Beginners Tips For Food Photography

One of the (many) things I learned at the Tots 100 Blog Summit in Birmingham this weekend, was how to use my Lumix G2 camera a bit more effectively thanks to Tom and Becky Arber's photography workshop.  I've always wanted some hands on advice on how to get more out of my camera but have never been brave enough to sign myself up for a course.  To get expert advice (suitable for a simpleton like me) for free, thanks to this brilliant conference, was absolutely fabulous and just one of the reasons why I love coming to these events.  There is always something new to learn.

One of the things I regularly photograph for the blog is food for reviews or recipes and it isn't as easy as it should be!  Flashes make the picture look really flat.  Too little light and the image isn't sharp enough.  We don't always have a fabulous source of natural light to illuminate our photography subjects so for well-lit, focused food photos we need an artificial light source.  Tom had some great lights which were perfect for the job and cost just £30.  These will prove a great investment for most bloggers but you can use an angle poise lamp just as effectively.

I didn't realise just what a difference the different lighting made to the image.  I took these photographs of a plate of chocolate doughnuts using the automatic setting on the camera and without a flash.

Image 1 is lit from above with a light.  Image 2 has no extra lightsource.  Image 3 was lit from the side and Image 4 had sandwich lighting from both sides.  The difference in the images is quite marked, allowing you to get the look you want using shadows and lighting to their desired effect.  It has given me the confidence to experiment with my photography and to play with how I use lighting. 

We also got to play with shutter speed whilst photographing flour being sieved.  Using the S setting on the camera I adjusted the speed to about a 200th of a second.  This photo froze time showing the flour particles passing through the sieve almost individually.  Setting the camera to a slower shutter speed and using a tripod gave a very different effect of the flour flowing through the sieve.  It had a hazier look as the light entered the camera for longer.  These techniques can be used for liquids too to capture a drink being poured into a glass.

For close-ups, we used the Macro setting on the camera.  By setting the focus (mine is done by tapping the screen on the camera), and using a good lightsource, a very sharp, detailed image could be taken.  I had a try with some peppers and some birthday cake candles and was quite pleased with the result.

The workshop has given me a lot more confidence with my camera.  The different manual settings allow for a degree of control over the aperture and shutter speed to get the image you want to achieve.  The importance of good lighting has been demonstrated to me and I won't simply be flashing all my pics from now on!  Hopefully my photographs will improve now I know a few tricks and tips to improve my photography.  I'm still just a beginner who doesn't know the fancy phrases, but I feel far more empowered to give it a go now.

So even an old dinosaur like me can learn new things! Thanks to Sally and the Tots 100 team for their continuing input into the blog-related education of our community!

I've got a new camera!!!

Fabulous, gadget mad husband could not bear the fact that I was struggling with an automatic digital camera any more.  For ages the creative side of me has been frustrated with the lack of control regarding taking photographs.  Many a beautiful photographic opportunity has been wasted because my camera decided to focus on the background instead of on Freddy's smile. The slightly blurred pictures on the LCD viewing screen becomes a horrible smudged mess when uploaded onto the PC.

Littlest son is also not the greatest model in the world...his big sister Ella was one of those babies who understood her mother's need to capture every moment in photo form.  She would beam effortlessly at the slightest suggestion of a camera moment.  Freddy on the other hand is a far trickier model to capture.  He'll be all grins and little teeth until the camera shutter button is depressed.  My old camera has a noticeable delay that is just long enough for Fred to turn away.  I have so many photos of the back of his head it's untrue!  Other favourite avoidance techniques include the look down or the lunge, which are illustrated below! 

I have felt for a while that I am missing out on the photos I want, the ones I create in my mind but just can not translate into the end result.  However, I am not someone who finds it easy to spend money on myself.  You just have to look into my wardrobe to get evidence of my lack of personal spending (some of the contents are circa 1991...and not in a good retro way either)!  I do not own a handbag (I bung everything in Fred's changing bag)!  I am still wearing last year's mis-shapen fake Uggs (even though I desperately covet a pair of buckle-up DM ankle boots)!  So the idea of spending the best part of £500 on a non-necessity is something I could not even contemplate.

However, my wonderful husband felt differently.  He wants me to exercise my creativity, capturing those fleeting moments in Freddy's childhood forever.  He wants me to capture the sort of picture that we'll want blown up into a huge canvas for the living room wall.  He knows that I love competitions but simply can't compete in terms of quality (although blurred offerings are not uncommon I personally couldn't put my name to anything I didn't think was worthy of winning). So, to these ends he came home from work today having bought me a Lumix G2. 

He'd done his homework, read the reviews and decided that this was the answer.  I used to love my SLR camera from the pre-digital days, and this seems to combine elements from both old school SLR and uber modern digital photography.  He is excited about it!  Me on the other hand have my usual fear and trepidation regarding change...but I'm looking forward to overcoming that and exploring the potential that this camera has to offer.  Hopefully I'll have some nice piccies to post soon!!