One Thing’s For Sure


@nicoleys I ain’t
One of the local photographers that I follow is Nicole Young. She is an amazing talent, and she is very willing to share her knowledge. If you are not blog stalking (link) her you are making a critical mistake.  Lately, she has been doing food photographs with tips and methods to make better looking food pictures. So here is what I have picked up so far.  Remember any problems are the student’s faults not the teacher.


36mm f/8 1/3s
1.  Have your camera. This torte was brought into work, and when I saw it I could actually see a picture. Lucky for me it was the day of a Photo Walking Utah (link) event and I had my camera otherwise I would been saying what a nice picture that would have been.
2.  WHITE BALANCE. Yeah it’s that important. I have started using my gray card religiously. I take and put my gray card by the item and set my WB to manual based on that. It is easy and the payoff can be huge.
3.  Mind the background.  Once again it was at work so the background was really cluttered.  I used a suit coat on a hanger for the backdrop.
4.  Depth of field.  This is one place I was unhappy with the results.  I would have liked to have the entire piece in focus.
5.  Lighting.  This also feels a little harsh to me, but once again they don’t really light my office area for great pictures. Generally, lighting should be off set slightly from what you are photographing. Not front on or directly overhead.
6.  Details/Styling.  Since this was a work treat I didn’t think I would be heaped with praise if started messing with their food, but I did turn it so that the best side was facing the camera (they didn’t even wait for me it was half gone by the time I got there).  I was even able to remove a crack in the crust with Photo-shop (one of my BIG weaknesses).
7.  Context.  This is completely lacking in this picture.  A fork/plate/big glass of Mountain Dew almost anything to add a little interest.

Anyways I have room to improve, but there are things that I really love, the color, about this picture.  I hope you do as well.


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