For food photography with a Macro lens do I have to get a particular size of dishes?

Question

From Rfusca's comment here: Why isn't the background towel visible in this still life?

She might have used a macro lens, but this definitely isn't a macro shot. Its not nearly 1:1 unless those are the smallest glasses ever,

I am about to get a reversing ring.
If I want to get the whole two vessels in the scene, and also wish to show every detail of the food, then will the normal serving dishes do, or I have to get some "tiniest" dishes?

Or
I have understood his point wrong?

Asked by Anisha Kaul

Answer

I shoot food photos with a macro lens. However I am usually a meter or more away from the food. So I am using the lens like a portrait lens. Many food photographers would probably use a 70-200mm lens - you can get a shallow depth of field, but not like true macro, where the lens is virtually touching your subject and the depth of field is a mm or two.

If you use a reversing ring, that is completely different than a macro lens. With a macro lens you can back up from the food and frame it any way you like. But with a reversing ring, you will not be able to control focus with the lens. You will have to move the camera towards the food until it is in focus, and you will be very close. Again imagine your lens almost touching the food.

In the image you referenced, the camera was probably as much as a meter away from the subject, not a matter of a few cms. So yes, she used a macro lens, but it's not a macro shot. Reversing rings are not what you want for food. You want something between normal and moderate telephoto (50mm to 200mm). The macro lens she used is 100mm, so in the middle of that range.

Answered by MikeW

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How to *practice* for food photography?

Question

I wish to shoot my own cooked foods. We know that it is important for the food to look fresh.

So, how to practice for food shots when I don't get ever a best shot at the first go. It takes several clicks for me to get something worthwhile, and the food won't be looking the same after nth click.

Is the only way to keep on reheating repeatedly? Or there is some other way out to practice (without wasting food much)?

Asked by Anisha Kaul

Answer

I've recently started taking shots of food as well. I don't have anything particularly great to show for my efforts yet, however I have noticed that you can keep shooting for a while before the food actually starts to appear unappetizing. Additionally, if it starts to look dry, you might just want to keep a spray bottle with water in it on hand to mist and keep things looking fresh. Keeping your food covered while you investigate previous shots and evaluate your next shots can help keep it looking fresher for a little longer as well. Granted, you won't get much more than 5-8 minutes of "perfect" looking food, but you can get decent looking food for a while...and since its just practice, perfection isn't necessarily the goal (that comes later! :)

One of the things I've learned in my efforts so far include the use of a polarizer. Fresh cooked food often exhibits a lot of pinpoint highlights that eat away at your dynamic range without offering any kind of useful return. By using a polarizer, you can adjust how much of those highlights you wish to keep, and you can greatly minimize them to the point where they help enhance your food without creating a bunch of tiny overblown highlights all over everything. Use of a polarizer might help you get more keepers earlier, and not run into the problem of dry, old, unappetizing looking food. Just keep in mind, you'll need to increase exposure if you use a polarizer, by 1-2 stops.

Answered by jrista

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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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Where does the assertion that food photography must not use flash come from?

Question

I often hear/read in webcasts and blogs that when doing food photography, it's better to use only the indirect sun light from a window, and without flash.

Why?

I tested multiple times two setups:

1. Reflected sun light from a window (no direct sun),

2. Reflected sun light from a window + light from a single flash, bouncing from a ceiling or a white wall.

Every time, the second setup gave much better results than the light from a window only. Am I doing it wrong? Have I misunderstood the assertion?

Asked by MainMa

Answer

Generally anybody who says "Don't use flash, it won't look natural" about any photography, means don't use direct, on camera, harsh small flash - because it doesn't look natural.

Mixing flash and ambient like you're doing or even doing all flash with sufficient softboxes and such is just fine and can produce some wonderful results.

As usual, rules in photography are more like guidelines - trying to help those who may be starting out and not fully understanding what they're doing. Its easier to tell somebody with a point and shoot or not real flash equipment to just 'not use flash' than it is to explain to them the intricacies of 'real' flash work.

Answered by rfusca

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Can a fast prime lens simulate a macro lens for food photography?

Question

I read in this thread that macro lenses are considered good for food photography.

AFAIK, macro lenses are also used to photograph insects. The lens makes them look giant, and shows up all their details. But that level of detail is not needed in food photography.

If I use a prime lens of 1.4F, and focus manually on the closest food part, will it simulate the macro lens?

Besides focus is there anything else which makes a macro lens more preferable for food photography?

Asked by Anisha Kaul

Answer

The most important property that separates a macro lens from others is its maximum magnification. While there are many food items for which you don't need much magnification, such as anything that fills a whole plate, it will become relevant when you want to concentrate on some detail or have a smaller item (such as a cookie or truffle).

Also, since macro lenses are usually in the moderate telephoto range, you will benefit from their narrow angle of view, which helps to keep unrelated objects out of your picture (there always seems to lot of stuff around where food is).

