Couple of months ago I shot some stills for Dole Food Company ad campaign. The campaign is now out and available online. I had a chance to work with amazing Candice Olson, we shot stills and video; it was very productive day and client was happy with end results.
A few months ago I had a chance to work with Mary Jo Eustace and fine folks from Avid Life Media on Mary Jo’s new cookbook Cooking For Your Cub which is now available on Amazon. New batch of books should be available some time in April, meanwhile check the images here.
All photography was done in one day; really amazing teamwork there to prepare models, food, props and location; and don’t stop until all items on our shot list were checked.
Posted under food photography
Very delicious and simple to make snack. Sliced tomatoes and bocconcini, basil, dill and virgin olive oil. You might also add some balsamic vinegar. Yumm!
Posted under food photographyThe cookbook that I worked on wins the best culinary history book award. Check out details here.
Posted under food photographyQuite some time ago I did food photography for the From Pemmican To Poutine cookbook, and finally after several months book has been released and availble on back-order at Amazon and Chapters. The book itself is quite interesting read but (rant here) unfortunately publisher took design in their own hands and overall look is too flashy for my taste. It looks like when publisher takes over creative process thing might go not exactly the way authors envisioned.
Top grade bison burger meat, home made bun, Swiss cheese and veggies from backyard. Gulp!
You wake up in the morning because of strong incredible smell of fresh made cookies. It’s beginning of a one good day.
I love food photography as much as I love shooting people, and while some might consider all still life shooting a simpler form of photography it is not always the case. Dealing with the items that melt or loose their shine puts quite a pressure on photographer as you need to set your exposure and composition, and watch that your main subject isn’t “dead” yet. Still, all of the process brings anticipation and excitement if you get some good shots.
Here are few yummy cakes (which were consumed afterwards 
) I shot recently for a small bakery in Toronto. Used 100mm macro lens, 2 speedlights with 15×15 Alzo softbox, and 5×7 LumiQuest Softbox II. I prefer strobist shooting style for food photography as I can really dial down the speedlights and they still produce plenty of light at 1/8 – 1/16 levels. At those levels I can use flashes almost all day long on single battery charge, though I would always have spares in my bag.
One good thing about food photography is that you can eat your subject and some props after you’re done shooting.
As I dabble more into food photography I discover new ways to shoot the food. In many ways food photography is similar to fashion photography. Styling, lighting, location, props – all same things just applied differently. Every photographer is using preferred photographic techniques to achieve desired results.
One school I got familiar with suggests using large light sources to completely eliminate the shadows. I tried this method but frankly I consider the results quite lifeless. The image made this lack character in my opinion but I guess this is personal point of view. Here is illustration of such method:
While every single detail can be seen there, the photo just looks plain flat to me.
Another school deals with smaller light sources. Small is relative meaning – sun is large but photographers consider it small. So if you take window light for example it is pretty big but place your plate of food away from it and you’re getting quite directional light.
Here we see light and shadows which is much closer to my liking.
If you want to show the texture of the food you have to use smaller light and set it pretty low comparing to plate plane so light brushes over the surface of the food.
Whether to use natural or artificial light I guess is just personal choice and availability of either one. Hard light coming through a window and reflected by bounce card can create some dramatic shots. They are might not be used for packaging but might work for editorial or advertisement.
