Making it look Sexy

[tryska]

hey all - i was wondering if i could pick some brains about food photography.

I'm brainstorming a project for my company, and need to take some pictures of our products (cheese, wine, and perhaps olives)

Photo styles that come to mind are Publix ads and Saveur magazine.

Both have a very bright feel, the food is in sharp focus, and one thing i like about publix is the backgrounds always seem to be in soft focus and fading to white.

chances are i will have to do the photography myself for this project, or work with a coworker who isn't as much of a spaz with a trigger finger.

so my question is, how do i make it look sexy? (i mean prepwork, mainly - the background, lighting and composition we can sort out)

thanks in advance!

[Varmint]

Hopefully we have some food stylists and photographers out there, as I'd like some help as well. My photos always have that "clinical" feel to them.

[Pyewacket]

This depends, in large part, upon what you are photographing. Savuer shoots almost all their food with natural sunlight and some reflective cards. To get that "fade to white" that you describe, items are placed on what is known as a "white sweep" or "seamless". Basically, it's a large sheet of white paper hung from the ceiling that gently bends and covers a surface upon which the food is placed.

Let me know what you are shooting and I can give you some more specific tips.

[tryska]

well...like i said, cheese, wine and olives....

what i have in mind is a cheese tray, liek you would receive in a higher end restaurant, perhaps sterling silver plate....i'd like it on a white background, with maybe some warmth from candlelight?

the olives (if i do them), i'd like in a striking jar, definitely green, either pimento or perhaps orange stuffed and sunlight striking the jar

the wine, i'm torn on - i know i'd like two glasses clinking, but that would involve hand models, and i haven't decided between red or white yet. I can't show labels tho.

Edited November 20, 2003 by tryska (log)

[jackal10]

You are trying to make it say "Eat me I'm good", and get people to really look at it. Most things we just glance at, so the visual grammer has to be the equivalent of a stare.

Two different styles:

a) In the context it will be eaten - good linen, cutlery, expensive location, says "I'm good"

b) Close-up, in high contrast to the background. I like a black but not plain black background - says "really look at me"

My photography imporoved greatly by getting a better lens, and by getting better post-processing. I use Microsoft Photodraw. You will need to post process to correct depth of focus, cropping, saturation and colour balance, and the odd touch-up

[tryska]

thanks for the insight jackal - i'm definitely trying to make it say "look at me, want me, desire to know more about me"

in effect, it's my hook.

it doesn't need to have that "eat me" quality (god that can be taken a couple of ways) as my target is not those who will consume on a retail level, but those who want our product on a wholesale level.

i want it updated, new millenium, warm, classy and intriguing.

Edited November 20, 2003 by tryska (log)

[Pyewacket]

Black backgrounds tend to be viewed as rather dated (1980s). Also, a dark background with dark colored food (olives, red wine) can be very difficult to light- you just get a dark photo with dark unrecognizable food. You need to aim for high contrast. Remember, the human eye distinguished almost 300 gradations of light-the camera, about 9. An easy way to light is to place the food next to a window where a good amount of daylight is coming in. Set up your camera with one side facing the window (so your shoulder is toward the window when looking through the viewfinder.) Then set up a large white card on the other side of the food to reflect light back onto the food and into the shadowed areas(see below). Shoot with your flash pointed toward the ceiling to avoid glare and bounce a diffused light onto the top of the food.

l l

l O l

l l

window food card

O

camera

Make sure your props do not overpower the food, if food is what you are trying to emphasize. Pick props that are understated and not too fussy or with busy patterns. Look for pleasing shapes with variety to keep the eye moving around the photo. If all the shapes are the same your photo will tend to look static and boring. Make sure whatever reds are shown in the photo are not dead center and are distributed around the arrangement. (The eye tends to fixate on red.)

Water down red wine or use a light red wine vinegar as most red wine photographs black in its natural form. Also stick small white cards (cut to the shape of the liquid) onto the back of your glasses to reflect light through the liquid-this is a good trick for any liquid or beverage.

