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Food Photography OP
I've been interested in this for a while, and was wondering what are some of the techniques that are used to photograph food? What type of lenses are people using? Just curious. I'll post some photos showing what I mean.
>> OP
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Here's another showing what I mean.
>> Mr. Higgzbuffonton !!Xsltv1VWxZT
have you tried looking through flickr and checking EXIF?
>> OP
>>237638
Actually I haven't, thanks for the suggestion.
>> Mr. Higgzbuffonton !!Xsltv1VWxZT
yea flickr is pretty good for specific shots

though someone on here with experience would likely be much better, flickr can help until [if] someone actually comes (I cannot help in this, sorry)..
>> OP
>>237641
Yeah, I've already found a few things that are helpful. I'm just trying to find the methodology of taking a shot like these.
>> OP
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This is a great example, thanks for the flickr suggestion.
>> Mr. Higgzbuffonton !!Xsltv1VWxZT
>>237646
no problem - though I can't imagine how you could possible take pictures of food like that without eating it, heh...

By the way, if you have firefox, its got a handy EXIF data viewer-add-on-thing called FxIF.. you can right click and view properties of any image that still has its EXIF data intact.. If you're using Opera, it's a built in feature, and I have no idea for IE.
>> OP
>>237648
Wow, definitely most helpful person I've met on /p./ Heh, I just think it's really interesting, I'd definitely eat it though. I think food often times is very artistic in it's representation. Thanks for the firefox plugin advice, I had no idea one like that was out.
>> Serenar !m827jEgWi.
>>237648
A lot of the time it's not real. A guy on another forum got an awesome shot of "mint" ice cream with frozen mashed potato and food coloring.

With no experience in this field, I'd guess anyways that the best thing to know about is lighting. It really makes the difference between "hurr here's my dinner" and cookbook photography. Also you may want to look into T/S lenses.
>> OP
>>237687
That's what I thought, I should experiment with lighting techniques. Why the tilt shift lenses though? I was thinking of something like a 35mm 1.4 because of avail lighting, etc.
>> OP
Also, I'd prefer if all of these could be done on location? With as little gear as possible. If you have any more suggestions, that would be great, you've all been really helpful.
>> Anonymous
>>237709
if you want to shoot with available light then you shouldnt need much equipment. really you should just need a camera and a lens. i guess you could use a monopod since some places are kinda dark but youl look like a fag walking into a restaurant with that
>> Anonymous
off the top of my head, a 60 macro, 2 strobes @ 45o angles w/ umbrellas, a backdrop/lightbox..

its actually pretty easy if you know what you're doing

You could probably do it on the cheap with a 50 1.8/bounce flash too.
>> Anonymous
i'd go with a fast prime or maybe a tilt shift for interesting blur effects
>> Anonymous
>>237714
Please, only give advice if you actually know something.
>> Anonymous
Also, during post processing use a (toned down) Velvia action to make the colours pop more and try to expose to the right of the histogram as much as possible without blowing out.
>> Anonymous
photos of food in the cook books aren't edible.

Raw chicken is used and painted to look cooked, sheets of cardboard and put in between lasagne layers to help it hold, a microwaved tampon that is soaked in water is placed in rice to give the steaming effect. It's usually done this way because the intensity of the lights destroys the aesthetic properties of the food fairly quickly (dries out moisture, melts cold foods like icecream, etc)
>> Anonymous
>>237739
microwaved tampon, haha
We use incense behind the thing on angles like>>237637
>> Anonymous
>>237693

With tilt/shift glass you can control the plane of focus, nothing wrong with that. You could also use large format camera but I think that is out of question here.

There's no need for 35/1.4, I mean, surely you're not trying to shoot food under normal kitchen lighting?
>> Serenar !m827jEgWi.
>>237693
Planes of focus are essentially flat, but that means if you want to get the whole plate in focus while shooting wide open you need to shoot directly from above, which is really boring. A T/S lens would allow you to change the plane of focus so you can have an interesting angle on the plate and still get the entire thing focused.
>> Anonymous
An important thing when photographing food is to not treat it as food, but as an attractive prop.

i.e. Meat often needs to be undercooked so it looks nice, but it won't be edible; not that you would want to eat it anyway after you brush on some glycerin to give it a "juicy" look.
>> Anonymous
50mm 1.4
>> Anonymous
>>237749

what if i'm at f/32, everything will be so in focus
>> ilkore !!rybbb5OcRVp
my local photo club has done a few restaurant sessions. we usually just call the restaurant beforehand, and if they have a private room, that's not booked, they usually will let us set up some gear, and let us run a muck. each time, it has turned into an impromptu portrait session of the chef. and not once have they charged us the price of booking the room.

i know some fine restaurants frown upon you taking your camera out, so it's best to call ahead.
>> Anonymous
>>237868

you're doing them a favor

why the fuck would YOU be paying them
>> Anonymous
>>237871
its not really doing them a favor unless you sell the picture and say what restaurant you went to
>> Anonymous
>>237874

that's exactly how you should approach it instead of going ho hum can i take your pics

you get free food, they get some free pictures
>> ilkore !!rybbb5OcRVp
>>237871
no we're not.. if anything we were doing them a disservice. if we we were already lined up to shoot the food for advertising purposes, then yes... you shouldn't have to pay for anything... but if your shooting just for purposes of your portfolio, or stock... then your at the mercy of uptight fancy restaurant managers.
>> Anonymous
>>237880

you need to learn some hustlin

you can get free food, free handjob and they'll pay you for it too
>> Anonymous
Here is what you do: hire a food stylist.
>> Anonymous
>>238359

This.