Photographing Food

I decided to take a three-day weekend to do a food test shoot to go through some lighting ideas and test out a few different lenses. The first thing to do was figure out a menu of what I wanted to photograph. As much as I’d like to say I chose the menu items based on what would photograph well, the decision was mostly made by my stomach, or more accurately, my taste buds. There was definitely more seafood on the menu than anything else.

After the menu was set, it was time to think about styling and set decoration. A couple of trips to Sur la Table and World Market and a couple hundred bucks later I had the dishes and accessories I needed. I also went to Home Depot to have a 2 x 10 cut into four two-and-a-half-foot pieces. I stained one side and painted the other side white. This would provide two addition surfaces to shoot on. I didn’t want all the shots to look like I had done them at once, so the variety of dishes and settings was important.

I went shopping for dishes and props to dress up the tables for the photos.

The next step just before shooting was grocery shopping. I waited until Friday to shop because it is important to have the ingredients as fresh as possible. I did some Asian-inspired dishes so I headed to Koreatown Galleria to the big grocery store there. I ended up going to a few other places like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods before I was done, another couple hundred bucks lighter. Honestly, I went overboard with the “authentic” ingredients but, unlike many commercial food shoots, all the food I shot was edible and I was sure-as-hell going to eat it.

The whole idea of the food shoot started with an aged picnic table in my backyard so I definitely wanted to shoot something on the table in natural light. I had originally envisioned doing most of the shoot out back in natural light but I only had a two-hour of window of good light per day. So weather and timing made me decide to do most of it indoors with a strobe. I may experiment someday as to whether you can tell the difference in the final photo with the same set-up but I would challenge anyone to tell which ones I shot in natural light and which ones were with a strobe.

Setting up on a table in the living room with lots of light bouncing around.

Lighting food requires a different technique than anything else I’ve photographed. There is a photographer who has made a name shooting famous chefs (so jealous) and she sometimes shoots food. I don’t really like her foot photos because she lights them the same way she lights the portraits, which means a mostly frontal key light. I also did this when I first shot food for my magazine. After doing some research, I found out that food is best when the key light is behind or to the side and then bounced into the front and sides. Viva la différence.

I had a large softbox (or the sun) facing the camera, angled down. Then I had a 4x6 scrim in front of the softbox to further defuse the light. I used white foam core with a fold on either side to bounce light back into the food. Most of the time I was shooting through a narrow strip between the two bounces angled in. Sometimes I would position the light to the side and then bounce light to the back and front.

I had rented a Zeiss 85mm for my Canon, mostly because I have been thinking about buying one and wanted to live with the manual focus for a shoot. While it is a great portrait lens, I found it less that ideal for food, mostly because the minimum focus distance is around 3 feet. That’s not close enough.

I have a 105mm macro lens, which is great for this type of photography, but my go to for this shoot was a Canon 135mm f/2L lens. It was the perfect focal length as far as the distance I wanted to be and the depth-of-field I wanted. It is also a very sharp lens (Canon’s primes are about average while their zooms are slightly below average). I may do a test of the Zeiss 100mm macro, my Sigma EX 105mm macro and the Canon 135mm. Look for a post about that coming soon.

Not only does this look good, it tasted really good (thanks for helping, Tyla).

I like to cook and I like to make pictures so all in all it was a lot of fun. As I said before, I ate what I shot so I was eating pretty well for a couple of weeks of delightful leftovers. The next time I do this, I will definitely enlist the help of a food stylist. Yup, that’s a career. I think I did ok, but it would be nice to concentrate on the image and let a professional make the food look it’s best.

Speaking of concentrating on the image, one major mistake I made was not shooting tethered. I’m not sure why I didn’t except I was too lazy to bring the computer over. Stupid. I didn’t even load the images on to the computer until everything was shot. What was I thinking there? Photographing food is all about the smallest details. Details too small to effectively see on the back of the camera. As soon as I saw some of the pictures on the computer screen I saw things I should have changed. Even things like moving a slice of green onion over to a spot that looked conspicuously bare would make a difference in the final image. No way I will shoot food again and not tether.

What was intended to be a three-day shoot turned into 5-days. I even had a friend over one day to prepare three of the dishes I shot. All told, this project was almost two weeks of work between planning, shopping, prepping and shooting. The price tag was in the $400 range. There are some photos that didn’t work out as well as I had hoped and there are others that worked out just like I envisioned.

I also did a time lapse behind-the-scenes video of one of the segments with a bonus at the end of me stuffing my face with a rather large plate of food.

