-lights drawing the eye to the cutlery.

With brown foods staging would be more important. Photo 2 with the pot looks, to me who loves sausage casserole, delicious but might look even better with more contextual elements to tell the story. But cropped without the pot you would have stools.

[cannyfradock]

.....Wow.....fascinating pics guys.

Terry

[matt]

Mar 25, 2012 9:49:08 GMT minesamojito said:

That looks great to me, is one of the issues with the 450d and I never quite get there with white balance adjustments, so will try your way, did you just pull back the yellow?
I always apply an S curve to get the picture really popping, and this can affect the WB a bit in the highlights. Appreciate your comments. Still working to get the best out of my camera, maybe one day will look at upgrading
What kit do you use?
Cheers
Marcus

I pulled the yellow/mag/red back in the highlights with the colour balance function - just a little overall and then a bit heavier with the china and cutlery highlights isolated to clean the highlights.

Just a tinker - nothing like pro retouching on raw files as Calaf said, but just wanted to try my usual 'evening photography' fixes on someone else's shot.

I use a small Sony non SLR, nothing fancy, but am considering buying 450d or similar.

This guy is doing some amazing bread porn. Have a look.

[webbaldo]

For us mere mortals with no photo skills, there is still hope! An iphone app known as instagram (like a FB for images) has some preset filters to use. My 3GS phone is only a basic 3meg camera phone, and im still happy with this from last night



Id imagine it'd be alot better with the 4 or 4s phones

Or chips anyone?

[minesamojito]

Bangers and chips.....mmm perfect
I have had a play with these kind of photos, and they are a great way to get into nice photos
Whatever way people use to get photos out there I love seeing peoples pics
Cheers
Marcus