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Beginner Photography: Food

Hey guys! This week was a bit tough for me since we don’t have a live show coming up to base my project off of. But at the very last minute I got a suggestion from Chelsea to do food. We’ve done a few live shows on the topic, which you can see here and here as well as the awesome fast food challenge video with Toby and Christina here. So I used those as my basis for some quick food shots.

Remember, I’m using my Android phone for these shots, so I have no control over my settings. Luckily I’ll be getting a real camera soon, so I’ll eventually revisit these subjects to see how my technique and my gear have improved!

Luckily my husband is the cook in the house, so I just asked him to make dinner extra pretty. We were having kielbasa with french fries and salad. Not the most upscale of meals to capture, but colorful and delicious none the less.

First I decided to take a simple still life of a clementine on a plate. Our dishes are turquoise, so I thought it would be a nice complementary color scheme.

finalornage-2I used some hard natural light to get a dramatic shadow and some highlights on the skin.

Next up was dinner. 

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The hard, overhead lighting was too hard. While the specular highlights are good, the reflections on the plate and the shadows are unappealing.

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The close-up works a bit better. The kielbasa is in focus, the specular highlights are appealing, and look at those grill marks!

Now for dessert. Yogurt, berries and a fresh sprig of mint from the garden.

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The setting wasn’t ideal, so I went for a closeup with a dutch tilt, filling the frame. The highlights and the color are pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Welp, I did my best and I ate well, that’s all you can ask for, really. Please, comment below and tell me what I could have done better. How would you have shot these dishes?

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Live Show Recap: Weddings with Toby and Christina

Guest hosts Toby and Christina were in studio to review your wedding photos! Some tips on shooting weddings at the top of the show from Christina. Great tips on shooting weddings all around this show, so watch it all if you are interested in being a pro wedding photog!

Keep an eye out for their upcoming video of their fast food challenge! They formed two teams with $25 to spend in props using entry level digital cameras to shoot fast food. Which did you vote for?

Let’s review some photos! Notable shots:

Question from you:

  • Chelsea and Tony eloped! So, no wedding photos

Portfolio review! Great images, but pare them down and ditch that staggered layout.

Back to photos:

  • this one gets a ppp (post processing pick)
  • cute reaction shot
  • probably not a real wedding, but gorgeous

Back to me for questions:

  • how to shut those phones and cameras down at weddings? Bring a second shooter to kick the iPad.

More photos:

Poll results!

More questions:

  • what do you use for wedding lighting? Christina gives good lighting tips.
  • have any crazy wedding stories?

Chit-Chat!

  • “You don’t know what a silicon wig is?”
  • “We’re limited by the speed of light”

Aaaand more photo reviews:

A few more questions:

  • pre-wedding coaching?
  • your jobs before becoming pro photographers?

Great show! Next week we’ll be doing food photography again, so tune in as always at 5pm EST.