Great video. I was a food photographer for 20 years, including on the staff of General Mills. Back then, we shot with film using 4X5” and 8X10” Sinar view cameras. What you can do today with a mirrorless or DSLR and Lightroom is phenomenal. Good photography is a collaboration. Working with a talented art director and especially a photographic food stylist is essential. A photo good stylist can completely transform the quality of your results. They’re worth every penny. We always set up the shot and lighting with a plate of stand-in food, and brought in the final “hero” food at the last minute. That prevents your food from looking tired-or worse. For overhead shots, a tripod with a side arm is an absolute must (be sure to have sandbags to counterweight the camera). Even better, rent a studio with a professional camera stand. It’s life-changing. They’re huge, hideously expensive, and OMG SO worth it. You’ll never want to use a tripod ever again. Food lighting can be tricky. Many foods have specular highlights that can easily be blown-out, or deep shadows from light absorbing ingredients (think dark chocolate devil’s food cake with white icing). We had a set of silver and white fill cards of different sizes and shapes, and used pieces of window screens to soften bright hot spots. Fisso and Manfroto make incredible articulated tabletop or clamp-mount (on a table edge or from a Matthews C-stand arm) that has a “shoulder”, “elbow”, and “wrist” that allow you to precisely control your fill and highlight management. One last thing: Lens flare is not your friend. Use a lens shade and if necessary, a dark card to shield your lens. It REALLY makes a difference. I hope this helps.
Thanks so much for the detailed explanation! I haven’t done any food photography shoots since this one since I’m primarily in RE and it’s busy season. Really appreciate all the tips! Going to put this comment so new viewers can see it. Thanks for watching!
This makes me miss my Sinar and Cambo. I didn't shoot food but did a lot of work for a museum book. It was mostly like doing a diarama. Thanks for so much advice.
This is a fantastic video. I am just starting to get into photography. I am also a real estate agent, who wants to do pics for myself and other agents. Food is also a passion, I love to cook and take pictures of what I make. This was full of good info...thank you!
Great video. I was a food photographer for 20 years, including on the staff of General Mills. Back then, we shot with film using 4X5” and 8X10” Sinar view cameras. What you can do today with a mirrorless or DSLR and Lightroom is phenomenal. Good photography is a collaboration. Working with a talented art director and especially a photographic food stylist is essential. A photo good stylist can completely transform the quality of your results. They’re worth every penny. We always set up the shot and lighting with a plate of stand-in food, and brought in the final “hero” food at the last minute. That prevents your food from looking tired-or worse. For overhead shots, a tripod with a side arm is an absolute must (be sure to have sandbags to counterweight the camera). Even better, rent a studio with a professional camera stand. It’s life-changing. They’re huge, hideously expensive, and OMG SO worth it. You’ll never want to use a tripod ever again. Food lighting can be tricky. Many foods have specular highlights that can easily be blown-out, or deep shadows from light absorbing ingredients (think dark chocolate devil’s food cake with white icing). We had a set of silver and white fill cards of different sizes and shapes, and used pieces of window screens to soften bright hot spots. Fisso and Manfroto make incredible articulated tabletop or clamp-mount (on a table edge or from a Matthews C-stand arm) that has a “shoulder”, “elbow”, and “wrist” that allow you to precisely control your fill and highlight management. One last thing: Lens flare is not your friend. Use a lens shade and if necessary, a dark card to shield your lens. It REALLY makes a difference. I hope this helps.
Great information Andrei! I have been watching and learning a ton from your Real Estate Videos! Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I have subscribed, last but not least...nice PRS Custom 24 behind you! I have one of those too! 🎸
Hi andrei, great work you do helping people about cameras and accessories. Need your help for vlogs of bakery. How can i take nice crispy shots. Should i use any filter for my 50mm camera lens ? If yes Then which one ? Pls help. To be Very grateful of getting your help. Thanks in advance.
