Kris D'Amico Photography

July 26th, 2009 by Kris

So, I got this message on Flicker this morning and I thought it would be great to post it here!

Hey Kris -

How’s it going. I came across your Malformed Carrot set while looking for ideas for inspiration for a shoot…I like your work. Interesting malformation by the way.

I’m helping a friend, who’s a baker, create photos for her web site..I’m an amateur hack trying to figure it out. I’m wondering, what kind of set up do you use for your food shots? I’ve read that a lot of food photographers use the 50 mil fixed lens..I have a Canon DSLR, Rebel Xti, with an 18-55 mil and a 75-300 telephoto, the latter which I don’t think I’ll need..Thinking I’ll rent a lens and maybe even a body…

Anyway curious if you have tips on getting baked goods – cookies, cakes, etc…in natural light..

Thanks
Bill

And here was my response.

what kind of set up do you use for your food shots?

I’m usually a handheld kinda’ guy, but there are definitely time with food that you HAVE to use a tripod. Handheld, I usually shoot at 800iso at about 1/30 sec. I try and shoot wide open, just be careful when you dip below f2.8, it’s easy to make the food unreadable. I have a 3×4 old single pane window in my kitchen that faces southwest.

I’ve read that a lot of food photographers use the 50 mil fixed lens..I have a Canon DSLR, Rebel Xti, with an 18-55 mil and a 75-300 telephoto, the latter which I don’t think I’ll need.

I shoot 80% of all my photography with my Canon EF 24-105mm IS f/4L. Good glass is paramount, buy a new lens before you get a new body. One good lens will change the way you shoot. I use a 5d body; I try to shoot tethered when I can so I can make micro adjustments in the focus and exposure, if you can’t shoot tethered just use the histogram to check where the exposure is at. If you’ve got a micro feature on that 300, USE IT.

So, my list of take away pointers for you:

1. Get low, if your shots are too high you loose the feel of the food. It’s a pastry or a carrot or whatever, big deal – unless there is a reason to stay high, start at eye level with the food and move up slowly.
2. Shoot at 20-30 degrees into the light. Basically, put the food on a plate or tray or whatever, line up the light source, the food, and the camera into a straight line, now move the camera one big step to the right or left. This will do 2 things for you, help with textural shadows and allow you to more easly play with the balance between light and dark.
3. Shoot 50, 60, 70 shots of each setup with small movements. After all it’s digital, so use the medium! Shoot till your fingers bleed.
4. Make sure you’ve got a good catalogue program that you can make global adjustments in color and exposure to all 60 images that you shoot per setup, something like aperture or lightroom. (I use lightroom, for what it’s worth)