Strobology

See that photo of death on a plate? That’s how NOT to do it. Not my photo. My photos are below…. You’ve heard it a million times: ‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’ Think about this…….. It’s no different with pictures of FOOD.

And what if – just maybe – some of your photos elicit 4-letter-words….yikes! If I had a buck for all the bad restaurant photos out there…well… nevermind. Having an image repository with several professional photos of your best dishes is a VERY useful tool. In fact, I consider it a MUST HAVE because good photos could save thousands on graphic design and marketing, by making it easier for designers to create beautiful pieces. And these “photo-rich” designs will make you more money. A mouth-watering picture sells a thousand dishes!!!

The biggest and most depressing mistake I see being made by the average independently owned restaurant is REALLY BAD PHOTOS or none at all. Read my blog on The “12 Ingredients that Make Restaurant Websites Sizzle” One of my “Key Ingredients” is photos. So, schedule a photo shoot! I started taking food photos back at the very beginning of Spillover (circa 2001).

It started out of necessity because, like I said earlier, most owners way underestimate the value of good photos and the DAMAGE that is caused by REALLY BAD PICTURES OF GOOD FOOD. Since the early days, I’ve studied photography, invested in some great equipment, and I have taken photos for LOTS of restaurants and bars most of which have landed on web site that we’ve done you’ll see some of my photography at the following sites:

• http://www.keybaraustin.com
• http://www.Trulucks.com
• http://www.DocsAustin.com
• http://www.CedarDoorAustin.com
• http://www.IguanaGrillAustin.com [off the top of my head that’s all I can think of ]

Like EVERYTHING ELSE…you get what you pay for…Your customers want quality when they dine out. Freshen up those photos and super-charge your marketing. I have always loved shooting food. It’s such an art-form in and of itself.

I had a fun shoot yesterday for The Carl Miner Idea Group. They hired me for a packaging shoot for new food product that is hitting the market soon. It was good fun. Working with the food-stylist I feel we were able to make a pretty hard-to-make-yummy product look pretty good. Sometimes it’s hard to do.

Visit these links and checkout some of my food photos on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/keitheddleman/sets/72157600005603212/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/keitheddleman/sets/72157603828737125/
If you have specific questions please leave a comment.  I will respond quickly.

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Take Great Food Photos with Ease

I’ve heard it said that if you can photograph food you can photograph anything. I don’t know. I think that is more applicable to kids, and even more applicable if you and the kids are fishing, but I digress.

This is a lovely cake that was crafted by my food-stylist and wife, Wyana.

Cake for a Baby Shower 3

I shot this particular cake using a strobe in a very simple off camera set-up. I set up a Canon Speedlight, the 430ex, on a 7 foot stand with a cheap shoot-thru umbrella attached. You can see the light spilling in from the top of the photo.

After much study of great food-photos I’ve found that back-lighting the subject is often the best bet. Pick up any foodie magazine and look closely at the photography. You will likely notice that the lighting is strongest from the top of the photo (behind the subject) and you will also notice that it’s not lit with a speedlight – like my picture. Cake for a Baby Shower 2

The best, most frequently used, lighting for really good food photography is almost invariably going to be NATURAL lighting.

Again take a look at that magazine. You’re going to see a ton of straight-natural lighting. This should be really good news for the average pro-sumer photog that is thinking of shooting some magazine quality food. Use natural lighting.

For the last 8 years I’ve been doing restaurant photos and my gameplan was always the same. Get near a window. Backlight the photo. Have a shallow depth of field. When you think you’re close get closer.

One last thing that I usually DON’T do is crop the plate in the photo. I would usually crop the photo in post-production. But as of late I’ve been trusting what I see through the lense a lot more. As you can see in this cake photo (above). I cropped it.

That’s it for now I hope this helps you light some great food photos. Keep your camera handy and take photos near the window on a sunny day. Enjoy!

This 120 page book includes:

* How to focus on the body to aid posing.

* The key to duplicating or creating any pose.

* The three letters that can build a pose (no, not A-B-C).

* Important points to consider for a reclining position.

* Exercises and suggestions to help analyze pictures and poses.

* Ten simple solutions when your model does not know what to do with their hands.

* How to avoid foreshortening of limbs.

* The three basic head movements that make a difference to your model’s features.

Forget trial and error. You need never be stuck for a pose again when you get this easy to read, simple to follow book that you can download in minutes.

