Posts from the ‘Blog’ Category
Ten Tips For Better Food Photography
We’ve all done it before. Taken a photo of a delicious meal only to have it turn out looking ugly and not edible. Hopefully these 10 food photography tips will help you take a more tasty-looking food photo next time.
1.) Keep the background clean
Make sure there is a color contrast between the background and the food, don’t have the two be the same color or a similar shade. For example, strawberries served on a red plate isn’t going to stand out. Keep the background simple and uncluttered. If unsure, stick to a plain white background.
2.) Adjust the white balance
Adjust the white balance on your camera according to what you’re shooting. Meat should always be shot in warm tones as a blue-ish tinge under some fluorescent lights would make it look ghastly.
3.) Use natural lighting
Whenever you can, try to shoot using natural lighting. Shoot during the day near a window where you would get plenty of natural sunlight. When you must shoot at night, try avoid using flash directly on the food as it’s too harsh. Instead, use a flash diffuser or have the flash bounce off a ceiling or wall.
4.) Use a tripod
Most food photography will be done indoors, where there might not be enough lighting. Use a tripod whenever you can as it beats trying to hold very still for long a amount of time.
5.) Small details make a big difference
Don’t disregard the small stuff. Keep in mind that using nice cutlery and a clean serving plate/bowl could make all the difference transforming a nice photo to a fantastic one.
6.) Get up close
Instead of only taking photos of a full plate of food, take some macro shots too. Getting up close to your subject will bring out the textures and finer details, making it more interesting and intriguing.
7.) Cut it, slice it, dice it!
As with anything, you shouldn’t just take something for its face value. With food, sometimes it’s what’s inside that can create a great shot. I love cutting up crumbed foods for the contrasting textures. I also love cutting up cakes just so I can get the different layers.
8.) Take photos from all angles
Don’t just take a photo from a bird’s eye view, try different angles. Left, right, top, bottom. Feel free to even move the food around and come up with different compositions.
9.) Use props
Don’t be afraid to jazz up the set. Maybe a glass of orange juice to go with those pancakes? A bottle of wine in the background with your steak and mash meal? Or maybe some hundreds and thousands sprinkled around your cupcakes? Do remember to keep it simple as too many props can be distracting.
10.) Cheat if you have to
As long as you’re not planning to eat the food afterwards, there are ways to enhance your food by using some industry tricks. For example, make your food glisten by brushing on some vegetable oil. Create that ‘fresh out of the oven’ steam by placing some microwaved cotton balls that have been soaked in water. Or make perfect-looking ice cream that won’t ever melt with some mashed potatoes.
Do you have any more ideas, tips and tricks to share when it comes to food photography?
How to Make a Simple Light Box
Create your own light box
A light box is basically a miniature photography studio. Lit from the sides, front, top or any combination, a light box provides even illumination of any subject which can fit inside of it. Boxes like this are perfect for product photos (think eBay) and general macro and closeup photography. There are a lot of tutorials out there for making light boxes. There’s a good one for making one out of a cardboard box over on Strobist. I’ve had an idea for making one of my own kicking around for a few weeks and decided to build it this week. Here’s what I came up with. And it’ll only cost you about $5 (assuming you’ve got some scissors and glue) and 30 minutes of your time.
To build this you’ll need two pieces of poster board (mine were about 28″x22″), a pair of scissors, a sharp knife, a straight edge, glue, and tape. Start by cutting one of the pieces of poster board in half so that you end up with two 14″x22″ pieces. Then fold down two edges to create about 1″ tabs. Glue or tape them up.
Two pieces of poster board, scissors, straight edge, glue, tape, knife
Cut one board in half; you should now have three pieces of poster board
Fold 1″ of two edges down on each half
Two box sides; cut 10×15″ windows in each side
At this point you’ve got your sides, but now you need to cut some windows so we can get light into the box. Use a sharp knife and cut 10″x15″ windows in each side. Leave enough material around the window edges to retain some strength. Then glue the poster board you didn’t cut together with the two pieces you just made to create your finished box.
