One Fine Picture

The bitter cold winter has kept me indoors these days looking for something to shoot with my camera. I stumbled upon my next subject when the food channel flashed by while I was flipping through the TV channels.

Could I photograph a meal and make it look as appetizing as seen on the big screen? 
This would definitely be a challenge for someone who is sustained by a healthy supply of microwave dinners. 
After several hours of attempting a simple shot, I concluded that food photography is indeed a very special skill.
Here’s a diagram of my setup. After trying a short telephoto lens, I settled on shooting with a 100mm macro using a low f-stop to get a short depth of field.  A tripod helped me shoot multiple exposures so that the silverware would shine — more about that later.

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I was in need of a person called a ‘food stylist.’  This individual, hired by high-end food studios, not only cooks well, but also knows how to prepare the food to make it look more photogenic. Sometimes the stylist will cook and arrange up to a dozen similar meals just to get the right look.

I definitely would have enjoyed one of those home cooked meals. These photos are of a packaged dinner that I picked up at the grocery store.

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Next up – getting rid of those silverware reflections.

 [Excerpted from Photography Insights, Volume 2, by Scott Ober, MD, Copyright © 2011 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED]