Food Photography - What to look out for?

[wildstallion]

Hey Clubsnappers

Offered to help out a friend of mine with her new 'food' business. Now I havnt done any food photography really before, but she cannot afford a proper photographer so I stepped in to help her out in any way that I could.

Now back to the point.

Ive been reading up on it a bit recently and the best suggestion Ive seen is that you should shoot the food at a roughly 45 degree angle (more asthetically pleasing and more natural), also, only one light source should really be used and just some basic extra props like a fork or a knife etc, just basic stuff that doesn't draw too much attention anyway from the food.

Now, these are just a few suggestions I have found. I was wondering if anyone could just give me some help. Does anyone have anything they would want to add?

Anything will be greatly recieved.

Thanks Alot

[Autumnite]

not a pro myself, but i have been seeing some food photography myself... and my thoughts are that there should not be any color-cast in the white balance. people like to use white plates, bowl etc and i find tt the photos appear best when the whites are white makes the food look clean and fresh... that wat i think might be wrong

[catchlights]

#1 thing, most foods for photography is uncook, partial cooked or specially prepared. NOT SUITABLE FOR CONSUMING

let us know what food is she selling.

[wildstallion]

Originally Posted by catchlights #1 thing, most foods for photography is uncook, partial cooked or specially prepared. NOT SUITABLE FOR CONSUMING let us know what food is she selling.

Cakes and Desserts

Thanks for the advice so far.

[Cheesecake]

some angles for ur reference.



close up mood shot



shot with f16. greater DOF.




normal shot. a 50mm lens will do.




wide lens with f16 for greater DOF.


DSLR?

u might want to work with a macro lens, a 50mm, 105mm... even wide lenses.
dependent on the kind of shot u wanna take.

if its mood shot, then very little DOF. a macro lens will be good.

shooting with natural light... never ever shot with natural light before. always with a no. of lights.

[wildstallion]

Originally Posted by Cheesecake some angles for ur reference. close up mood shot shot with f16. greater DOF. normal shot. a 50mm lens will do. wide lens with f16 for greater DOF. DSLR? u might want to work with a macro lens, a 50mm, 105mm... even wide lenses. dependent on the kind of shot u wanna take. if its mood shot, then very little DOF. a macro lens will be good. shooting with natural light... never ever shot with natural light before. always with a no. of lights.

Thanks

I was thinking of shooting with natural light from a window at say f/2.8 (50mm) or with the 28-105 at 105mm (macro mode) on a nice wooden table with nice clean plate and then just a fork positioned next to the cake or a spoon next to the dessert.

[Autumnite]

maybe can get some inspirations from here

http://www.noelbarnhurst.com/

also i think use a big aperture

for the props part, i think there are 2 kind of style... some like it clean and uncluttered ( i think this is easier) some like to fill it with the ingredients... like pizza photos hehe so really depends on styling, no right or wrong

[wildstallion]

Originally Posted by Autumnite maybe can get some inspirations from here http://www.noelbarnhurst.com/ also i think use a big aperture for the props part, i think there are 2 kind of style... some like it clean and uncluttered ( i think this is easier) some like to fill it with the ingredients... like pizza photos hehe so really depends on styling, no right or wrong

Thanks for the link, his shots are simply stunning. Thanks alot!

[Cheesecake]

Originally Posted by wildstallion Thanks I was thinking of shooting with natural light from a window at say f/2.8 (50mm) or with the 28-105 at 105mm (macro mode) on a nice wooden table with nice clean plate and then just a fork positioned next to the cake or a spoon next to the dessert.

the Nikkor AF28-105 f3.5-4.5D will be a good lens to work with. one of those under-rated Nikkor which not many ppl appreciate.

its always a bit of a risk to shoot with utensils for fear of wrongly positioning them etc.etc.
u can go for the bare minimal, jus shoot the food.

like this foto...


and a little more close-up...



can't teach u food styling here as it's developed over time and many many hours in the kitchen with chefs and cooks. it's more than jus simple typing etc.etc.

u can always try to maintain a clean plate with neat food presentation, tat's very ample.

ur food foto mux engage the audience and draw them to it. natural lighting is abit hard.