Glue the three pieces together for final assembly
You’re all set. What I’ve done now is loosely tape two pieces of 8.5×11 paper over the windows on each side to create diffusion panels. You can use a variety of different materials on the windows to adjust the quality of the light. Your lights will shine through these to illuminate the interior of the box. As for the lights themselves, I’m using wireless flashes. But you can easily use table lamps or any other light source you like.
Mmm, mmm good
Straight down angle into the box
Wide view; two flashes set at 1/16 power
Since this box doesn’t have a top, you won’t get perfect illumination on relatively tall objects without adding a light from above or a reflector (an umbrella works nicely here). But it is quite large (you can fit a laptop computer in there) and you get the freedom to shoot from a lot of different angles without having to fiddle with anything. For objects shorter than the box itself, it works fantastically.
There are a lot of different approaches to making one of these things. But hopefully I’ve shown you that it’s really pretty easy, it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, and you can get some very good shots using it.
Taking Better Panographic Photos
8 Guidelines To Taking Panoramic Photos With Any Camera
Back in the days of film cameras, creating a panoramic photograph meant either buying a particular, expensive camera or hours in the darkroom stitching images together by overlapping exposures onto the finished photo paper.
Panoramic photos were the realm of the professional with the time and funds to create gorgeous super wide angle shots.
But now, in the digital age, it’s not only simple to create panoramic images on your home computer, it’s become increasingly easier thanks to advances in software. There are still some general guidelines to follow to help you increase your odds of producing great photos because remember, you can’t fix everything in a computer after the fact. I’ve made a number of mistakes over the years in learning about panoramas and it’s my hope that these guidelines will help shorten your learning curve and give you a head start in creating stunning panoramic images.
1. If Your Camera Has A Panorama Mode, Use It.
Most point and shoot cameras beyond the most basic model come with a little used mode for creating panoramic images. This mode serves a couple of functions. First, it will use the display on the camera to show your last picture taken and then a live view of the next picture. This is done to help you line up you images and overlap them(we’ll talk about the importance of overlap in a minute). It also adjusts the camera to NOT change exposure settings in between shots as it normally would. This helps create even lighting through all the pictures, making stitching in the computer a lot easier (although a number of modern programs will also level exposure fairly well). The image below was created while using the Panorama Mode (Stitch Mode on some cameras) and taking over 25 images with an older Canon SD630 point and shoot.
2. Overlap Amply
Overlapping is one of the important areas in creating a panoramic image. Just one slip with not enough overlap can ruin an attempt at the grandest of wide angle shots. No one wants to see pictures of the Grand Canyon with a bar of white down the middle because of the failure to overlap properly. I overlap by 30% each time. Sometimes more. Most people say 15% works just fine. Experiment with your particular camera to find the sweet spot of overlap. Increasing the amount of overlap helps reduce “flaring” that happens when the software is forced to use all of the image frame, including the corners which may show distortion depending on your lens selection.
3. Keep It On The Level
Keeping your camera level becomes more important as you combine more images. If you’re shooting four or five images there isn’t much your need to worry about. But if it’s a monster 40 image shot, it becomes more and more important to keep things on the level. Think of it this way; your lens is a curved peice of glass. When held level, all parts of the scene in front of it come in and hit the sensor and roughly the same angle. But if you point that camera down, say 45 degrees you now have distant objects, like mountains in the background, coming in at a much sharper angle than foreground objects. For a single picture, this isn’t a problem, but for a panorama it creates a fan effect which is not so easily fixed in the computer. What this means is as you pan the camera left to right, the distant objects will fan out and may not have ample overlap. Further, they will be more distorted and curved because of the angle their light enters the camera.
This is best shown in my own example below, taken at Bryce Canyon, Utah, back in 2005. I attempted to point my DSLR down too far in order to catch more of the canyon. But what happened instead is the distant horizon became naturally distorted as I used a 16mm lens. This distortion was too much to over come in the computer afterwards and the result was the choppy image you see here. The foreground detail lines up right, but not the distant horizon.
4. Choosing Your Metering Well
Here’s another lesson I learned the hard way. If you are using a DSLR or other camera that doesn’t have the nifty Panorama Mode, you’ll want to set your metering mode to manual. Otherwise you’ll end up with an image like this.
