pcarpen

I've become a big fan of The Hungry Cabbie: The Hungry Cabbie

shaved celery root, celery, and blood orange salad

There seems to be a growing interest in food photography, and hopefully, interest in *improving* food photography. With the proliferation of digital cameras and food blogs and egullet, everyone seems to be taking pictures of food. Just check out the Flickr Food Tags to see just how many people out there are taking pictures of their food. What's also obvious from many of these pictures is that many of them are just plain bad. Extreme closeups, unnecessary use of flash, bad composition, etc. A lot of this obviously has to do with the conditions these are taken under (i.e. in restaurants, in poorly lit kitchens, etc.) and the types of cameras that people are using (point and shoot digitals with no manual adjustments to settings). There is so much beautiful photography on the web right now, but very little of it is of food. It's great to see people in this thread trying to improve themselves, but I would love to see some more advanced tips and advice from professionals out there for those of us who are really looking to improve their technique, equipment, etc. Perhaps an EGCI Course on food photography could be in order? Anyone out there know how to make this happen or who could teach it?

exactly. rather than going through the tiresome steps of the usual way to cook favas, I discovered this one someplace. just throw the whole pods onto the grill and cook them until they char completely. the beans will steam inside the pod, so all you have to do is rip open the pod and squeeze the beans out of their skins. works perfectly and effortlessly. here's another one: dinner for one. fritatta with caramelized onions, parsley, mint, scallions, and a little parm.

Grilled Scarlet Snapper, Shaved Zucchini Salad with Lemon, Chilis, and Mint. Grilled Fava Beans.

Braised chicken with artichokes and olives:

Gorgeous! I am curious as to what kind of spices you used in the stew. ←

Sicilian Seafood Stew with clams, mussels, squid, cuttlefish, shrimp, and israeli couscous

black bean soup, chunky avocado salsa, grilled shrimp

i guess it's not boredom of the same background, but the same composition. white plate or bowl, shot slightly off-center, from the same angle. I guess it puts the focus on the food, so that's a good thing. I'd like to try to get more "action" shots, which are obviously tougher to get. More of the cooking process as opposed to just the finished pretty-plate product. Heidi uses similar backgrounds and angles, but her variation in dishware, background colors, and table coverings give them all such a unique but cohesive look. Some very nice stuff.

Thanks for the kind words. I look back at some of those old photos on the dinner! thread and realize how bad they were in comparison to what i'm doing now. a couple of things contributed to that. 1. I was using an old 2MP point and shoot digital, the Canon S200. It's a great little camera, but it obviously doesn't give you the control and detail that a SLR will give you. 2. Lighting. The worst thing that i was doing was using the flash. It gave everything a harsh, blown-out look and put everything in the background in the dark. It just made it all look completely unnatural. Using the ambient or natural light in the room (and adjusting the shutter speed accordingly) lets the shots come out so much more even, crisp, and correctly exposed. 3. Post-processing. I never really took the time to learn how to post-process correctly in Photoshop. Since experimenting more with non-food shots, I've learned a little more and have been able to get the results that I want, even if the original shot doesn't look completely right. By default, the D70 underexposes shots in order to not blow out the highlights. This took a while to get adjusted to, and there are come Custom Curves you can use to compensate for this a bit (but that is a whole other huge topic which you can read about on the D70 Forums). But generally speaking, post-processing in order to adjust levels, boost certain colors (e.g. the lemon zest on the risotto and the chili sauce on the noodles), using the Unsharp Mask, etc. can completely change the photo. I used to think that I should be able to get shots like this directly out of the camera, but I'm certainly not that skilled or knowledgable. As far as lighting is concerned, these are actually just taken on the counter next to the sink. There are some ugly track lights that we have hanging over the sink for a little extra light, and they're pointed towards the wall behind it, so the reflected light is what is falling on the plates. I'll try to get a shot of it later. Although I need to find another spot so that I don't keep taking the same shot over and over. It gets a little boring. And to answer your questions about the D70, I love it. I did a lot of research before I bought it last summer, and I've never regretted it. I was new to the SLR world, so it took a fair amount of adjustment and practice. You really just have to keep shooting and experimenting to get comfortable with it. For these shots, I generally use it in AE mode (Aperture Priority), usually set down to the lowest setting (4.5) since I like the whole out of focus background depth of field thing. And I'm using the kit lens, which is the 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G.