Does Your Gear Dictate Your Style?

Everyone needs a look and style to their photography. Hopefully one that helps express their vision. The thing we need to ask ourselves is how much of what we think of as our style is defined by our vision and how much by the tools we use. In other words, does my vision dictate the tools, or does my gear define my vision?

When I was first starting out, I was lucky to connect with a very experienced model who liked modeling for me. She had modeled for a myriad of photographers for various magazines and I felt fortunate that she was always up for shooting with me for no money. One day I asked her why she was always shooting with me and she said she liked my ideas and really liked my photographic style. I was a little surprised. I didn’t think I had developed a style yet. So I asked her what my style was. She thought I was a little slow and described my soft lighting style. I realized that I had been lighting everything the same way. My kit consisted of a pack, three heads, two large softboxes and a medium softbox and that’s what I used every shoot. I immediately went out and bought two umbrellas, some gels and a set of grids. As someone who was mostly self-taught, I certainly didn’t want to get in the habit of using the same lighting set-up for every shoot.

My early style of softbox lighting with a mostly flat lighting arrangement.

I didn’t think about it much after that but lately, situations have come up that have made me think about style and how much we photographers let the gear we have dictate our style. I have been exposed to many new light-shaping tools because of working for Michael Grecco, who is all about shaping light to create a dramatic portrait. He has a vision and uses the tools he has to shape the light to his vision. This is the direction I would like to go with my style, though I have more of a natural looking lighting style.

A very deliberate departure from my typical lighting utilizing a ring flash.

I can’t really say that having your gear at least partially define your style is a bad thing. Zack Arias made quite a name for himself as a one light shooter. He could only afford one light and refused to let that stop him. So he developed his style, largely around his gear “limitations”. It worked out great for him. He ended up touring around doing his “One Light Workshop” teaching enthusiasts how to effectively light with one light. He can now afford much more than one light but even with larger studio shoots, his style is still heavily influenced by his one light days.

For most of us, I think limiting ourselves to the capabilities of our gear is a pitfall we need to be aware of. Looking at my body of work, my favorite photos from a lighting perspective are ones where I didn’t use three lights with three softboxes. I took some chances with some fashion shoots in lighting much more creatively. I rented gear I had never worked with before and figured out how to achieve the look I had envisioned.

It helps to have a clear vision before going into a shoot. If you wait until you’re at the shoot to figure out the lighting, you’re more apt to let the gear dictate the look. If you plan ahead you are more likely to use the tools to achieve your vision.

A more dramatic lighting style with a directional hard light.

Rental is a great way to get exposed to different tools. I saw a photo that was shot with a ring-light and realized that look would be perfect for a shoot I had been planning. I rented one for the shoot and learned to use it on the shoot. Some of the images from that day are still my favorites of my work to date.

Of course, while lighting is a very important part of defining a photographic style, it does not completely define a style. There are plenty of other factors that go into an image to define style ranging from subject matter to post-processing that can be equally important. All of these are things photographers need to be aware of when defining their style. </soapbox>

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Photographer Assistant for Fun and Profit

A little over 10 years ago I sold my house in Phoenix and moved to (almost) LA to learn about the business and craft of photography and become a pro photographer. I had selected several photographers who were doing the type of photography I wanted to get into and doing it well. I met several of them but never made much headway. I assisted one photographer several times but I think I had more gear than she did and based on my lack of proximity to central LA (I lived in Riverside–don’t ask) it wasn’t very consistent. It was fun but I didn’t get the immersion into the LA photography scene I was looking for.

When I returned to LA I didn’t have any intention of looking for assisting work. I thought I might be too old and too experienced for anyone to hire me as an assistant. I have since learned that I couldn’t have been more wrong. I also felt that any additional learning would have to be on-the-job learning. I was wrong about that, too.

Getting the power hooked up at Pier 59 Studios West in Santa Monica.

Last October, out of the blue, I received an email from the studio manager of Michael Grecco asking if I was available to assist. I had met Michael my first time around and he was one of the top three photographers I wanted to work for. At first I thought they had me confused with someone else but figured I’d go with it and they booked me for the shoot.

I was a little nervous on the first shoot because I had only assisted a handful of times and that was over 10 years ago. I planned to just keep my eyes and ears open and count on my experience running my own shoots to get me through. Fortunately, I was the 2^nd assistant so I just followed the 1^st assistant’s lead. It was a cover shoot for People Magazine in Newport Coast. Michael is a patient photographer who keeps a loose and easy-going shoot atmosphere and he really knows his lighting.