* As well as the “Shoot Digital Pics Like the Pros” Free Report you’ll learn about my new “Guide To Digital Photography” which teaches you…

* How to “capture the moment.” They usually show up unexpectedly.

* The basics of shooting professional quality digital pictures – everytime.

* Picture taking problems and how to fix them.

* Printing your digital pictures – everything from printing software, to printer inks and troubleshooting tips. No digital stone left unturned.

* Be there with your camera when the sun rises or sets – they’ll think you’re a pro when you show them these!

If you are thinking of trying to make a little bit of money on the side this year you are not alone.  The economy is in downturn and it sure would be nice to pick up a few photography gigs and make a few extra thousand bucks every month.

Sounds amazing actually, right?

I have 4 tips for making some side cash in photography.

• Study Photography and Strive to Get Better Results
• Let The World Know You’re in Business
• Dive into Stock Photography (like istockphoto.com)
• Specialize

STUDY PHOTOGRAPHY

To help you study photography I have assembled some links to some
resources for instant ebooks you can be reading in minutes.  This is
the method I prefer to use.

Good eBooks:

• Learning Great Digital Photography
• Selling Your Photos
• Money From Photos by Roy Barker
• Building a Photography Business from an Expert
• Stock Photography Sales

Go to these sites and read them and pick a couple to download
and read.  These usually come in .pdf format so what I like to do is
print the whole thing out and stick it in a binder. That way I can
highlight, underline and write in the margin all I want to.  I also
like to flip the page over and write diagrams etc.. there because it’s
blank on the back.  These ebooks become like a journal for me and it’s
a fun way to keep up with my studies.

2.  PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS

When
you promote your business as a business it does two important things.

First, it lets people know that are expecting to be paid for what you
do.  This may sound simplistic, but these days it can be hard to get
people to take you seriously when you tell them you are a
photographer.  The perception is that everyone is a photographer.
Anyone can buy a camera, stick a lens on it and start taking photos.
Make sure they know you are different, you are serious.

The
second thing this will do is open you up to larger deals.  Other
businesses are looking for real legit photographers to hire.  They hire
the ones that are IN-BUSINESS.  To make yourself available to the
profitable deals in business-be a business.

3. DIVE INTO STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY

I
have been a contributor to istockphoto.com for 2 years now and I’ve
made a little bit of money from it.  The biggest thing I’ve learned
from it is how to take better pictures, and how to distinguish a good
shot from a bad shot.

The initial approval process is
humbling.  They tell you why your photos stink and why you aren’t cut
out to be a pro.  Once you get past that and you do finally get
approved, you can know that you are in a different category than the
average photographer.  It’s worth it for the experience alone.  Do it.

4. SPECIALIZE

Take
a look at successful artists.  They have a distinct look and feel to
their art.  They are specialists.  You need to do that with your
photography.  Maybe you are a wedding specialists, a live events
specialist, a portrait specialist, a pet specialist, a landscape photo
specialist, there are literally thousands of ways to specialize.  Pick
one and master it.

Specializing will help you market yourself to those who need you.

Specialize
in an area that you really enjoy.  Don’t specialize in pet photography
just because it’s hot in your area and despite the fact that you have a
child-like fear of toothy creatures.  It won’t last.  If you really dig
shooting landscapes at night in the rain, then welcome to your world.

To conclude

Get
started!  That’s the best advice I can give.  It’s takes time and a
commitment, but you can do it.  Now is always the best time to get
started.

Let me know how it goes for you.

I wish you the best!

What a great deal! The kid gets to eat a hotdog and the photographer gets to photograph a happy kid. It’s a win/win.

This past year I have been trying my hand at a little stock photography.

I am a contributor to iStockphoto.com. Becoming a contributor is a pretty rigorous process, and the photo inspectors are extremely… uh, let’s just say, thorough.

Fact is, it’s humbling. I’ve learned a lot about the details of digital photography and what is useful for print. The inspectors at istockphoto.com view your photo at 100% and they look at specific details like noise, artifacts and chromatic aberrations.

Prior to joining istockphoto.com I didn’t even know what chromatic aberrations were. Each time I submitted what I thought was a terrific photo only to see it get rejected for chromatic aberrations, well, you would have thought I had just been told I had cancer. It was painful.

