Tips for Food Photography

Taking pictures of food is my hobby. It also subsidizes my restaurant bills as I sell the pictures on stock photo sites such as this one. Recently, I was asking to give some tips on taking better pictures of food at a foodies meetup event in San Francisco. Here is a summary on what I presented.

What Camera to Use

If I am shooting for an assignment, I will use my Nikon D300 DSLR. If I am just having dinner with friends in a restaurant and shooting for my facebook post or yelp post, then I will use my Samsung point-and-shoot camera. Sometimes I will even just use my iPhone 4.

I used to use my big DSLR in a restaurant but that just drew too much attention. Also there is not a lot of room around the table to allow me to shoot with a big camera anyway. So the first priority for me is to enjoy the company and enjoy the dinner. Taking pictures is secondary.

iPhone4 can take pretty good pictures and it doesn't draw much attention. However, it does not allow me to change any camera settings, therefore, I prefer to use a small point-and-shoot camera instead.

Lighting

The number one issue for taking good food photos in a restaurant is lighting. Restaurants especially the high end ones are very low in ambient light. Some may even just light the table with a small candle light. Here are some tips:

• Get a table by the window. This works well for lunch or early summer dinner because you can light your plate with the light from the outside.
• Do not use the flash. We don't draw any attention and we don't want to disturb other patrons in the restaurant, My friend has been asked to stop using flash in an high end restaurant before. In a crowded noisy restaurant, maybe it is OK to use a flash. However, food does not look good with flash anyway. So avoid it.
• Use the candle light. Move it closer to the plate or move the plate around to catch other overhead light.
• Increase the ISO setting. This is where a point-and-shoot camera ia better than an iPhone. Set the ISO to 3200 or even higher if your camera supports it.
• If you only have an iPhone and you want to take the picture in low light, then use the table to support your elbow, hold the iPhone steady, and pray. Also take multiple pictures. Hopefully, you will get one that is no blurry.

White Balance

Another problem that many people have is capturing the color of the food correctly. If you don't know what white balance is, here and here provide some good explanation.

If your pictures have an orange cast, that is because the restaurant is using tungsten lighting. Here are some tips on getting the correct white balance:

• Shoot in RAW instead of JPEG. This gives you a better chance to fix the white balance in software.
• Use a gray card such as this and take a picture of it to make a reference of the lighting situation of the restaurant. Here is the instruction on how to use it to set the white balance of your pictures.
• If you don't have a gray card with you, you can take a picture of a white napkin or the white table cloth and use that as a reference. Sometimes a white plate will work too. It is not as accurate as using a gray card but it is better than nothing.
• Once you have a picture of the gray card or a white napkin, you can then adjust the white balance of your pictures in software. Here is the instruction on to change the white balance using Adobe Lightroom and here is the instruction for Google Picasa.

[Before adjusting the white balance]

[After adjusting the white balance]

Camera Settings

Here are the camera settings that I usually use:

• RAW format (not JPEG). But make sure the software you use support the RAW format of your camera. SW usually lags behind the newest cameras.
• A mode. Aperture priority mode. Here is an explanation if you don't know what aperture priority mode is.
• Aperture is set at f/2.4. Smaller the number, the larger the aperture. If your camera supports a larger aperture and if you want a shallow depth of field, you can use that. Here is an explanation on depth of field and aperture if you are not familiar with their relationshio.
• ISO and shutter speed. I will set the ISO as low as possible to maintain a shutter speed of 1/60th second. On a table next to a big window, I can do ISO 200 with f/2.4 aperture and the camera will use a shutter speed of 1/125th second. But in a dark restaurant at night, I may need to do ISO 3200 and f/2.4. The camera will use a shutter speed of 1/15th second. In that case, I will have choice but to try really hard to hold the camera steady when taking the pictures.

Camera Angle and Composition

There is not much creativity you can have with your food photos from dinner at a restaurant. The basic camera angles are:

• 3/4 point of view. Just like you are sitting by the table looking at the plate. This is good for providing a way of the food look in general.
• Overhead. Directly above the plate. This is good for showing off the interesting pattern of the food on the plate.
• Side. Directly in front of the plate. Parallel to the table. This is good for emphasis the height and the layers of the food.

Another thing I do is to set the camera to focus with the macro mode (the little flower icon on the point-and-shoot camera). This allows me to get the camera close to the food and focus on something interesting on a plate. This gives the viewers a different preceptive to make your picture more interesting.

Final Words

If you want to take pictures at a restaurant, make sure you know your camera well and don't disturb your company and other patrons around you. Remember your number one priority when you go out is to enjoy the company and the food.

More pictures from the event can be found here.

Bon appetit!!

Get To the Point! How To Use Your Camera's Focus Settings For Better Pictures

Your DSLR has multiple focus points.

Lower end cameras, like the Nikon D40, only has 3. The D700 has 51.

But just because you have multiple focus points, should you let your camera decide which one to use?

No, obviously not.

Because your camera — despite possibly being very expensive — cannot read your mind. (Wouldn't it be nice if it did?) You may have wanted to focus on the person standing behind the tree, but your camera decided to focus on the tree because it was closer to you.

So let's go over the settings first and what each does, and how to adjust them to suit the purpose of the picture you're taking.

Note: we'll be using Nikon as an example because, well, that's the camera we have!