Thanks so much! Tough to say, but I would start by not worrying about filters and learning camera/video basics and then start using things like filters and such. Focus on composition, how to edit, storytelling, things like that! Thanks for watching
Great video, amazing photos…i was wondering about the the beauty dish..did you set it as a beauty dish or took of the plate and used it as a soft box, also what color was it inside white or silver… thank you mate
Thanks so much, means a lot! It’s a beauty dish softbox so the dish stays in the center to spread the light and then the softbox is double diffused. This is the 34in version that’s silver on the inside, but now I use a 42in that’s white on the inside, love it! Thanks for watching
Thanks so much! Yup, just handheld! Thing we’re moving so fast that I wouldn’t have been able to mount and unmount my camera from a setup like that. Sometimes stood on a chair too. Thanks for watching!
Hi Andrei, loved the tips! I'm wondering if you could share how you took the overhead food shots on location? Did you go hand held on a stepladder, or tripod with extension arm maybe? I have trouble getting height with the 50mm and have never shot outside of my studio, nerves get the better of me.
Thanks so much! Yep, just a step stool or chair and handheld with the flip screen. Because it was on location, I didn’t have stands and all that. Worked out though!
I’m sure that would work out great too! Just have to make sure that’s enough power, like having full control in a studio. I was dealing with ambient lighting so I wouldn’t have to use a 300d or so. Thanks for watching!
Definitely both! I had some ambient light to work with and then adjusted my ad200 to control that as needed. The ad200 was obviously strong enough to overpower most of it and act as a key light but ambient lighting was still at play. Thanks for watching!
Groupeone--Good advice on food photography. I assisted a food guy for over 2 years, and he shot everything from 10' spreads of Blue Diamond almonds, pour shots of beer, lots of wine shots, a lot shots of cooked food, and on and on. In some ways, I miss the food photography studio--the 8x10s, 40000ws of strobes, the attention to detail, the expediency of shooting subjects that only last so long. On the other hand, I went on to open a studio centered around the hi-tech industry. But I digress. Food stylists are definitely critical, and if you find one you can work well with don't hesitate to use them again and again. If you rent a studio, make sure it has a kitchen; for pouring shots of beer or wine, hire a professional pourer; and if you hire an assistant, make sure he/she knows how to assist food photography. Whether you are an in-house photog, like yourself, or a "hired gun" doing glamour shots, food photography is big business, and clients are very critical of photographic depictions of their product--i.e. the Cling Peach Advisory Board does not want any hint of green or blue in their peaches, and if you deliver images like that, it may be the last job you shoot for them.
Thanks for sharing! But like I mentioned, I’ve already done a few jobs for this business and they’ve been happy with all the work. I’m not pursing food photography as I run a real estate media business, just wanted to share a video about this gig. Thanks for watching!
Hey I love your videos man! Quick question: When taking headshots, I know that you give 3 variations of the headshot to the client. But do you still give all three variations when shooting at the clients company without a backdrop? If so, how are you able to get a clear transparent image when there’s no backdrop?
Hey! Good question, it is a little tougher, but PS does a great job nowadays automatically selecting your subject and then you can mask them out and have a transparent background. Works best with good light and clear separation from the background. Thanks for the support and for watching!
Thanks so much! I think this was around $750-$1250 if I remember correctly. I always break everything down by how much time and what all is needed for pre production, production, and post production, like a video shoot. Pretty sure I stayed at F/2.8 consistently on my 50mm lens. Thanks for watching!
The restaurant prepared the food and then we staged it in the sets. But pretty much just dropped the food in straight from the kitchen. Thanks for watching!
I’ve never used that lens so can’t say! However, I feel like that might be too wide and distort the food, u less you’re going for that. 35-50mm would be best in my opinion
It's like we are walking the same path man 😂 I'm getting into food photography as well. Currently brushing up and sharpening the skillset in a few areas to get a solid portfolio and reach out to restaurants. The photos looked great I would have thought you used a food stylist because they were so nicely staged!