Can you see the difference in exposure in the skyline? The computer was able to adjust well enough to the foreground canyon, but failed to even out the sky all the way. Had I set the camera to manual, this would not happen. It’s also important to even out your metering, meaning scan the entire scene making note of the aperture and shutter speeds your camera is suggesting, then pick one pair of settings in the middle, or slightly darker to make sure any sky details is preserved. With those shutter and aperture settings dialed in, it’s time to shoot away.
5. Check The Scene For Movement
Movement in the scene can be a thief of what would otherwise be a grand shot. Sometimes the blur, or doubling up of people, cars, planes or other moving objects is acceptable. But too many blurry spots (caused when the computer finds parts of the overlapping sections where things don’t line up) can ruin the shot. It may mean you need to take the images very quickly. And sometimes, that movement is just unavoidable.
6. Be Careful with Super Wide Angle Lenses
Referencing the image in #3 above again, my second mistake in that image was using too wide of a lens. If I had gone with something closer to a 50mm lens and made multiple passes at the scene, the distortion in the distance would have been lessened and perhaps the shot could have been salvaged. A great wide angle lens does not always produce great panoramic shots. Sometimes it’s better to let the stitching software do what it does best and make multiple passes of the same scene, with ample overlap, to create your masterpiece.
7. Look Up, Look Down, Look All Around
With new software you are not limited to just a single pass from left to right to capture your desired image so don’t be afraid to make more than one pass. Start with the initial pass from left to right (or top to bottom) and then move up or down to grab more detail and make another pass. Remember the overlapping rule above and how it will now pertain to not only the sides of the shot, but also the top and bottom overlaps. Keep it tight and your image can have the added quality of extra skyline or foreground features previously missed.
8. Don’t Forget Vertical Panoramas!
Vertical shots are often overlooked. The same principles apply to verticals shots as do horizontal images. It may help to turn the camera on its side or you may find keeping the camera in a horizontal orientation works. Experiment a little with buildings and waterfalls and then start looking for other verticals you can shoot.
These are just a few of the basic guidelines to help you not make all the mistakes I have made in learning how to shoot panoramas over the years. You don’t need fancy, expensive cameras to create nice panoramic images, just a little known how and practice.
Do you have any particularly helpful panorama tricks you’ve learned? Share them in the comments section below and feel free to link to examples of great images as well.
To help further inspire experimentation of this technique, I scoured Flickr for some prime examples of what can be accomplished. Each image links back to the Flickr page and most contain large or even original size images if you want to take a closer look. If you have some examples of your own that you’d like to share, please feel free to post a link and description in the comments section below.
Mist covering village – Copyright René Ehrhardt
Underwater Panorama – Copyright Odyssey Expeditions
caverne aux livres – Copyright gadl
Panorama view from Mont Fort – Copyright Olivier Bruchez
panorama at Higashiyama Zoo – Copyright emrank
Hale Park Sunset Panorama – Copyright versageek
C-5 Galaxy Panorama – britiger
Review – Canon PowerShot G12
The G12 is Canon’s new premium PowerShot digital compact and while it inherits most of the key feature of its predecessor, the G11, it also builds on these with some neat new equipment. The new kit includes a control dial on the front for enhanced handling, 720p HD movie capture, Hybrid Image Stabilisation and SDXC external storage compatibility.
The PowerShot G12 is a chunky beast and although blocky in style, the camera is replete with advanced shooting features. It also boasts retro-style controls across the top plate, one on the left for exposure compensation (+/- 2EV), and a nested double dial for shooting modes, including a full suite of manual controls as well as auto modes, dual custom settings and sensitivity settings up to ISO 3200, more on these later.
Of course, in terms of handling, you get the on/off button and a combined shutter release with lens zoom control, and each of these controls are sensibly placed and easy to use, particularly with illuminated indexes for the exposure compensation and ISO settings via orange LEDs; the on/off button is illuminated using an attractive green LED.
The squared off lines of the G12 are lightened by a slender handgrip that is designed to aid handling further along with the excellent 2.8-inch multi-angle 461,000-dot LCD that is great for composing and focus assessment too, but it’s also a real boon shooting at high or low angles and is also great for close up work.
But it is the grip that worries us, as it’s rather too small. The result, particularly when you use the new control dial on the front is the camera feels unsteady in the hand and while the shutter release is nicely weighted, as is the zoom lever surrounding it, the overall effect leaves you feeling less than confident, particularly about dropping the camera!
