The Food Photography Topic

[MokaPot]

23 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Here is a detail from last night's dry aged ribeye:

http://tribade.org/Food/Detail07102021.jpg

 

Note the unpleasant mostly crescent shaped highlights.  I've been struggling with this problem for some while.  Food photographed in the kitchen has its own set of lighting issues but at least no weird highlights like these.

 

Any suggestions?

 

 

Are you talking about the portion of your photo in the top 1/4th area? The part with the dark red background? Looks like salt or the crystals that you might see on Parmesan cheese. I see some of the same stuff on the off-white background areas, but due to low color contrast, it's not as evident.

 

Yes, your clear glass halogen bulb might be the problem. It's pretty harsh light without "frost."

 

Nice photo, though. You're getting some nice detail.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

8 minutes ago, MokaPot said:

 

Are you talking about the portion of your photo in the top 1/4th area? The part with the dark red background? Looks like salt or the crystals that you might see on Parmesan cheese. I see some of the same stuff on the off-white background areas, but due to low color contrast, it's not as evident.

 

Yes, your clear glass halogen bulb might be the problem. It's pretty harsh light without "frost."

 

Nice photo, though. You're getting some nice detail.

 

 

Thanks very much, however I am not talking about the salt.  I have seen similar odd highlights in the lovely pictures posted by @Paul Bacino.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On 3/12/2021 at 2:11 PM, blue_dolphin said:

Well, I convinced myself that I should improve my lighting so I've ordered myself a pair of little lights (eG-friendly Amazon.com link).  I will report back. 

 

And?

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

There was a bit of humor associated with last night's dinner photo.

 

 

 

This photograph from the dinner thread is a composite of 48 individual images.  During the course of the shoot something went horribly wrong.  Very, very wrong.  For the first time in fifteen years I now posses a proper tripod.  Everything was rigid and locked down tight, none of the equipment was moving.

 

However like some physicists what I neglected was gravity.  The section of tomato on the far right slid down the lettuce leaf about an inch while I was photographing.  The rest of the picture is unretouched.

 

Edited September 12, 2021 by JoNorvelleWalker
spelling (log)

[blue_dolphin]

On 9/11/2021 at 8:01 PM, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

And?

 

Too lazy to set them up.  Once the time changes, I probably will. 

[chromedome]

There are several threads on the forum where this one would fit, but after some thought I decided this one would be most appropriate. An article (with lots of images) from a book about bread, written by a commercial baker and for commercial bakers, and lavishly illustrated with photos.

 

https://www.stainedpagenews.com/p/one-of-the-worlds-first-photobooks

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On 9/19/2021 at 8:22 AM, chromedome said:

There are several threads on the forum where this one would fit, but after some thought I decided this one would be most appropriate. An article (with lots of images) from a book about bread, written by a commercial baker and for commercial bakers, and lavishly illustrated with photos.

 

https://www.stainedpagenews.com/p/one-of-the-worlds-first-photobooks

 

For those without access to Owen Simmon's technology, I saw an article this afternoon on food photography that does not require film:

 

https://www.dpreview.com/news/6502081214/video-using-wet-plate-collodion-photography-process-for-high-end-food-photography

 

Here's a loaf of sourdough:

https://www.dpreview.com/files/p/articles/6502081214/sourdough-mhaustria-3.jpeg

 

 

[btbyrd]

What new lens did you buy @JoNorvelleWalker?

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

What new lens did you buy @JoNorvelleWalker?

 

Sony 135mm f/1.8

 

[btbyrd]

Ooh, nice! I'm excited for you. I love a fast prime. And that's an interestingly long focal length -- the only lenses I have in that range are zooms. But I'm down here on Sony APS-C, and there aren't any native primes with similar focal lengths available. Oh well. At least the lenses are cheaper!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

54 minutes ago, btbyrd said:

Ooh, nice! I'm excited for you. I love a fast prime. And that's an interestingly long focal length -- the only lenses I have in that range are zooms. But I'm down here on Sony APS-C, and there aren't any native primes with similar focal lengths available. Oh well. At least the lenses are cheaper!

 

I believe the lens mounts are compatible!

 

[btbyrd]

They're compatible, but on my APS-C sized sensor, the 135mm would be equivalent to 202.5mm and that's *suuuuuuper* tight for a prime lens. And it would cost more than most of my lenses combined. But I'm still excited for you on your full frame setup. I just picked up a Sigma 56mm F 1.4 and a Sony 70-350mm G telephoto for my A6500. I doubt that either of them will get much use for food photography, but they'll be nice for portrait and wildlife shots. I think my Sigma 16 and 30 F1.4 lenses will be my workhorses for food stuff (and, to be honest, also my iPhone and iPad). But we'll see if the 56mm (84mm full frame equivalent) can find a place. The 70-350 is right out!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

1 hour ago, btbyrd said:

They're compatible, but on my APS-C sized sensor, the 135mm would be equivalent to 202.5mm and that's *suuuuuuper* tight for a prime lens. And it would cost more than most of my lenses combined. But I'm still excited for you on your full frame setup. I just picked up a Sigma 56mm F 1.4 and a Sony 70-350mm G telephoto for my A6500. I doubt that either of them will get much use for food photography, but they'll be nice for portrait and wildlife shots. I think my Sigma 16 and 30 F1.4 lenses will be my workhorses for food stuff (and, to be honest, also my iPhone and iPad). But we'll see if the 56mm (84mm full frame equivalent) can find a place. The 70-350 is right out!