Why the angst? Each photo that does get accepted into istockphoto, and currently I have about 40, has the potential to sell multiple times. I have sold about 100 so far. That sort of “motivation” tends to drive me. Not the idea of getting rich, per se, but the idea that someone would pay money to use one of my photos. I think it’s a real kick.

There is, of course, that fantasy of selling one photo a jillion times and making bank…don’t get me wrong. So the gist of the photo pictured here is that sometimes on a Saturday I’ll think up ideas for stock photos. I ask myself, “What do marketers need photos of?” “What sells on istock?” and “How can I get those shots?”

That said, every now and again I’ll bribe one of my sons – or my friends – to model for me. It this case it’s my youngest, Jamison. He’s a great model as you can see. I paid him $2 for his time and he got to eat the hot dog. I did manage to get his photo accepted to the catalog on istockphoto, so we’ll see. Maybe he’ll be the next photo “big dog.” (okay, bad joke).

To get this shot I used a white backdrop and my canon 430ex speedlight shot through an umbrella at camera right. I had it up on a stand and triggered it using the ST-E2 Transmitter.

The ST-E2 Transmitter has been my friend as of late. When I first got it it wasn’t as cool as I thought. I had trouble getting it to fire outdoors. I have found that as long as there is a wall to bounce the signal off of it will work fine. I don’t think it would work in an open field or on the beach unless there was a direct line between the transmitter and the flash. Just an FYI.

The Heart of the Matter is in the Art of the Matter

Baby Photo Shoot

A smiling baby is one of life’s most beautiful things, no argument here. When parents hire a photographer to come into their home and capture this thing of beauty they envision that one big smile captured forever. So, I say, give them what they want and then show them how much lasting joy they can get from an artistic photo.

Chasing the smile can get a bit tedious (okay it can drive you nuts) so while you wait for the elusive event delve into some dramatic photos that will make the parents forget all about the smiles and start thinking of the giant piece of art that will hang over the mantle.

That was my goal on my latest baby shoot.

Like most artists I want to ‘wow’ people. I want to create an emotional response. When someone says, “that’s a good picture.” it’s not enough for me. I want tear-filled eyes, shortness of breath, quivering lips… you know, the powerful stuff. That is what I want. I know this gets into the philosophy of a photo shoot but everyone needs a personal philosophy.

To get to the art of the matter I believe you have to do 3 things.

1. Study Lighting and Poses (check out this e-book, it’s worth it!)

2. Take Chances

3. Trust Yourself

Let me explain…

Study Lighting and Poses

If you’re serious about your photography chances are you’re already doing this. I liken this to music. If you’re a master pianist you must know everything about the piano and its capabilities. You must study the masters of music. However, you’re not going to copy them and you’re not going to use every note or phrase on every piece you play, even though you must know it all in order to play it well. I hope that make sense.

Learn all you can, but don’t use all you learn.

I’ve heard it said like this,

“Don’t just go through a book. Let the book go through you.”

You must study. Get on the Google-Internet-Machine and look at other photographers stuff. Take notes of poses and lighting. Hopefully this is how you found yourself on this site, reading this article. Your clients are doing this, so should you.

On this particular shoot the parents literally printed off pictures that they liked from other photographers. This helped to me understand what they were expecting and the cool thing was, I was able to blow them away. Study. It will pay off.

Take Chances

Here is how it happens. You’re an hour into the shoot and you suddenly get an idea. The problem is that this ‘idea’ will require you to adjust your lights and your lens and will take a few minutes to set up. You pause, reconsider and keep shooting.

You missed the chance. You have to start listening to those ideas. Take those chances.

Sometimes I’ll pass on these flashes of creativity because they represent something completely new that I’ve never attempted. I fear it might make me look amateurish in the eyes of the client if it doesn’t “work”. It would be embarrassing if it looked like I don’t know what I’m doing… or would it?

The truth is in those moments I don’t really know what will happen… I’m composing and creating. If I’m only willing to do what I know, then how am I going to grow as a photographer? You must try stuff you haven’t tried. You must lose site of the shore in order to find new and amazing worlds! This is the heart of an artist.

Trust Yourself

It comes down to trust. If you’ve studied lighting and you’ve bathed your mind in the images of the masters, then you have to trust that you can create pieces that are lasting. You must trust your knowledge and instincts.

I’m on the verge of preaching at you, so I’ll cool down, but I hope you feel the motivation to get a little bit crazy. Come out of your comfort zone as a photographer and shoot to create art.

Enjoy the photos.  View My Baby Photo Set