That's all I can think of right now, but feel free to ask any other questions. I'll try to answer them. I have to say, I'm a food stylist not a photographer, but these approaches will help you.

[Pyewacket]

Sorry, my diagram didn't really show up properly.

One more note--don't be afraid to go in close. The closer the food the more edible it looks.

[Chad]

A couple of quick tips (and we'll then exhaust my knowledge of photography):

You want a relatively shallow depth of field, you know sharp focus in the foreground with the background blurred and more suggestive than illustrative. Go with a longer lens, say a 105mm portrait lens and use a wide aperture, less than f4. Adjust shutter speed for lighting.

Natural light is almost always best. A couple of pieces of white poster board off to the side (reflecting additional light) can do wonders to remove unwanted shadows. Shoot on transparency film rather than print film. You get much richer colors.

Style the food so that it's appealing, but relatively uncluttered. As I understand it you're not looking for a romantic or evocative shot but more of a very tasteful product shot. You might, as Jackal10 said, use a dark tablecloth to highlight the tray. Silver is going to be very hard to shoot because of lighting reflections. I found that out the hard way when trying to shoot knives for my knife sharpening tutorial. A nice bright white or color that complements the product packaging would probably work best.

Just some thoughts,

Chad

[Chad]

Better tip: ignore me and go with Pyewacket's advice. .

Chad

[tryska]

*lol* @ chad!

thank you all so much for your advice - i've got some fantastic windows here - i'm actually looking at one now, that has direct sunlight and a view of fall foliage, might be good for the bottle of olives.

the wine tips are very good as well, especially the bit about watering down a red....perhaps instead of hands I could do a carafe and nice crystal goblet? maybe some bread or more cheese as a prop? grapes? (too trite?)

actually on the silver - what if i did the cheese plate on a darker background, by candlelight (with other lighting coming down on it?) i would prefer white, as I'm trying to keep things airy and bright, but i can see cheese on anything but sterling silver.

or perhaps marble, which might actually work better, eh?

[tryska]

An easy way to light is to place the food next to a window where a good amount of daylight is coming in. Set up your camera with one side facing the window (so your shoulder is toward the window when looking through the viewfinder.) Then set up a large white card on the other side of the food to reflect light back onto the food and into the shadowed areas(see below). Shoot with your flash pointed toward the ceiling to avoid glare and bounce a diffused light onto the top of the food.

----l------------------------l

----l-----------O-----------l

----l------------------------l

window-----food------- card

----------------O

-------------camera

Make sure your props do not overpower the food, if food is what you are trying to emphasize. Pick props that are understated and not too fussy or with busy patterns. Look for pleasing shapes with variety to keep the eye moving around the photo. If all the shapes are the same your photo will tend to look static and boring. Make sure whatever reds are shown in the photo are not dead center and are distributed around the arrangement. (The eye tends to fixate on red.)

Water down red wine or use a light red wine vinegar as most red wine photographs black in its natural form. Also stick small white cards (cut to the shape of the liquid) onto the back of your glasses to reflect light through the liquid-this is a good trick for any liquid or beverage.

That's all I can think of right now, but feel free to ask any other questions. I'll try to answer them. I have to say, I'm a food stylist not a photographer, but these approaches will help you.

hah...actually i was going to try to clarify placement of the camera, but when i actually quoted your post the illustration you were aiming for came out much better.

i've added soem dashes to make it work better. (i think?)

[Pyewacket]

That's great work on the diagram! Just what I was aiming for.

If you absolutely must have the silver tray for the cheese, go to your local artist or photo supply store and purchase a can of dulling spray. Use it to spray a light film on your tray to reduce the glare and reflectivity-otherwise, all the consumer will see in your photo is a bright white tray. Better yet, use the marble----some beautiful green marble will reinforce the impact of your olives and create a nice balance for the red wine. You may also want to obtain a nice wooden cheese board--there are some lovely burlwoods available that will add interesting texture and contrast to the cheese.