[devilboy]

Originally Posted by wildstallion Thanks for the link, his shots are simply stunning. Thanks alot!

Bro... trust your instinct, it will bring your further, what others have done is more or less a standard format, you are good enough to create your own food photography style...

[Cheesecake]

Originally Posted by Autumnite maybe can get some inspirations from here http://www.noelbarnhurst.com/ also i think use a big aperture for the props part, i think there are 2 kind of style... some like it clean and uncluttered ( i think this is easier) some like to fill it with the ingredients... like pizza photos hehe so really depends on styling, no right or wrong

his works are neat.
seems to rely heavily on natural lighting and big aperture.

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

Originally Posted by wildstallion Thanks I was thinking of shooting with natural light from a window at say f/2.8 (50mm) or with the 28-105 at 105mm (macro mode) on a nice wooden table with nice clean plate and then just a fork positioned next to the cake or a spoon next to the dessert.

if u shoot wide open, beware of the shallow DOF...

perhaps its just me, but i'd prefer to have a plate thats visible and the background out of focus... if u get wat i mean...

[wildstallion]

Originally Posted by Cheesecake the Nikkor AF28-105 f3.5-4.5D will be a good lens to work with. one of those under-rated Nikkor which not many ppl appreciate. its always a bit of a risk to shoot with utensils for fear of wrongly positioning them etc.etc. u can go for the bare minimal, jus shoot the food. like this foto... and a little more close-up... can't teach u food styling here as it's developed over time and many many hours in the kitchen with chefs and cooks. it's more than jus simple typing etc.etc. u can always try to maintain a clean plate with neat food presentation, tat's very ample. ur food foto mux engage the audience and draw them to it. natural lighting is abit hard.

Thanks, I just prefer natural, it looks more .... well, natural, plus I only have one speedlight, which could probably be put to good use, but Ive always believed in KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) Natural lighting, a clean plate, tasty food, and maybe the odd fork or something seems pretty decent, well to me anyway.

Originally Posted by devilboy Bro... trust your instinct, it will bring your further, what others have done is more or less a standard format, you are good enough to create your own food photography style...

Haha, thanks, I hope so, time will tell!

Originally Posted by Cheesecake his works are neat. seems to rely heavily on natural lighting and big aperture.

Yeah, looks like it, i like the depth of field and the props really add something to the images without taking away from the food.

Originally Posted by Del_CtrlnoAlt if u shoot wide open, beware of the shallow DOF... perhaps its just me, but i'd prefer to have a plate thats visible and the background out of focus... if u get wat i mean...

I understand what you mean, maybe a combination of both, or try both on each item, will take twice as long but then have two choices?

Thanks alot everyone so far

[Cheesecake]

now, let's see if u can do it.

[wildstallion]

Originally Posted by Cheesecake now, let's see if u can do it.

I ll give it my best shot, will post the results for you all to criticise!

[Cheesecake]

Originally Posted by wildstallion I ll give it my best shot, will post the results for you all to criticise!

tat's the spirit!

[devilboy]

Originally Posted by wildstallion I ll give it my best shot, will post the results for you all to criticise!

ALL THE BEST

[wildstallion]

Originally Posted by Cheesecake tat's the spirit!

Originally Posted by devilboy ALL THE BEST

Thanks Guys

[josho]

how about thing coming with strobe? I guess its better then Speedlight, right? Is it courage to get a strobe thou? Sorry for hijack the thread as I felt its best to continue then creating a new thread.

[glensky]

60mm will do e job.if u wanna use natural light shoot near e windowmu can use ordinary whiteboard and black board to reflect and diffuse e light.ordinary fix lamp will also be in handy.since ur using d200 u can set it as a commander to use ur flash.if u got bigger or longer working space use 105 or 200...and use tripod so that u can shoot and adjust focus then shoot again then u can put them together in ps...yum yum