Typically, you won't be using very wide aperture, since you are shooting from a close distance and want to keep depth of field above minimum.

For example, let's take this shot:

It was taken with Sigma 28mm f/1.8 Macro lens. Despite its fancy markings, it's actually not a very macro lens, providing maximum magnification of 1:2.9. I shot at minimum focusing distance, and still wished I could get a little closer. The crop factor of sensor narrowed the angle down to 42mm equivalent, but I still had to aim carefully so that people and chairs on the background would not be distracting.

So, in conclusion - the most important factors are focal length (giving narrow angle of view) and magnification (which is obtained thanks to relatively close minimum focusing distance at that focal length). Sure, you can do food photography with non-macro lenses, but you'll have to work harder to find a suitable angle and composition. In post-processing, you can simulate both of these properties (at cost of resolution) by cropping.

Answered by Imre

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What style of composition for food photography triggers people's appetite?

Question

What kind of style and position triggers more the appetite of people?

What are the best ways to position food and combine with other objects? What kind of objects are better combined with food? Does a shooting angle that resembles the position that someone would have if he was about to eat the food create more appetite?

I'm not talking about lenses, and also not about the styling of food itself.

Answer

This might help 10 tips to make food look tasty

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How can I get nice, vivid colors in food photography without blown-out brightness from the flash?

Question

Whenever I click pictures of people and food using flash, the whole picture becomes bright. When I click without flash, the camera takes in the light from the surroundings and gives me a monotonous and dull colour pattern, particularly when photographing food..

I was trying to capture photos that retain the colour pattern but make the colours more vibrant. Is it possible to achieve this without h post-image processing via editing software? What camera settings or technique should I use to improve my results?

My P & S Camera is Samsung i8.

Answer

I'd suggest you look at using exposure compensation. If your pictures are too bright, then go ahead and use the flash, but turn the exposure compensation down (-.5 or -2/3 for a start). This tells the camera you think it's too bright and it will adjust down.

You can get very dull colors if the light is too low, or if the flash is too bright and washes everything out. If you get the exposure (brightness) right, the colors should be much more vibrant.

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How can I improve my food photography when limited to a point and shoot?

Question

Previously I have used a Sony DSLR A580 camera along with its 50mm 1.8 lens to take pictures of food. Personally, I really liked that lens. At the moment, I am back to my old Samsung i8 Point and Shoot Camera and am interested in getting close to similar results like those attained from the Sony for photographing food. There are various presets available in the Samsung, but none of them are as good. Kindly drop in your suggestions that would help me improve my shooting skills while photographing food with my Samsung.

I could not provide a similar image for comparison of both the cameras (as Sony A580 is better than my point and shoot any day), but just presented an idea of what I am trying to capture.

PS: Sorry if the food is mouth-watering. :P

Answer

Actually a point-and-shoot is one of the best tool for taking photos for food.

I usually have a DSLR and a point-and-shoot with me, when I want to take photos of food however, I usually use the point-and-shoot thanks to its macro mode.

Most of us shoot our plate of food top-down, framing the shot so that the whole plate is included.

Sorry but that can quickly become boring after 5 shots.

Macro mode is usually found on point-and-shoot. DSLR on the other hand has very limited macro ability until you actually go spend some money on a macro lens.

That is why I prefer using my point-and-shoot! It can shoot the details! I can focus as close as 3 or 4 cm and get very nice photo of my food. My point-and-shoot has a flip-out screen so I can shoot from all kinds of angle.

I can shoot across the plate horizontally without leaving my chair and ducking by the side of the table. I can fill the entire photo with the actual food showing its texture.

As a bonus, usually its easy to get the food in focus since point-and-shoot has a high DOF.

Trust me, a point-and-shoot is better than a DSLR with a kit lens when it comes to food.

You need to get the White Balance right, and you need to light the food well. The best light is when you are eating right next to a huge and bright window at day time.

At night, however, you must find ways to create a soft and pleasing light, which usually involves the use of an external flash. This is not an option for you it seems so I will just leave it.

You also want to make your food look YUMMY. If it is hot food you are shooting, steam will be a plus. Food when freshly prepared are usually shinny since they are wet or there are oil, so if you leave it for too long it will become dull and it will not look nice.

There are things that you can do to create steam and make your food shinny, two simple ways are:

• light a cigarette and place it behind the food
• using a spraying bottle, spray oil on your food to keep it looking fresh

Of course, these may not be the best thing to do when you are planning to actually eat it, but you can definitely keep in mind and try these out when you are allowed to

Lastly food photography actually is very often fake. Ice cream made of clay.... boiling water is actually ice cold with air bubbles manually pumped into it.... etc

So be creative. Good luck!

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Recommended books on food photography?

Question

There are a few good novice food photography questions in this community, but my question is a bit more specific: do you guys have some recommended literature (either printed or digital) regarding this genre?

