05.10.2013

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

05.10.2013

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

Today’s tutorial is addressed to passionate photographers who want to explore culinary photography.

The idea isn’t to drown you in technique and detailed instructions but to give you a concrete method in 10 steps that will enable you to reproduce this type of photography as soon as you’ve completed the tutorial.

At the end of the lesson, you’ll be able to take this kind of culinary photos too, even if you don’t have any lovely Japanese bowls at home, girly or trendy accessories in the cupboards or tons of napkins and paper tablecloths with checks, polka dots, or solid pop colors in your cupboards.

This tutorial is for people like you and me, who don’t want to become experts in culinary photography but who wish, from time to time, to be able to take a beautiful photo with a beautiful composition of dishes or desserts.

Why wait? Let’s get started!

Do you have a camera? How about a piece of fruit? In 10 steps and 5 minutes, you’ll learn how to take a photo just like this!

 

The team of Manfrotto Imagine More wants you to get started as soon as you’ve finished reading through this tutorial. Here is why it’s so easy to put the spotlight on food: all you need is a fruit (after all, everybody has a piece of fruit or even a vegetable in the kitchen waiting for you to practice on in 5 minutes?!).

Step 1: Find yourself a piece of fruit !

An apple, a pear, a tomato, a cabbage… if your fruit or vegetable features beautiful texture as well as some pretty colors, that’s even better!

As for me, I went to the market (I love the market, you can do your shopping AND practice your street photography) to buy some maracujas, also known as “passion fruit” (that’s right, you know, this fruit is just about as exotic as Carlos and his papayou).

The 5 minute 10 step method to take this type of picture successfully

 

Step 2: Select a background!

I recommend a lightly textured solid background: like a wood table, a slate work surface, a woven table setting, etc.

For my shot, I chose wooden boards of different colors that I put together for a few bucks (if you want to create a background like that for your culinary photos, my tutorial to explain how to do it is found here on my blog).
All I did was to place a maracuja on each board and I chose the board whose look I liked the best (since I wanted a more exotic picture, I chose the turquoise background).

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

 

Step 3: Find the best setting in your home

Slice your fruit (to create desire in culinary photography, one of the tricks is to slice the food or to take out a piece or a bite) then put place yourself next to a wide bay window or other large window.

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

 

Here is a diagram of the layout of the elements seen from above (this shows a flower pot rather than a piece of fruit)
Source :
LightingDiagrams.com

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

(Photo 1 was taken in a dark hallway and photo 2 in front of a window)

Careful:

  • Don’t take the photo outside because direct light is often too strong and will make your photo visually unappealing.
  • Keep the window or the bay window closed and if there is a light veil or white curtain, that’s even better: that will let the light through the window, and you’ll get soft light and a much better result in your photos.

[NOTE: for more expert photographers, this is when you can adjust your balance of whites]

 

Step 4: Make your dish more appetizing

For fruit or vegetables, for example, run them under water a few moments first so that some fine droplets left behind will accentuate their “fresh” appearance.
With a dish of food, use a baguette to arrange the food in the spotlight so you are accentuating it on the plate.

This is when you’ll get a paper towel or cloth and wipe away or remove all the crumbs or spots of sauce or anything else that will take away from the impact your image creates.

Here, I thought the cut was too obvious / visible so I rearranged the grains with a teaspoon to give them more “pop”.

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

 (On the right half, the cut was clean, and on the left half, the grains were rearranged in a more natural formation)

 

Step 5: Improve the lighting!

You have beautiful light coming from your window or bay window, so now watch out for unsightly shadows.

For that, on the other side of your principal light source (the window or the bay window) you’ll simply need to use a reflector!

You can find several models of professional reflectors and light modifiers, but you can also use an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, aluminum foil, or even a mirror.

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

 Here is a diagram of the layout of the elements seen from above (this shows a flower pot rather than a piece of fruit)

Source : LightingDiagrams.com

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

(Photo 1 was taken without a reflector, and only the right side is well lit by the light coming from the window.
Photo 2 was taken with a large white reflector placed to the left of the frame along with the light from the window)

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

(Photo 3 was taken with aluminum in place of a reflector. I stuck one end under the board and I held the other end with my left hand.
On photo 4 with the reflector on the left and the window on the right, see the difference as compared to photo 1 which didn’t have a reflector on the left, and just had the window on the right?)

 

Step 6: Compose the shot in a way that will be effective

To do this, there are at least 2 elements to take into account: your distance with respect to the subject and the way you place the elements within the frame.

Get in very close to your subject to photograph it (as close as your focus will let you). You’ll make your viewers’ mouths water even more. (In the photo below, I practically had my nose right in the maracuja)


A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

You should tell a story with your image.

The initial idea was simple: show a tempting maracuja.

So you don’t need accessories; just a maracuja sliced in two and some fruit in the background are all you need.
For placement, here is a tip to give you great results : the Z composition or zigzag (create a Z shape by deliberately placing the elements of your shot onto your base).

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

Step 7: Change your viewing angle

If you find that the foods are too close together / stacked up, try a portrait frame format (rather than landscape) : change your viewing angle and think about rearranging the elements in the frame in order to create a new zigzag.

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

 (This composition is more airy)

Step 8: Direct the focus to the most important element.

For this photo, in my opinion what was most likely to make a viewer’s mouth water was  the pulp of the maracuja in the foreground. That’s why I aimed the focus at that spot (rather than on the maracujas in the background or toward the middle of the shot).

If you’re photographing ice cream : direct the focus right at the spot where the ice cream is starting to melt.
If you’re photographing crepes with chocolate: direct the focus on the the melting chocolate.

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

 

Step 9: Place your camera on a tripod and try out different apertures.

Now that everything is ready, you can take the final shot.

When shooting, I prefer to use a tripod: it lets me stay as immobile as possible, to keep my ISO at a minimum (100 ISO) and achieve a beautiful, sharp photo.

As for your camera’s settings, if you have a Reflex camera, a hybrid, or an expert compact, I strongly recommend that you try several shots and that you take the same picture at different apertures.
So you will select the semi-manual A mode or Av on your camera and you’re going to take photos at F1.8, then F2.2, then F3.5, then F5.6, then F8, then F11, etc. (it all depends on the technical characteristics of your lens).

When you’re starting out with culinary photography, it’s a great help to have a fixed focal lens with a very large aperture (ex: F1.8, if not an F1.4): your pictures will be much brighter.
Nevertheless, be careful! Because at the beginning, the tendency often is to select apertures that are very big or too big (F1.8, F2.2 for example).
But you’ll get the best results with apertures between F4 and F8.

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

(Lens used: Nikon 35mm 1.8 AFS G // From left to right: Aperture F3.2, then F5.6, then F8)

Step 10: before you put everything away, try something…different!

Since everything is already in place, get your imagination going and try some other ideas out (even the most outrageous ideas can yield some interesting shots).

With the photo below, I tried to inject a little humor…

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

 

(Hmm, I wonder if anybody else finds this photo funny?)

BONUS: Practice and practice some more!!!

I have done the same exercise as above, but this time with a cake! (I didn’t bake this cake, I bought it at a store, true confessions…)

We’ll have to accept that you can make a cake with fresh eggs and cinnamon.
Because culinary photography should tell a story, for example, you can place eggs and the cinnamon behind a nice piece of the cake to put the emphasis on the ingredients that were used to make it.

Remember, create a Z-formed composition that will work great each time.

Then, move your ingredients around to keep a balanced composition.
For example, I found that the eggs were too visually imposing, so then I moved them to the back to let the cinnamon sticks take on more prominence.
Then, I rearranged the cinnamon sticks as well as the piece of cake.

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

 

Finally, try out different apertures and once you’re looking at a big screen (on your computer), choose the best shot!

A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture A 5 minute 10 step method to successfully take this type of picture

 

(Photo 1 = F1.8, Photo 2 = F3.5, Photo 3 = F8

There you are, today’s tutorial is nearly done (once again, I have put it all there for you…).

Now, here is your homework for the week: get a piece of fruit or a vegetable from your kitchen, grab your camera and apply the 5 minute 10 step method!
Then post your photo in the comments section!  (if you really want to make progress, the only way to do it is to get started right away!)
While I wait to see your images, I’ll say good-bye for now. I have some maracujas to enjoy…

 

PS: Before I forget, here are 2 links to go further with culinary photography:

 

About the blogger

Maïeva Voyage is an amateur photographer who discovered photography completely by chance about 4 years ago when she was given a Reflex camera as a gift. It t changed her life.
She developed her photographic techniques especially in Vietnam through the Photo Club of Hanoi.
Since then, she pesters her friends constantly to talk about her photos or to get them to pose, whenever she’s not on her Feminine Photography blog (Photo-tuto.fr) distilling the secrets she’s learned from friends or her favorite photography authors, always with humor and a decidedly laid-back tone (she’s already written 300 articles in nearly 2 years).
Maïeva Voyage is our invited author for the month of September, 2013.

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