ha! i never really went away! i just went through some camera changes and got stuck in a food rut. now i've gotten used to the D70 and gotten better at dealing with the lighting in our kitchen, so i'm back trying to shoot interesting looking dishes. i'll try to keep posting, and i'll keep them updated on my website (yes, a shameless plug). here's another. Risotto with Fresh Ricotta, Lemon, and Mint

a couple of my recent shots. it's taken some time to get used to the D70, as well as figure out a place with decent lighting in my kitchen. let me know what you think... Bun Tom: vietnamese noodles with grilled shrimp, cabbage, greens, pickled onions, herbs, chopped peanuts, and nuoc nam Risotto with Fresh Ricotta, Lemon, and Mint

Bun Tom: vietnamese noodles with grilled shrimp, cabbage, greens, pickled onions, herbs, chopped peanuts, and nuoc nam

we spent a week in positano on the amafli coast last october, and it was just getting to the tail end of the season. that has its good points and its bad points, but mostly good. the hordes of tourists are gone for the most part, enabling you to walk into any restaurant without any reservations. all restaurants were still open, at least the ones we came across. we were told that stuff starts shutting down at the end of october, but i would think that this would be the more touristy places. the weather was a little iffy, with a good amount of rain and rough seas, but we had a few gloriously sunny days in between. i think it's just a crapshoot. and we didn't rent a car. granted, we didn't travel very much, but public transportation and private car services and taxis are plentiful. hope you have a great trip, and happy eating.

monday: another in our ongoing quest for dinner salads: grilled chicken, charred corn, black beans, avacado, tomato, scallions, cilantro, and lime vinaigarette.

thursday: grilled quesadillas with caramelized onions and monterrey jack. homemade pico and guac.

grilled giant squid, shaved fennel, olive, and oro blanco salad, grilled tomato

wednesday: pan-roasted chicken, fiddleheads with garlic, cauliflower and green onion puree

Can you actually flip the skate on the grill? I love skate, but did not think you could grill it... edit: grammar!! sure you can grill it. although most dishes i've seen have it sauteed. as long as the grill is clean and hot, and it helps to give the grill a wipe of oil before you put the fish on. leave it on until a crust forms and it comes away from the grill, and flip it.

tuesday: pan-seared scallops, baby arugula, fresh peas, lemon, and feta

that skate looks amazing. i've noticed it lately in my market but i've been intimidated to cook it. i've only had it once - pcarpen, would you be so kind as to post your recipe? did you have your fishmonger remove the membrane? many thanks! reesek well, it's hardly a recipe. just rubbed with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, and put onto a hot, clean grill. squeeze of lemon when it's done. from the Q&A with Eric Ripert, skate is the one fish that he likes cooked well done. so i've done the same here. Q&A with Eric Ripert the skate comes fully cleaned and removed from the membrane, so i had no extra work to do. a really easy and tasty fish. i think a lot of people are scared off by it, but it's no different than cooking any other sort of fish. you just have to be careful handling it while it's cooking because it can fall apart pretty easily. good luck.

monday: grilled skate, grilled fingerlings, grilled ramps, asparagus and pecorino

part of the mother's day brunch: israeli couscous salad with basil, mint, parsley, roasted asparagus, roasted peppers, lemon, and chilis: tuesday: grilled squid with lemon and olive oil watermelon, feta, and black olive salad

thursday: bucatini with parsley, lemon zest, green onion, parmesan, and fresh ricotta