Forget the candles-they are a nightmare to shoot and must have dark background for the flames to be visible which negates your aim for a bright airy look.

Try to find some fresh grapevines with leaves and tendrils (try a florist) and maybe a few small clusters grapes of interesting variety-avoid the boring green and red seedless. Make sure not to touch them too much to avoid rubbing off the natural must on them which photographs in a lovely way. By all means- do not wash them or make them shiney-it looks fake and will draw attention away from your product. Better yet, try fresh figs or some other interesting, specialty fruit--but only a small amount as garnish.

I gather from your posts that these are individual photos, not one with the cheese, wine and olives all together. Make sure that all the photos have the same, or similar elements to the overall look. That way, it reinforces in the viewer's mind a consistent message from you, the supplier. Consistent message=consistent product quality=consistent sales and consumer loyalty.

Differing images and styles denotes a lack of confident vision for your product and confuses the consumer.

Go in for the close up and forget the pretty foliage outside. It is to far way to register clearly any way and it will seasonalize your photo. Do you really want to use a pic with fall foliage on May 1st? If this is your first go round with this go for a season-nuetral look so you can use the photo as much as possible.

Edited November 20, 2003 by Pyewacket (log)

[tryska]

thanks pyewacket, for all of your help and insight.

yes, they will be individual photos, however, making a composition shot with all 3 products for use elsewhere might be an idea, considering we'll be shooting photos anyway.

i didn't even think of a wooden cheesboard, but that will work best of all. might be easier for me to locate amongst our "props" as well.

i definitely would prefer to run the light-filled white theme throughout.

i like the idea of figs...i saw some lovely black grapes at the market the other day, perhaps that and green and red figs would make for an interesting garnish.

with all this input, and the ideas and help you've given, i'm quite excited about this project, now it's just a matter of dealing with the beauracracy....

[FistFullaRoux]

If you have a dark item on a dark background, you want to highlight the edges somehow to increase contrast and make it pop out at you. As an example, look at the top of this page if you are using the new skin. There's an awful lot of maroon up there, but it works because of the highlighting around the edge of the letters in the logo. If you want to put some green olives on a bed of leaves, for instance, make sure the olives are wet and the leaves are dry. The leaves will appear with a matte finish, and you can, using lighting, highlight the edges of the olives themselves with reflected light.

The only really tricky thing you'll have to deal with is the wine, I think. Liquids in clear glass pick up all kinds of reflections and extra light. Also, still liquids aren't very interesting to look at, unless you are doing an extreme closeup of an interesting surface. The miniscus (ooh. Been a while since I've been able to work that word into conversation) of the liquid against the side of the glass or something like that. If you could get an action shot of the wine being poured into a glass, like the beer and soda commercials do, it looks more appetizing.

As long as the composition of the picture works to draw the eye to the center of attention, ie; the thing near the center of the picture with the highest contrast, you should be fine.

[Ellen Shapiro]

Do you know if you'll be shooting digitally or on film? I would make some different recommendations one way or the other. At the high end, the formats are relatively interchangeable, but with amateur or "prosumer" equipment you will have to treat film and digital differently especially when it comes to lighting and depth of field issues.

One thing I have found when either a) dealing with amateur photographers and b) needing to shoot in a situation where I don't have a full lighting kit or a lot of time is that it can be best NOT to do extensive styling and, rather, to rely on a natural or naturally occurring setting. Unless you really know how to style food, chances are you won't do it well.

Awhile back we were shooting ice cream from Il Laboratorio del Gelato in New York City for a magazine article. Ice cream melts fast and doesn't react well with lights. We tried and failed with several styling options but they all sucked. So we decided to shoot in more of a photojournalism style, without neatly composing the scoops or using any fake backgrounds. Sometimes this is more appetizing in the end result than a highly styled, glitzy presentation with disappearing background.

