How to take great food photos with a Canon EOS Rebel T1i and 18-55mm kit lens

Question

First of all, I don't know anything about taking food pics, and I just started about 3 weeks ago. My website is at http://www.simplyfreshcooking.com/.

I'm wondering how to make the best out of the lens I currently have, because in doing research, it seems that I probably don't have the correct lens for taking excellent food pics.. but I can't afford to buy a new lens right now.

Any advice would be so helpful. So far, I've learned how much a white board helps with shadows, and I'm in the process of getting a tripod so I can begin to learn how to use the camera settings.

Any tips for a serious newbie?

Asked by Rachael

Answer

You really don't need any more equipment, especially for a web site, what you do need is:

1. To learn how to compose interesting and mouth watering pictures - pick up several good looking cookbooks and look at the pictures, from what angles do they take the picture, how do they arrange the food, etc.

2. Learn how to light direction and quality effect the photo - look at the pictures again and try find the light sources by looking at the shadows (hint #1: never use the camera's built in flash, hint #2: the best light is window light a little before sunset, hint #3: a big white piece of paper or some aluminum foil in the opposite direction than the light source can reflect light and reduce shadows).

   -- the previous two items are the most important, do not continue until you master them --

3. Get he right exposure - the camera will not correctly expose a scene that is mostly light colors (milk, cream, white plates, etc.) or mostly dark colors (dark chocolate) you should learn to correct the auto mode (I wrote about it on my blog shooting white objects, shooting dark objects).

   -- the third item is tricky, but it is just technical stuff, again, don't continue with the list until you master it --

4. After you master the previous 3 items, shoot raw and learn how to edit, if you get the first 3 items right you will only need a little bit of editing (a little color correction goes a long way) if you mess up the first 3 items editing isn't going to help much.

5. Get an external flash (a cheap one like the $40 YN-460 is enough), a flash is harder to use than natural light so do so only after you're happy with how you light your photos, the flash will expend your optimal shooting time from about an hour a day before sunset to all day and all night.

6. Off-camera flash, light modifiers, multiple flashes... - after you master the use of your flash you will see light is the most important thing in the photo (after composition) - especially if you downsize your photos for the web (problems with the lens quality are only visible at large sizes)

Answered by Nir

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