Answer

The book I would recommend: Plate to Pixel.

Everything you need right there and it was written by a friend of mine. It is by far the most complete and most comprehensive "how-to" book out there. Better than any blog (my own included).

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What lenses are best for food photography?

Question

What lenses are best for taking photos of cooked dishes?

In some articles, I have read that I can have great results with lenses f/1.4 because they are cheap and they give that nice blurred background.

Others have great result with macro lens, but these are quite more expensive.

How different the results would look?

Would the ones with macro lens look so much more professional that I should not even consider the f/1.4 ones?

Are macro lenses good only for very close distances? What the maximum distance away from the dish that it can be? Is it good only for cropped images?

_{edit: I rephrased my question to make it more clear.}

Answer

As a point to consider - recently, CreativeLIVE had a weekend workshop on food photography w/ famous photog Penny De-Los Santos. She used mainly the 24-105mm f4L and 70-200mm f/2.8 on an EOS 5DmkII (full frame) camera during the workshop. You can see the full gear list here.

That said, when shooting food the studio style, you have control on most of the parameters. If shooting with a long lens from a relatively close range, then your DoF will be shallow even with moderately fast apertures (i.e., you don't have to go all the way down to f/1.4 or f/2.8 to frame a bowl of soup nicely).

Update: "Are macro lenses good only for very close distances? What the maximum distance away from the dish that it can be? Is it good only for cropped images?"

Macro lenses are usually good wherever their non-macro parallels are useful. You just get, in addition, the ability to get really close to the subject for some 1:1 magnification. Their maximum focusing distance (MFD) is infinity (except for some very specialized macros). I can't imagine a special need for macro when shooting a whole dish, but it can get useful if you want to shoot seeds, crumbs or other very small food elements.

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What do I need to know to get started with food photography?

Question

I'd like to get started in food photography, and my first attempts are worlds apart from the examples we see all around us on food labels, in cookbooks, and in advertising. What are some tips to someone getting started?

I know that background blurring and good color management is a good start, but I'm not sure about other things, e.g. lighting and styling.

Answer

Well there are two types of food photography: product shots (for menus), and food documentation for blogs, recipes etc.

Product shots are a whole different ball game. Often these "models" are constructed using materials that simulate the look and texture of the food--designed to stand up to rigors of product shots. For example, using lard to for shots Ice Cream--since Ice Cream melts quickly, it's hard to take multiple shots under hot lights. So the next time you're at a Burger King and you wonder why your Whopper looks nothing like what you see on the menu, it's because they used something like beets instead of tomatoes.

The other type, is more of a documentation style, in which you try to present dishes served in an appealing way. To me, this is more fun (since I'm a total foodie), so these tips are geared towards photographers who wish to document meals and dishes, as opposed to making images that look like food.

Here is the first attempt I made at food photography. Shot with a 5D2/Canon 50mm f1.4.
And here is the second attempt. Shot with a 5D2/Canon 50mm 2.0 Macro.

Some tips that have worked for me:

• Natural light is so much better than flash. If you are shooting your own creations, place them on the table near a window during the day and get up on that lovely light!

• Shoot the dishes right as they're plated. Since this isn't food science type, you don't have much time. Shoot the food quickly.

• Shoot from a just-above table perspective. Photographs that look like images we see every day aren't as visually pleasing, so a top-down shot of a bowl of soup looks worlds apart from a shot from just above the table.

• Gorilla Pod or Handholding. Since the 5D2 has awesome high-iso performance, I can shoot in dim lighting. If your camera doesn't have stellar high-iso, then invest in a gorilla pod, or other similar pocket tripod. Handholding is much easier to frame the shot in, so thats what I stick with.

• Set the image properly. Move other dishes, glasses, and silverware in and out of the frame as desired. During the 35 courses at elBulli, I was constantly shifting things around to get an image I thought would be compelling.

• Look for interesting angles. This may be personal preference, but food lends itself well to angles. For each dish you shoot, try a shot from a different angle.

From the techincal side of things:

• I try to shoot with the largest aperture available to give a nice DOF, and to produce a nice bokeh (background blurring).

• I use 50mm for a nice tight-crop of the dish.

• Macro lenses will let you get a nice in-close focus of your subject.

Specific to photographing your own food:

• Use a cloth to clean up any aberrant sauces, food particles etc. You can clean these up in post-process, but much faster if you don't have to.

• Garnish is key. The sprinkle of green onions offer a nice contrast to a bowl of New England clam chowdah.

• Think about your dishes. White dishes are fairly pleasing as they brighten up the dish, and give good contrast to the food contents.

• Think about your table setting. White table cloths, like white dishes, will brighten up your image.

• If you're at home, you can use your own tripod, and forgo buying a table top one.

Most importantly: Have fun. Food is a social experience that is so much more than just a combination of nutrients. Keep that in mind, enjoy your food, and have a good time taking pictures of what you're eating.

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