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Few, I crept into the top ten in the Does My Blog Look Good in This #2 2006. The hot winner was Eating in Asia. Check out the results, in reverse order, at Love Sicily.
This month’s edition is hosted by babetabulous Cooking Diva in Panama who just won a Bloggy as the best Latin American blog. I’l be hosting in April.
Month by month my pornography photography is getting better and I thought I should share some of my own opinionated views on photography as I know there are a lot of new bloggers out there.
Photo fascist
1. For food photography you really need a good macro – the button with a small tulip-like symbol. Go to the shop and checkout some close-ups in poor light if possible. Some well very popular big brand cameras perform really badly in poor light. I use a Ricoh GR Digital. It’s a bit pricey, got quite a wide-angle lens (and don’t understand all that f=5.9mm 1:2.4 thing) but is really easy to use. There’s no zoom but it does shoot at 8 mega pixels and slips nicely into my pocket (except when I’m wearing those really tight jeans. Ouch!)
2. Never, ever ever use the flash. Instead, and I learnt this from Augustus Gloop, use a small tripod so the camera won’t shake at slow shutter speed. The ones with bendy legs seem to be the most flexible. I made the mistake of buying a very high quality one but it is fixed in height and inflexible. I know it’s really embarrassing to whip the tripod out in restaurants. I still blush and friends are starting to shun me. In fact, because of the tight jean problem I often leave the tripod at home nowadays. I’ve learnt to use the objects around me in the field. I also brace against bars, glasses plates…I even use friend’s heads.
3. Get real close (most of the time).
4. It’s all about light, where it’s coming from, how much of it there is and how reflective the subject is.
5. Frame it in an interesting way, at an angle off centre…think about what’s in the foreground.
6. Apart from aperture/shutter speed (if you can adjust them) and macro all those other settings aren’t that important. If you have something like Photoshop (although for 99% of amateurs the much cheaper Photoshop elements does everything you need) you can adjust colours, brightness blah, blah The auto adjust in Photoshop is very good and simple.
7. Crop in on pics. I’ve spent a lifetime on mags doing this to focus in on the action.
8. Edit, edit and edit. You wouldn’t believe how many rolls of film (when they did that kind of thing) the pros go through for the one shot. Just dump the crap.
9. The zoom lens is largely irrelevant for food pics, especially when you are shooting at 8 mega pixels, have an electronic zoom and publish on the web at 72dpi.
10. Just search it. There are loads of great resources on the web.
11. Everybody knows that uneven numbered lists work best. Think creative(ly for pedants).
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Tight jeans problem???
I thought I was the only one who felt embarrassed whipping out the camera and tripod in restaurants .. which is why you seldom see me doing restaurant reviews. Also, because I am an abysmal photographer and it takes me eons just to take a shot.
Thanks for the tips!
You’re just going to have to get yourself a man-bag Ed =) Blinding your dining companions with a flash, or posting *eek* blurry photos is much more embarrassing, no?
MM - tight jeans or fat thighs. I need a stright answer from my personal trainer.
Helen, what I really want is a leather belt a la Chewbacca - a pocket for my camera, optical viewfinder, tripod, Treo, Ipod, notebook, pen, sunglasses, glasses, keys, wallet, small change… and I was wondering why my jeans were tight
Good tips. And I still haven’t bought that camera–I have test driven a few, but not the Ricoh you suggested a few months ago on FBS.
I live in a city known for men in baggy jeans (women’s jeans are a different story in NYC) so it is funny to read that you find your jeans a wee too tight
Hi. Surfed through Betul’s blog.
I started a food blog recently & would love to hear your feedback on my photos !! Havent tweaked photos as yet (dont have Photoshop)…hope to see you. Thanks.
I am so glad to read that someone made the same mistake as me. I bought the “best” mini-tripod, but when I got home, I realized that it’s so low, that it doesn’t really do me much good..I guess I could return it, but I figure it’ll be handy at some point. Thanks for these tips. I just started a food blog and I’m finding that the photography is the most addictive part!
At home I pile large cook books under it but I’m about to go travelling so may try one of those flexy ones. Glas it’s useful. I was completely baffled when I started out.