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Cropping out the mess in our kitchen
September 21, 2007 | 31 Comments
We get a lot of questions about what camera we use, the backgrounds we use, how we stage our pictures, etc. We’re still learning and experimenting. This post just outlines what we do for our pictures.
We’re quite surprised to see the response to our pictures, ‘cos truth be told, we are real amateurs at photography. There are blogs with much better food photographs and techniques than ours. Jai has been taking pictures for years, but not as a serious hobby. Bee, on the other hand, couldn’t have cared less, as long as her point and shoot camera focussed and took the picture. It’s only over the past year that she has handled a SLR camera and learnt what ‘white balance’, ‘EXIF’ and ‘RAW’ stand for.
All our pictures posted on this blog have been taken with a Canon 300D Digital Rebel. Seventy percent of the pictures here are by Jai, about 30% are by Bee.
Food photography is something we rarely did until eight months ago, when we started this blog. We use Adobe Photoshop for cropping our pictures, and the only adjustments we usually make are in the brightness and contrast. Recently, we’ve started shooting pictures in the RAW mode, but have yet to learn how to handle the RAW processing software. Hence, we haven’t posted any of our RAW images here. Most of our food shots are taken indoors.
A few things we try to observe:
1. Try and shoot in natural light as far as possible.
2. We experiment with backgrounds and colours. We are often surprised to see how different the same subject looks against a different backdrop.
3. We use a tripod if we can.
4. We’re not very good at creating elaborate table settings, nor are we good at co-ordinating various elements in a picture. So we try to keep it simple and have just a few objects in the shot.
5. We experiment with angles.
6. Most of all, we have fun.
The resources listed under ‘Photography Resources‘ in our right sidebar have helped us a lot. We will update this link as and when we come across new links.
Once you have determined how your camera works, and what its features are, there are no ‘rules’ except to explore and enjoy. It is important to go through the manual that comes with your camera, because there are a lot of features that you probably never knew existed. What you do with the knowledge is entirely up to your taste and eye for detail. Each person has a different perspective and that’s what makes each picture unique.
For instance, here are two pictures of Olan.
The dish is the same (prepared at different times). The light, the texture, the angle and the feel of the two are totally different.
When we start out to photograph something, we don’t have any ‘plans’ as such. We take a shot in one spot, then move it to another, then change the backdrop, then change our minds again. Jai takes a shot, wanders about, Bee goes for a cup of tea, comes back and changes something and takes a shot, then finds that there are sticky fingermarks on the bowl that were not there before. Someone raided the pantry for a snack and then adjusted the bowl for a picture. In the end, our kitchen (and home) looks like a tornado hit it – with paper, lenses, bowls and stuff everywhere. Then we load the pics on the computer and crop out the mess. :devil:
Here are some of our experiments.
Sometimes a white background brings out the colours and textures of a dish well.
Sometimes, it doesn’t.
Ghugras on a white background
On a green background
J photographed these sweet potato crisps on a white background.
See what a difference one sheet of paper makes.
Stacking things up vertically creates a greater impact than just laying them out horizontally.
This may sound counterintuitive, but for an object to stand out against a white background, we need to overexpose one stop or more and have a low aperture opening. For a dark background, we need to underexpose, to avoid getting a bluish or greyish hue due to the light reflecting off the black background.
Sometimes, we can’t take pics in natural light because of time constraints, or other reasons.
Like this shot of Fajeto, that we were forced to take at night to send in time for an event. :hmm: We first took a shot on a white background and didn’t like the yellow hue in the picture. The curry itself is mango-based and yellow. If something doesn’t turn out the way you envisaged, make it look as if you wanted it that way. :yes:
So we emphasised the yellow. Yellow backdrop, yellow light, yellow curry, and just made it as yellow as it could get.
We try to stay within the theme of a dish. This is a 1000-year old recipe for rice pudding from the Jagannath temple in Puri.
A white dish is not easy to photograph. Bee decided to go with a dark brown background.
We did not want too many modern elements in the picture. Scouring our home for ancient objects, we found this piece of moss we had picked up on one of our trails. This kind of moss is believed to take ages to grow. It also adds colour and texture. The seashell denotes the seaside location of the town of Puri. Here’s a cropped version of the same picture.
Cropping can make a picture much more interesting.
Uncropped
Cropped
A macro shot without a macro lens. Explained here
Filed Under: food-photography, MUSINGS, Photo Essays, PHOTOGRAPHY, vegetarian recipes
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31 Comments
Hi Guys,
Lovely tips….
I am always lurking on your blog and I absolutely had to comment today… I love visiting food blogs in general, but I love yours the most for many reasons:
1) I love the fact that your recipes are so well researched and the theme & nature of the cuisine/dish is so well preserved.
2) I love your environmental friendly attitude and the fact that you guys try to increase awareness about so many issues.