After a couple of shoots I did well enough that Michael informed me that I was his go-to 1^st assistant. I have since learned that many assistants work for years to become 1^st assistants. I also learned that Michael only picks assistants who have been shooting for 10+ years.

On most shoots, Michael has two assistants so I have met many other assistants ranging from their early 20’s to their 40’s. I also found out that many of these guys are career assistants, which never occurred to me. Good ones can make a pretty good living working for several different photographers.

We rolled the NASCAR out to the front yard for this shoot for People Magazine in Virginia.

After working with Michael for the past 4 months, I have come to the conclusion that my initial preconceived notions about assisting were way off. To quote Peter Venkman, ‘mother puss-bucket’ I have a lot to learn! I can only credit serendipity and/or divine intervention with hooking me up with Michael. He is not as busy as either of us would like him to be, but he brings 30+ years of experience in shooting and lighting and has opened up new opportunities for me.

Michael is a lighting expert. He has a published a couple of lighting books including, Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait, along with a personal project book, Naked Ambition, and a companion documentary. He has photographed for every major magazine and most A-List celebrities you can think of. He is also the master of getting endorsements so he has enough gear to do pretty much any shoot he wants. His endorsements include Hasselblad, Dyna-Lite, Chimera, California Sunbounce, and for a while, Canon.

With all this gear, I have had an excellent opportunity to use equipment that I have not used before. This, and Michael’s knowledge, has made assisting him such a great learning experience. In the past, I have rigged ways to shape light for shoots or just given up on my initial vision and now I am finding that there are tools to do exactly what I was trying to do. I have also learned new ways of using light modifiers to get the effects I want.

Shooting in Steamboat Springs, Colorado for People Magazine.

I have traveled across the country assisting Michael and have done some pretty high-production shoots in major LA studios (Pier 59 Studios West, Smashbox) complete with set designers and builders. I have assisted Michael with a couple of celebrity shoots as well as some national ad campaigns. I have also met many people and made a few friends.

Assisting has been a great way to learn, immerse myself in photography and meet new people. It has also opened up new options for me including becoming a Digital Tech. I will post more about that later as I become more involved. But, for now, I’m headed to Las Vegas tomorrow for a shoot for Fortune Magazine. You can follow me on Instagram to see these shoots in action. My Instagram photos also feed to my Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Available Light Mode

I’m not talking about a setting on the camera (although that could be cool), I’m talking about a setting in my brain.

My background is in studio photography. My very first shoot was a product shoot for a tech company. Most of my fashion was done in the studio or at an indoor location. When someone says “photo shoot”, I automatically think “lights”.

I did a corporate headshot recently in the office of the company president. I brought my lighting case and started setting up lights with soft boxes. The president was duly impresses and uttered, “All this for me?”. I made adjustments and started taking some photos. I couldn’t get the shallow depth of field I wanted because there was so much light I had to stop down. I finished when I felt I had enough good shots and turned off the lights. I pulled one of the soft boxes away and noticed some good light coming through the window. I set up my bounce so the subject was between the window and the bounce. I asked if we could take a few more and was able to set the f-stop wide open and get the look I wanted. Of the two, I definitely like elements of the the natural light portrait better, especially the bokeh in the background. Unfortunately, the lighting one turned out sharper.

Portrait on the left was with studio lighting, on the right with available light.

I can’t say I regret setting up the lights because it made for a nice presentation, but in the end, it’s the image that matters. I could have most impressive lighting set-up in the world, but if the final image doesn’t impress, I’m not going to get any repeat business.

I brought all my lights to a recent shoot for a tea company, mostly because it was a last minute shoot and I didn’t know what to expect. As soon as I got to the location, I knew I would leave my lights in the car and pulled out my 5-in-1 bounce. I used the bounce sparingly because the light was so perfect where we were shooting. Here's an example of using the reflector to bounce some warm light into the scene.

An uncorrected image shot only with available light.

An uncorrected image shot with a 5-in-1 reflector giving a warmer 'sunrise' tone.

I’ve heard other photographers talk about using natural light whenever possible and only resorting to lights when absolutely necessary. I’m starting to think in that direction.

I’m honest enough to admit that some of it has to do with ego. Early on, I felt that the thing that set me apart from an amateur photographer was my equipment, especially my lighting. It is a very dangerous mindset to get into. The image is what matters.

So now I’m consciously changing my mindset to think natural lighting first. I’m switching my brain into available light mode.