***DSLR/Photography MegaThread***
- Thread starter nocturn
- Start date
They just sent $931.84 for the pics in US and People. Not too bad since I am getting half of what was paid by the mags!
It took them a year to pay but they came through and got top dollar.
If you ever get celebrity photos and want to make some $$ send them to
www.thesnitcherdesk.com
and they will end up in the taddlers. It took about 4 days after I submitted for them to be in a major gossip rag. One pic, I tried to sell to people and they refused it and then they bought and ran a worse pic a week later from snitcherdesk. (I think the mags would rather work with an agency that an individual.)
edit:
Woohoo! It just appeared in my bank account. I guess I'm a professional now!
It took them a year to pay but they came through and got top dollar.
If you ever get celebrity photos and want to make some $$ send them to
www.thesnitcherdesk.com
and they will end up in the taddlers. It took about 4 days after I submitted for them to be in a major gossip rag. One pic, I tried to sell to people and they refused it and then they bought and ran a worse pic a week later from snitcherdesk. (I think the mags would rather work with an agency that an individual.)
edit:
Woohoo! It just appeared in my bank account. I guess I'm a professional now!
HeShootsNScores
the Power in Powerplay
Food Photography
So.. whats the secret behind food photography?
I'm part owner of a company and one of the divisions of the company is restaurant consulting. Part of the restaurant consulting division is menu development. (if you're interested, you can see the restaurant consulting's website at Alpha Omega Restaurant Solutions)
Well.. one of the part owners of my company is being really stingy about this, and is taking his own food photography for the clients. He is NOT a professional photog... He sets up his lights, goes to the restaurant, and comes back... however, I don't like any of the photos. They're soft focus, and the food just doesn't look too appetizing. Its my job to put them into menus so the client can say, "I like that, go to print with that.. order 10,000" or whatever.
So I go into the menu design (or rather, I design the menu's) for proofing for the client. Well... like I said, I don't like the photography at all.
Here are some of the photos he took:
Anyway...
So what are the secrets to making this look right and making it look appetizing? Glenn... I love your still life stuff, and I really like the pepper you just did.
Is it equipment? (I think my "partner" (although I own 25% of the company and he owns 8%) is using a Canon Rebel XT)
Is it a lens thing?
And how much would it cost to get someone to shoot food professionally?(Or at least to shoot better than my partner is shooting...) I'm just concerned about the product that we're putting out. My end is nice (I take pride in my menu designs), but if the photos are not too hot, it lowers the overall look.
So.. whats the secret behind food photography?
I'm part owner of a company and one of the divisions of the company is restaurant consulting. Part of the restaurant consulting division is menu development. (if you're interested, you can see the restaurant consulting's website at Alpha Omega Restaurant Solutions)
Well.. one of the part owners of my company is being really stingy about this, and is taking his own food photography for the clients. He is NOT a professional photog... He sets up his lights, goes to the restaurant, and comes back... however, I don't like any of the photos. They're soft focus, and the food just doesn't look too appetizing. Its my job to put them into menus so the client can say, "I like that, go to print with that.. order 10,000" or whatever.
So I go into the menu design (or rather, I design the menu's) for proofing for the client. Well... like I said, I don't like the photography at all.
Here are some of the photos he took:
Anyway...
So what are the secrets to making this look right and making it look appetizing? Glenn... I love your still life stuff, and I really like the pepper you just did.
Is it equipment? (I think my "partner" (although I own 25% of the company and he owns 8%) is using a Canon Rebel XT)
Is it a lens thing?
And how much would it cost to get someone to shoot food professionally?(Or at least to shoot better than my partner is shooting...) I'm just concerned about the product that we're putting out. My end is nice (I take pride in my menu designs), but if the photos are not too hot, it lowers the overall look.
Blurker
I am ignoring you.
It looks like the lighting on the food is flat. You want to get light coming from the sides at different intensities to make it more 3-d looking like it's coming out of the page. Glenn's shot has light on the top of the pepper with NO light on the bottom which is a little extreme for a plate of food but makes the pepper pop.
It's all about the lighting ratios.
As everyone has said, the lighting is very flat. Food is also hard because you what to show moist, succulent foods without them appearing greasy (this often, but not all the time means either small-ish light sources or feathering the light off a large source). Showing translucency (with backlight) also is a big part of it as it helps to "lift" the food off the plate a little and make it stand out.