3) It is not only vegetarian, it is mostly vegan friendly (I am trying to be vegan, but the only thing I cant give is yogurt/curd – the tam bram rearing is too strong to break away from
4) The food you guys cook is extremely healthy.
5) And most of all I love your attitude (or lets say lack of it which some people develop after gaining an audience or becoming well known
Wow – that looks like an assignment sheet – but well, I had to say this:)
Thanks
Hema
thanks, hema. we learnt one thing from your comment. if you put too many numbered items, it goes to spam and has to be retrieved. my spam filter is crazy. sorry about that. glad you enjoy our blog.
– b.
This post was so educative and offered great insight. Thanks Bee & Jai.
Bee, will write you soon.
Lovely post. Thanks for the information and the tips. :bow:
thanks guys…will try these method
Wow great pointers…now if I only get enough time to spend. But I would really love to someday, you know to spend un-interrupted time photographing a dish and then play around with these pointers
That is such an insightful post. Thanks! I too am someone who is satisfied once I focus and shoot. Haven’t read the camera manual since the package arrived at my door. I guess it’s time to take photography seriously. Thanks again!
Really very information post. Very helpful too. Thanks dears. :yes:
:bow:
Great post. I have the same camera and really like it. I’ve got a lot to learn about photography, but I do find it very fun to try to get a good photo to go with the recipe.
Nice post…Did you use Tungsten balance for the fajeto shot?
no. just the default auto w/b. – b.
well, ur pics are truly amazing and something I need to learn from a lot. i have a very basic camera, so probably upgrading it will be the first step. thanks for sharing these tips
Lovely post Bee, good points to be noted and used while taking photos. But whatever you say, your pictures talks at the same time they are quite natural. Viji
phew, that was comprehensive!
That made good reading. I have Paint, Olympus Software and HP software that comes with my computer – I can get rid of the background only in Paint but it takes simply ages because the picture opens only in Zoom and I can’t zoom out and eliminate the background in one go! I’m unbale to activate the ‘Normal View’ – any tips?
sra, i’ll send you an e-mail. – b.
A very informative post..lovely tips n pictures, Thanks Bee n Jai…’ll try to follow your tips from now on..
Lurvely post..I’ve been wanting to get hubby a digital SLR to replace his old Nikon..might go your way. Your pics are cool, but I must say your recipes are better..the kind of ‘food thinking’ that works well for me. Write a book sometime.
Very timely post. The chocolate pudding photo was coming and troubling me in my dreams (honest) :embarrass and was thinking about u’re photography skills. Great to see this post!
Bee and Jai,
Just wanted to let you know that the photography links in this post and the right side bar take you to an empty page.
Thanks for letting us know. It seems to do it intermittently. We’ve created a brand new link. So hopefully it is fixed now.
Wow..another information article from the dynamic duo. Thanks for sharing these wonderful tips.
I just luv Jai n Bee. I am so thrille dto have leanred so much after this blog. My pics speak that i am so not into photgraphy and i hope i can get these tips in use soon.
Very comprehensive post on food photography. Deserves a place on Dining Hall, methinks!
Love how you explained about photography. Its so true that cropping and background takes the pics to a whole new level.
Hey Jai & Bee, first of all *A BIG HUG* and a sincere thanks to both of you, for writing such a wonderful post. It helps a lots for beginners like me who is still learning baby steps handling a digital camera.
I must say that you guys believe in Sharing Knowledge. I have seen some good blogs with great photography but with lot of ‘head weight’ who are not 1c worth of help.
You are doing a great Job! :bow: :bow:
Ah! Great pointers for beginners. I am contemplating to buy a new camera, may be a Powershot G6, any idea if its good…..still using my cell phone camera after the old camera gave way! blasphemy right there :huh:
go to http://www.dpreview.com. they have some forums too where you can get answers to practically anything. – j
Great article Bee & Jai. I totally agree that the angle and the background make a lot of difference and the cropping creates a whole new perpective…Your photos never fail to amaze me..
:bow:Jai and Bee your food photography is really excellent, food is not something I’ve tackled when taking photographs. I tend to stick to nature; animals and people are my forte.
You can get some great online tips as I am sure you know. Raw is easy, I tend to make a copy of the raw image after I have dealt with lighting etc and imported it into photoshop proper, it’s the single best tip I ever got. Work with a copy and that way if you mess up, you’ve still got the original in pristine condition
Hi – love your recipes recipes and great pics! Quick question – how do you get the white background in your pics? Do you use some software for the effect?
Thanks!
we place white paper behind the subject. somtimes we place cloth. – b.
hey guys thank u so much for sharing this info, i m sure it will be of great help to many including me
Hey Jai n Bee, thankyou so much for this post. I’ve always wondered how you guys can cook so well and present it well too. The pics are real eye-candy to me.
Great job folks. U both Rock!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi,
That’s such a wonderful and informative article. Very well-written and the pics are awesome.
A wonderful help and write up on photography processes. Clear and concise – as always your peppering of humor makes the post simply fantastic!