Cleverly though, you can set-up the camera so that you can use either the new front control or the rotating adjustment control on the camera back for adjustments, so there are multiple options available for using and handling the G12 and that’s a big plus.
The G12 can be thought of as a professional snapper’s back-up or as an enthusiast’s DSLR-lite snapper because its features and usability fit well within the DSLR bracket. Another significant aspect of the G12 is its excellent build quality, something that is characteristic of all the “Gs” and certainly the stocky build and strong design give it definite “walnut crackabilty”.
Other headline features include a crisp Canon 5x optical zoom lens, which has a versatile focal range offering a 28mm wide end with a 140mm full zoom. Lens distortion, overall, is not significant, but there’s slight barrel distortion at the wide zoom.
The lens’ aperture range still does not reach the dizzy, F/2 heights that were available to the old PowerShot G6, but with a maximum aperture range of F/2.8 to F/4.5 it still allows for some control over depth of field.
One other element that’s significant in terms of its inclusion is a “proper” optical viewfinder, which backs up the display. It’s clear and crisp and has a good dioptre adjustment and while it’s certainly true it lacks the data feedback available on the display, it helps when trying to conserve power from the NB-7L rechargeable battery pack. Incidentally, even after almost a week of use, even in some very cold conditions, that battery is only just starting to show it needs recharging.
Another of the new features is the 720p HD movie capture mode. The first question we had was “why not 1080p capture?” to which Canon retorts, that tech would make the G12 even more expensive than it already is, which seems sensible. But hang on, there are many less well-specified, less expensive digital compacts out there that have 1080p HD movie capture, but even so, the 720p mode the G12 has is still pretty good.
If you have a HD TV, the G12 has an HDMI port – this sits under a flap alongside an AV Out and USB 2.0 socket plus a port to attach a remote control – meaning you can watch video directly from the camera on your flat panel TV. The G12 can shoot superb quality moving images with sound via the built-in stereo microphones, but unfortunately the built-in ‘phones pick up unwanted sounds from motion, from moving your fingers on the camera and also the lens moving/focusing.
![Tangerine man [Explore]](http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5086/5292368455_1571cbddf3.jpg)
And talking of the lens, the G12 sports an adapted Hybrid Image Stabilisation providing up to 4EV of advantage for hand held shots, at least according to Canon. We feel that’s a bit optimistic on our tests, but is still invaluable for keeping shots steadier than otherwise possible in low light or at longer zoom lengths, without reverting to a tripod. Another bonus of this Hybrid IS system is that you don’t need to delve into higher ISO settings as quickly as you might, and this helps keep at bay problems associated with high ISO image noise for longer.
It must be said that image noise is well controlled thanks to the new Canon HS system, but only up to ISO 800 because above that setting, things get to be trickier, although not drastically so. If you use the camera at ISO 3200 or the boosted ISO 12800 mode, however, let’s just say don’t bother!
At the heart of the G12′s image and video processing system lies Canon’s DIGIC 4 processor. DIGIC 4 allows fast processing and better noise reduction and overall, improved image and HD video performance.
DIGIC 4 also powers some of the “intelligent” features found on the G11 such as i-Contrast, that increases the dynamic range in images to reveal better detail in shadows without losing detail in highlight areas. Like the G11, it works well and also contributes to another new feature, High Dynamic Range (HDR) shooting mode.
In HDR shooting, you need to mount the camera on a tripod because the camera takes three images, one each at a different exposure setting, exposing separately for highlights and shadows. It then combines the three images, in camera, to provide an image with details in areas you’d otherwise not be able to achieve in a single exposure.
In terms of control, the aforementioned top plate controls are great to use, the raised mode dial allowing fast changes of shooting mode (manual, aperture priority or full auto to name a few) to swift ISO changes. Ditto the exposure compensation, which can be quickly applied if you suddenly encounter difficult lighting situations.
The shutter release is encompassed within the lens’ zoom control and while on the small side, the lever is very usable, while the shutter release’s dual pressures are well weighted though the first pressure, to get the camera focusing and metering, is quite light.