There are exceptions to every rule and sometimes you just have to do the opposite of the standard procedure. There was a storefront window at the shop. It would have made sense to put the window behind the camera for natural light but it wasn't working. But shooting towards the window gave a nice effect, once the shot was filled with one camera-mounted flash and one slave-flash off to the side. This was a digital shoot with an EOS D-60.

The advantage of digital is you can take a million shots and quickly see your options, and then narrow it down to what you like best.

[tryska]

oooh. miniscus.

wine being poured into a glass could work - if i can figure how to keep hands out of the picture. it seems too intimate going about trying to discern whether your coworkers hands are photogenic.

[tryska]

ellen those shots are fabulous - i like the last one best - we've got both, but i'd prefer to use digital, myself it will make it easier to manipulate after the fact. (with someone else doing the clicking, since i'm a spaz)

[FistFullaRoux]

And regarding the "fade to white" thing. Those could very well have been shot on a white table with a white backdrop. Then Photoshop or something similar is used to strip in an interesting background, and tweak the image to create the psychological impact they are looking for. They could have things attacking the Kremlin just as easily as looking pensive on on a linen draped, candlelit table.

If that isn't an option for you, the composition of the shot is far more important.

The pouring wine thing can be addressed by holding the bottle near the base and cropping the pic to only show the neck of the bottle and the glass itself. It does not have to be a perfect pour. In fact, as long as it's not sloshing out of the glass, it looks better if it's a little sloppy. Gives it some texture and character.

And one more thing to keep in mind. Cheese sweats. Sweaty cheese is unappetizing. You'll need more than you think, and if it will be pre cut, use either a perfect blade or wire to have a smooth surface. If you want texture that will look good in print, break the cheese into irregular pieces. Then store it in the fridge until the last possible minute. Or set up two identical trays. Use one to get the lighting right, then pull out the second tray at the last possible moment.

[tryska]

word - thanks for addressing the sweaty cheese thing fistfull!

i like the idea of setting up with one tray and then shooting a second tray.

Edited November 20, 2003 by tryska (log)

[Varmint]

Is PhotoShop pretty much the gold standard for post-shoot manipulation?

[FistFullaRoux]

Is PhotoShop pretty much the gold standard for post-shoot manipulation?

I don't know about gold standard, but it probably is the most widely used professional program for pixel manipulation. There are other programs, but Adobe (makers of Photoshop and others) is the Microsoft of the digital picture biz. Any print or press shop worth their weight in card stock can and does use Adobe products. Even Kinko's.

[Fresser]

Some food photographers will doctor the food to enhance color richness; I've read of putting red lipstick on strawberries to make the berry "pop" in the photo.

I know a commercial photographer at http://www.rjdphotoltd.com you might check out the site and call or e-mail Bob Dowey with questions.

Tell him that eGullet sent you!

Edited November 20, 2003 by Fresser (log)

[wawairis]

Jason and Rachel Perlow do a great sandwich shot. Always makes me hungry!

[Fat Guy]

PhotoShop is the standard, but Ellen and I don't believe it's fairly priced and we don't like to make illegal copies of software. We use Paint Shop Pro 8.1 and so do plenty of power users. It's also, in my opinion, easier to learn than PhotoShop.

Tryksta, I can tell you from observing Ellen that she often uses a tripod. That eliminates all issues of unstable hands, and it gives you creative control.

Personally, I think most catalog-type product shots are hideous. They look like ads and therefore nobody looks at them. My belief is that retail shots would be more compelling, in many instances, if done in a more casual photojournalistic style. Especially for a younger, more with-it company, this can be a highly effective approach: a real setting, such as a dinner table or a restaurant, with real un-made-up people and not-heavily-styled food. If done right, and with feeling, photos like that can really "pop" and be quite memorable.

There are millions of images competing for our visual attention. Another photo of olives, no matter how well lit, just won't do the trick. Something that expresses personality, or otherwise makes for a unique and surprising visual, may be the way to go.