 

Since I got my Sony camera body most of my food pictures have been taken with a fifty year old Pentax 100mm bellows Takumar via an adapter.  I didn't purchase the 135mm primarily for food photography but I hope it may prove useful.  The 135 is not a macro, however, although it does mostly focus close enough for food.  And I have extension tubes.

 

The issue at the moment is that I don't have a way of using the 135mm with a tripod.  The problem should be remedied in the near future if USPS comes through.

 

And I, for one, have no distain for iPhotography!

 

 

 

[FlashJack]

6 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

And I, for one, have no distain for iPhotography!

Nor me. I shelled out for an iPhone 13. My Nikon DSLR and primes have been on long loan to a friend.

 

I'm not sure I'll ever pick them up again.

 

The iPhone 13's low light capabilities are amazing. Focal lengths of 13-26-75 not what I'd choose but there are quality pixels to burn for crops.

 

Computational photography is turning all our good gear into the equivalent of the box Brownie.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

A friend plans to purchase an iPhone 13 today before a trip to Florida for the EPCOT international food festival.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Many culinary photography subjects work out fine for me, but my nemesis is bread.  It never looks quite appetizing nor fully natural.  For example, tonight's boule:

 

 

 

This is an attractive loaf.  One would never know it from the photograph.  Certainly I cannot blame my camera gear.  Nor rum.  All phases of production and photography were cold sober.

 

A problem since remedied.

 

 

 

[Mjx]

5 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Many culinary photography subjects work out fine for me, but my nemesis is bread.  It never looks quite appetizing nor fully natural.  For example, tonight's boule:

....

This is an attractive loaf.  One would never know it from the photograph.  Certainly I cannot blame my camera gear.  Nor rum.  All phases of production and photography were cold sober.

 

A problem since remedied.

 

 

 

 

I kind of HAVE to get the most appetising-looking shots of bread, and I've found that it usually looks best shot in daylight, but regardless of the light, a black background always looks good (I have black cutting boards, which work really well), and the bread never looks too orange against it. I have a big piece of well-washed linen canvas that also looks great under bread, and sometimes I shoot the bread in the oven, on baking paper, though this is a bit of a gamble, in terms of results. I avoid shooting bread on wood, only because I seem to be able to make the bread OR the wood look good, but never both, and sometimes neither. I think the colours are too close, yet don't overlap entirely.

[rotuts]

@JoNorvelleWalker 

 

too much Orange in the pic ?

 

it wasn't Orange Bread , was it ?

[Annie_H]

7 hours ago, Mjx said:

regardless of the light, a black background always looks good (I have black cutting boards, which work really well),

I'm a food photo hack mostly more concerned with the hot plates out of the oven and timing the food being expensive and wanting the best delivery outcome to the table. I plate 99% on a black absorbent cloth next to the sink---above the dishwasher for draining things that need extra drying...(I have a few of them in laundry rotation). My elbows rest on the sink edge as a hack tripod. Crap LED lights over my sink but a huge skylight overhead helps in the better months. 

Kenji has a decent food photo, very generous, play-by-play, how he does it without the usual crew during lock-down. Probably in the past few-6 months I think. A sunny window...nice photos--- I think for another book perhaps. (?)

 Anywho, I have a tight kitchen triangle. Wall oven, spin---sink. Snap a few pics. Cell phone or my old trusty CannonEos...vintage at this point. 

 Next day I get a bit frustrated, lol. "oh come-on"----snap a half dozen being digital. Takes two seconds. Then delete.

So I do a quick 5 minute post clean-up. 

The original photo was dark and bland and 'warm' in temp. 

 

 

 

[Annie_H]

Apologies not knowing where you want to go with your own personal photos....but we have a 'post production' at our fingertips. Depending on your computer-laptop of choice. You can bleed out the warm temp next day when looking at your photos. I am a hack but you can do it to your desire. 

 

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Here is an unretouched, color calibrated version of the same image, compared to the one I posted earlier:

 

 

 

 

Calibration is done with an X-Rite Pantone color reference target.  To my eye the calibrated image appears green on my color calibrated monitor.

 

I get similar bread results with my Sony camera and my iPad.  The light source is halogen, or sometimes plain incandescent (in the kitchen).  White balance is set from X-Rite or Kodak standard targets.

 

The black background is a black linen bath mat.  @Mjx I'd love to hear more about your black cutting boards.

 

 

[Mjx]

9 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

. . . .  @Mjx I'd love to hear more about your black cutting boards.

 

 

@JoNorvellWalker, they're nothing fancy, plain black PE cutting boards I use for meat and other things that I like to be able to clean up after really thoroughly (that's the website of the shop where I got these, but I'm fairly certain you could easily find identical ones). I got black instead of white because I realized it would make a good background for food photos: its lack of colour would mean the camera would focus on the colours of the food, and that would be the only element that I'd need to focus on, for any adjustments.

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, Mjx said:

I got black instead of white because I realized it would make a good background for food photos

 

I have something similar, but are sold speifically as photo backgrounds. As you can see it is double sided - black and white. They come in various plain colour combinations but also patterned. This one is the equivalent of $8.50 USD.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

For those using black cutting boards:  what about reflections from the surface?

 

[liuzhou]

43 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

For those using black cutting boards:  what about reflections from the surface?

 

 

Doesn't that depend on the material? Are they all reflective?

 

Before I bought the background board above, I regularly used a white melamine tray without refection problems. I would have thought black boards less reflective.