RE: Cookwithus #7 Cookie Jar: Salted Caramel, Chocolate and Peanut Shortbread Cookies
Hi @foodforsoul, thanks so much!I'm very lucky to work for African Film Company as a writer, and received a crash-course in photography from my world-class cinematographer boss last month! He has very kindly lent me a Sony a7s and 45m Canon Macro lens. I've literally only been photographing for a few weeks, so I think it's a testament to his teaching ability rather than my skills! As far as set up, I try to shoot in the mornings when the sun is lovely and diffused through my dining room window- not beaming right in. I generally stand at a 90 degree angle from the window on the left and reflect the light with a sheet of polystyrene on my right. I've slowly been teaching myself to shoot with my phone too, though, and learned that manual mode really makes a difference. There's also an amazing lady named Joanie who has an awesome Youtube channel on food photography https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsM3clfP0vfMFlnf2tde41A and a facebook page of food photographers who share tips and creative criticism, which has really helped improve my pictures (have a look at my earlier posts, some of the shots were really awful!) I know I still need a lot of work on my compositions and depth-of-field though, still learning so much! Thanks for suggesting I write a blog about it, think I'll do just that! Shout if you're ever stuck and I'll ask my boss for tips! :D
Thank you for your in-depth message. I will definitely check out the YouTube channel. I’ve started by using my iPhone but having notice the picture quality of some bloggers I’ve moved on to a Canon 60D and is now trying to improve my skills. Thank you for providing an insight in how you approach your pictures. I think a good picture is worth as much as a thousand words. Will try and learn and improve gradually ;)
Your phone will work great when you're on the move, just change it from auto to manual mode and try to use natural light wherever possible. I find as phones don't have the lens attachments, sticking to 45 degree or 'flat lay' top shots at a 90 degree angle works best for focus. I can't get over how amazing your cake looks, btw! Oh, if you don't want to lug a huge chunk of polyboard around, get a A1 Sheet of white craft cardboard and bend it in half so it stands on its own, works great as a reflector when your shadows are too harsh.
I’ve watched the video with black background yesterday and will try and adapt it soon. Unfortunately I couldn’t do it over the weekend as my little one has come down with a cold and is very needy and clingy at the moment.
Lovely! I'm still struggling with 'Dark' food photography as my mousse cake didn't benefit from the black cloth I used (pictures show every little blemish and wrinkle) . Look forward to seeing how you approach it! Wishing your little a speedy recovery!