AutoFocus Settings

On higher end cameras, these settings can be set with AF-switch next to the lens. On lower end models, you can change the settings in the Custom Menu options.

AF-S: AF-Single Servo

In this mode, the camera tries to focus on a single, non-moving point when you press the shutter halfway. If your subject is moving, the focus will not lock. Once the focus locks, the green light (the focus indicator) comes on, which means that the focus won't follow your subject. 

So if your subject moves, you'll need to refocus by releasing the shutter and resetting. 

Your camera also won't take the picture unless the green light comes on. 

The difficulty in taking focused pictures with a moving subject is that your subject moves during the time it takes for the focus to lock and the shutter to release. 

AF-C: AF-Continuous

With continuous auto-focus, your camera follows your subject as it moves and focuses continuously. The focus never locks but you'll be able to take the picture regardless.

AF-A: AF-Auto

The automatic focus mode tries to meet halfway between the single focus and continuous focus. Your camera attempts to judge when your subject moves and refocuses. Your camera will also not release the shutter until the focus is locked.

AF-Area

Likewise, the AF-Area settings can be changed with a switch on the camera with higher end models, whereas in lower-end models, this needs to be changed in the menu options.

Single

You only use one focus point with this mode. This gives you the most control over what your camera focuses on. 

Press the shutter halfway to lock the focus, then shift the camera to recompose the shot.

Dynamic

Use the dynamic mode with moving objects and the AF-C or AF-A focus modes. Your camera switches focus sensors when it detects your subject moving.

In this mode, some higher-end cameras will also let you set the number of focus points to activate to track movement.

Auto

In auto area mode, you leave it up to the camera to pick the subject to focus on. Older Nikon models will choose the closest subject, while newer models will try to lock focus on human faces. 

What combination of AF and area should you use?

Obviously only you can decide this in each situation, but using the AF-single servo mode with a single focus point will give you the most control in choosing what to focus on, rather than giving your camera the control. This is also the most difficult to work with if you're taking pictures of anything other than stationary subjects.

The key here is to PRACTICE. Practice taking pictures of moving objects with only a single focus point. Develop your skill and you'll be well on your way to taking better photos.

How To Take Magazine-Worthy Photos

Can you become an expert photographer if you practice?

According to Anders Ericsson, you can. All you have to do is practice for 10,000 hours.

Which means that if you devote 4 hours a day to practicing, you can become an expert in just under 7 years.

But if you, you know, have to work for a living, or have a family to take care of, then maybe you'll just have to set your goals a bit lower.

Still, even if you don't become an expert photographer, you can improve your photography skills by following the tips below.

First, Know Your Tools 

The manuals that come with your camera equipment are not just there to keep them from shifting around in the box. You will actually learn a lot from reading them.

In fact, our resident photographer, Kelvin, says that every time he re-reads the manuals, he learns something new. So is this works for a pro, this technique should definitely work for you.

For some high-end cameras like the Nikon D700, you can even find books focused solely on each camera that will teach you the advanced functions, like this one


Learn, Then Learn Some More

To take magazine-worthy photos — or at least photos you'd be proud to show people other than your mom — you must learn photography technique.

And the more you learn, the more you realize what you don't know.

But you can still learn a lot to make you a very good photographer.

Take classes (like this one) to learn basic techniques and advanced tricks and see a pro photographer live in action.

There are also great books about photography; everything from digital vs. film, composition, lighting, black and white, fashion, weddings, nature, and photojournalism.

And, of course, don't forget the great resource that is the Internet. You'll find tons of websites and video tutorials — like YouTube — to teach you great tips. You can even take online courses, like at Creativelive.com, which hosts live classroom events about everything photography.


Study Great Photos — Then Study Bad Ones

Keep your eyes peeled for great photos. If they're online, do a web-clipping or screen capture and keep them in a file. If you see a great photo in a magazine, tear out the page.

Analyze the photos and figure out what makes them great and why they caught your eye.

Then study bad photos (maybe your own!). Is there not enough lighting? Is it over- or under-exposed? Could the photo have been composed differently? You will learn a lot by comparing the so-so to the great photos.

Go to museums and study portrait paintings. You wouldn't think that paintings that are centuries old could teach you anything about photography, but these painters have perfected the art of lighting and posing.

For example, a lighting technique used in portrait photography is named after the famous painter Rembrandt, whose paintings are characterized by light and shadow effects.


Take Pictures — a LOT Of Pictures

Practice, practice, practice.

Take a camera with you everywhere and take photos of everything and everyone. Pixels are cheap. If you can't carry your DSLR everywhere, use your iPhone camera. If you don't even have that, use your eyes and brain to envision the perfect shot.

Look for photo opportunities in places you wouldn't normally consider. Experiment with composition and lighting. Take tons of photos and study them to find out what works and what doesn't.


Last But Not Least, Share Your Work

No longer do you need to get your photos published or hung in a gallery for people to see them.

Show off your work online. Instagr.am, 500px, Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, and a number of other online resources let you show off your best photos to hundreds, or even thousands, of people.

Of course, don't just upload 200 pictures that you just took. Even your best friend won't want to look at all of them. Pick only your best photos to share.


You May Not Reach 10,000 Hours...

But if you shoot for that goal, you'll be well on your way to taking magazine-worthy photos.


What have you done to improve your skills? Comment below!