The back plate is dominated by the multi-angle screen, but also houses the other main camera controls. The playback and shortcut buttons (we set this to quickly adjust white balance, one critical tool lacking a hard button on the body) sit atop the screen either side of the optical viewfinder, the top right corner houses the extremely useful AE/FE lock button, something that when combined with the improved exposure compensation control makes the G12 very responsive. Each of the buttons are cleverly angled making their use even better.
The AF point control is one of four buttons that surround the camera’s rotating jog control, making it swift for menu or image scrolling. It also provides smart control for settings such as the superb 1cm macro mode, flash settings, manual focus activation and drive modes.
The nine-zone AF set up is comprehensive providing a mix of orthodox auto and manual focusing plus Face Detection AF, servo AF and a Tracking AF mode that can fix on, and track, faces in a shot. A customisable Self-Timer provides for multiple shots and adjustment of the time delay between 0- and 30-seconds.
The Face detection system in particular performs well, even on faces in profile and the Face Select & Track is remarkably accurate and very clever to boot. But what’s even better, with Face AF selected when you half press the shutter button, is that a magnified view of the detected face appears so that you can quickly check sharpness and even when detecting multiple faces, it seems to work rather well.
Our one concern about the AiAF focus system is when not detecting faces, tracking objects or focusing on close up subjects is that it is quite slow to react. And, if you leave the camera to select which of the nine active zones it will use, it does not always select the correct or intended part of the scene you want sharp. Switching to manual AF or simply using the Flexizone AF, where you can move and use just one AF point, helps mitigate some AF issues.
In terms of capture, the ability to shoot RAW and JPEG files provides scope for tinkering and getting shadow or highlight detail out of images later on PC, if you’re not satisfied with all the other controls such as the HDR shooting or i-Contrast. Shooting RAW helps to pull shadow and highlight detail out and control noise problems more accurately, but the downside is the need to post process the images. All the same, RAW capture is a fundamental feature for the more enthusiast or pro photographer and a must-have feature for such a camera.
Images are captured and stored on a single SD, SDHC and the new SDXC high capacity cards, all stowed under the same flap on the G12’s base where the Li-ion battery resides.
Continuing with images, the metering and white balance (WB) are typically excellent. The metering deals with most subjects with aplomb, centre-weighted and spot metering provide extra control and flexibility if required, while the WB control is good too.
One slight gripe here is the auto white balance, as it struggled with mixed lighting producing a slight orange cast on, say, mixed indoor lighting. Using the correct WB for the lighting you’re shooting in and for the more difficult situations, setting the custom white balance is fast and gives complete WB control.
Cracking colour capture is aided with an array of tweakable colour tools from extra vivid colour to a selective colour mode, and all let you tinker with colour for more creative effect if you desire. Of course there are a set of 19 scene modes that include a panoramic stitch assist, colour swap, fish eye effect and a mode to make subjects appear as though they’re miniatures within the scene. All fun and all adding to the creative potential of the camera.
Another nice feature that builds further on the creative side of things is the addition of a built-in neutral density (ND) filter. ND filters help to balance high contrast scenes providing a better balance between highlights and shadows, or where you need to use slow shutter speed that would otherwise overexpose your shot. Added to that is an accessory filter ring that clips around the lens barrel and allows you to use additional lens filters such a circular polariser or UV filters. Other additional specialist optics can also attach to the 58mm accessory ring adding even more versatility.
And that really is the point of the G12, it is a camera offering the tools, features and versatility of a pro-level camera, but all within a package designed to facilitate all of that creative power without the bulk of DSLR system camera.
Although the Canon PowerShot G12 looks pricey, it’s well specified, well made and able to produce some stunning results be they video or stills. While the AF responsiveness lets the side down a little it’s an otherwise eminently capable camera that’ll prove to be an ideal pro’s backup or enthusiasts top model.
Verdict
While it’s not without flaws, and it’s not cheap, it’s the creativity and versatility that are the watch words that really make the G12 – and the G-series cameras as a whole – ideal as pro’s back up or an enthusiast’s photographic powerhouse.
The G12 certainly slips into that groove well enough, and the features are worth having if you’re already thinking of buying. The G12 therefore should be a contender for anyone serious about photography, but without the desire for a larger system camera.