Lastly, having a food stylist really, really helps. Have a "stand in" version of the food to use during set up, and once you get all your lighting, set dec, and camera is all squared away, bring in the hero food, that way the fats haven't congealed and the lettuce wilted.
Here is an interesting walk through of setting up a shot, kind of fun to see the little tweaks. Food Photography Process explained
There is a fantastic food photographer who has a really nice site, but I am in the middle of switching computers at the moment, and the link is residing on hard drive which is doing its best impression of a brick a the moment, but it I find it I'll pass it on.
Lastly, having a food stylist really, really helps. Have a "stand in" version of the food to use during set up, and once you get all your lighting, set dec, and camera is all squared away, bring in the hero food, that way the fats haven't congealed and the lettuce wilted.
Here is an interesting walk through of setting up a shot, kind of fun to see the little tweaks. Food Photography Process explained
There is a fantastic food photographer who has a really nice site, but I am in the middle of switching computers at the moment, and the link is residing on hard drive which is doing its best impression of a brick a the moment, but it I find it I'll pass it on.
Oh, are we talking foodtography now?
I was kinda pleased with the way this one turned out. 40mm 1/30th @ f/4.5. Available light, of course, which was a 3" halogen in the ceiling about 8' above the table in addition to the candle.
BTW...that dessert is AWESOME. That's from Granville, a restaurant in the downtown Burbank area.
I was kinda pleased with the way this one turned out. 40mm 1/30th @ f/4.5. Available light, of course, which was a 3" halogen in the ceiling about 8' above the table in addition to the candle.
BTW...that dessert is AWESOME. That's from Granville, a restaurant in the downtown Burbank area.
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I so very rarely go to restaurants that have pictures of the food in their menus. In fact, the only place I can think of that I go to frequently that does that is a sushi bar.
HeShootsNScores
the Power in Powerplay
I should have mentioned... the major clients are restaurant franchisee people, usually owning some sort of chain of restaurants, from 2, 5, 60, you name it.... so the menu's are actually to-go menus. Not regular menus, although that is listed as one of our services.
So I'm discovering some of the cool functions of the D50. One is the "Live View" where you can see live action through the review screen and snap pics off that, it's even got a magnifier mode so you can do precise focusing (doesn't magnify the final pic). This is great for live shows where you aren't right next to the stage or in any crowd situation. It's also good for a unique perspective looking down on your subjects. It also gets the attention of the singer, who thinks you might be chucking a beer bottle at him.
Another cool feature is the Custom Setting C1 and C2 where you can save your setup and then just turn the dial and everything is ready to go. For Kings hockey I have very precise white balance and ISO etc settings and this makes them available with the turn of the knob. (It only took me hald the season to read the docs and discover this). I can have one setting for the ice and one for the audience and switch back and forth quickly. Or one setting for the Derby Dolls and flash and one for the band between periods (high ISO).
OK, back to reading. . . .
Another cool feature is the Custom Setting C1 and C2 where you can save your setup and then just turn the dial and everything is ready to go. For Kings hockey I have very precise white balance and ISO etc settings and this makes them available with the turn of the knob. (It only took me hald the season to read the docs and discover this). I can have one setting for the ice and one for the audience and switch back and forth quickly. Or one setting for the Derby Dolls and flash and one for the band between periods (high ISO).
OK, back to reading. . . .
KernCoKingFan
Tumbleweed Connection....
Back in 1989 I worked security for Denny's corporate HQ in La Mirada, off Beach Blvd.. The building behind the Denny's there used to be the "restaurant" mock up..They literally had a small Denny's set up in that building to test things & for taking pics of menu items whenever they designed new menus. In addition to great lighting, etc as RR, FBJ & VF have said, most of the food is also doctored. In most (If not all) cases, the food isn't edible anymore. It's been carmelized, or glued, or hairsprayed, or whatever..Was always a kick to come to work and see the menu items in that mock up, all tasty looking, great set ups, garnished just right, oozing flavor.....And you couldn't have eaten any of it if you wanted to...LOL.
I finally got sick of my old tripod head. It's just too difficult to adjust with any kind of accuracy, and I really had to crank down on the friction lock to get it to hold well, even though it was rated to properly hold more than my camera's weight.
So I bought one of these today:
This thing is what I should have bought to begin with. I LOVE it. It handles the D3 with the 70-200 with zero problems and it's an absolute breeze to reposition.
So I bought one of these today:
This thing is what I should have bought to begin with. I LOVE it. It handles the D3 with the 70-200 with zero problems and it's an absolute breeze to reposition.
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