Food Photography & Lighting: A Commercial Photographer's Guide to Creating Irresistible Images [1 ed.] 0321840739, 9780321840738

Table of contents :
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION: Food and Me
Part 1
1 What Makes Shooting Food so Difficult
Creating Images That Are Irresistible
Other Considerations
Current Conditions of Commercial Food Photography
2 The Space
My First Real Studio at Longworth Hall
Our Studio Today at Central Parkway
I Love This Studio!
Starting Over
3 The Tools
The Right Camera
Lens Choice
The Workstation
Lights and Light Modifiers
Tripods and Studio Stands
Taking Care of Business
Tools for a Digital Artist
4 The People and Their Roles
Home Team
Visiting Team
You Are Here
5 The Process
The Job Begins with an Estimate
A Final Thought About Estimates
Confirmation
Pre-Production Planning
The Day of the Shoot
Post-Production
The Job Ends with an Invoice
6 Marketing and Business Considerations
Getting Started
Building a Portfolio
Marketing Your Business
Advertising
Hiring Representation
Customized Promotions
Part 2
ONE: Shrimp Creole, Po-Boys, and Beignets
The Big Easy
Preparations for the Shoot
Palace Café
Parkway Bakery
Café Du Monde
Image Post-Production
New Orleans Redux
TWO: Ice Cream Scoops and Shakes
Ice Cream Headaches
Ice Cream Scoops
More Scoops
Is That Legal?
Shake It Up
Final Thoughts on Ice Cream
THREE: Would You Like a Drink with That?
Liquid Pours & Splashes
Get Your Ice Cold Drinks Here!
Coca-Cola
Silk Milk
Spilled Milk
FOUR: Pizza, Stromboli, and Pizza Pulls
In the Brick Oven
Via Vite Ristorante
Donatos Pizza
Stromboli
What Is a Pizza Pull?
Carino’s Italian
The Pull of Cheese
FIVE: Looks Like Daylight
Natural Light with Flash
Breakfast Cereal
My Front Door
Wheat Field
Pasta and Clams
Get Out There
SIX: Chocolate, Candy, and Cookies
At the Bakery
After-Hours with Chocolate
Like a Box of Chocolates
Powdered Donuts
Edible Arts and Crafts
Waffles to Macaroons
Final Thoughts on Sweets
SEVEN: Burgers and Fries
An American Classic
How a Product Rollout Works
Summer Daze
The Big Burger
Waffle Fries
Chicken, Not a Burger
Take Out
EIGHT: Shooting Food for Packaging
In the Supermarket Aisles
Pringles Potato Crisps
Bush’s Beans
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Self-Checkout
NINE: Courting Fried Chicken and Potato Wedges
With Colonel Sanders
A New Look
The Beginning
Potato Wedges
The Famous Bowl
Dessert, Anyone?
Our First Anniversary
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Bonus Chapters
TEN: Honey, Tea, and Bourbon More Pours and Splashes
More Pours and Splashes
ELEVEN: Steak and Potatoes on the Grill Playing with Fire
Playing with Fire
TWELVE: Airheads, Hush Puppies, and Coffee Post-Production Saves the Day
Post-Production Saves the Day

Citation preview

FOOD& LIGHTING

PHOTOGRAPHY

A Commercial Photographer's Guide to Creating Irresistible Images TERI CAMPBELL

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Food Photography & Lighting: A Commercial Photographer’s Guide to Creating Irresistible Images Teri Campbell New Riders 1249 Eighth Street Berkeley, CA 94710 Find us on the Web at www.newriders.com To report errors, please send a note to [email protected] New Riders is an imprint of Peachpit, a division of Pearson Education. Copyright © 2013 by Teri Campbell Senior Editor: Susan Rimerman Copy Editor/Proofreader: Elaine Merrill Indexer: Karin Arrigoni Production Editor: Katerina Malone Composition: Danielle Foster Cover Design: Aren Straiger Interior Design: Claudia Smelser Cover Photograph: Teri Campbell Cover Photograph Stylist: Ken Smith Notice of Rights All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact [email protected]. Notice of Liability The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it. Trademarks Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book. ISBN-10: 0-321-84073-9 ISBN-13: 978-0-321-84073-8 987654321 Printed and bound in the United States of America

To Susie. Without your encouragement and support I would never have been able to live my dream.

Acknowledgments

First, I would like to thank God for allowing me to share in His creation through His gift of art, and for the faith I have in Him—without which, I would never have been able to complete this project. My studio team members were instrumental in the production of this book— Sherry Wilson, Scott Martin, and Sarah Haun. Sherry’s involvement throughout this project and her willingness to help in any way was critical to the smooth process of writing and selecting images. Scott handles all of our post-production and helped to organize and prepare the image files along with providing technical support. Sarah contributed the chalkboard lighting diagrams and many of the behind-the-scenes shots in this book. The love of my family has also been invaluable during this process. My son Eli will remember the lost summer when Dad finished his book. And without the love and encouragement of my wife Susie, I may never have accepted the challenge to begin with. Early in my career, I was encouraged by many people, but certainly Bob Kuhns, who was not only my boss at Procter & Gamble, but my mentor, cheerleader, and friend. Don Brooks was another leader at P&G who greatly affected the trajectory of my career. And Jim Parks—even thought I spent less than a year assisting him, his influence on my work and business philosophy was long lasting.

I would also like to express my gratitude to Rick Murphy, for believing in me and supporting me during those early years. And Bob Hart, who took me under his wing, always told it to me straight, and gave me good advice. And I need to thank all of the people who I collaborated with in creating the images you see in this book—stylists, art directors, assistants, producers, art buyers, friends, and clients. It is not just my talents that are expressed in this book, but those of many talented co-creators. Thank you all. In addition I would like to thank the entire team at Peachpit Press/New Riders and especially our editor, Susan Rimerman, who has been so supportive and patient throughout this process. Without her willingness to step in and guide us, we would have never made it out of the forest. And I can’t end without thanking my Mom. She was my first assistant, and later my bookkeeper, receptionist, delivery service, food stylist, and “Studio Mom” for nearly 20 years before she retired. Thanks, Mom.

Table Of Contents

Int ro duct i o n

  Food and Me

x

Pa r t 1 What Makes Shooting Food so Difficult

1

3

Creating Images That Are Irresistible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Other Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Current Conditions of Commercial Food Photography . . . . . . .

10

The Space

13

2

My First Real Studio at Longworth Hall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Our Studio Today at Central Parkway. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

18

I Love This Studio!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Starting Over. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

The Tools

3

33

The Right Camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Lens Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 The Workstation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

37

Lights and Light Modifiers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Tripods and Studio Stands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

47

Taking Care of Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Tools for a Digital Artist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

The People and Their Roles

4

55

Home Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Visiting Team. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 You Are Here. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

The Process

5

75

The Job Begins with an Estimate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 A Final Thought About Estimates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Confirmation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Pre-Production Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

85

The Day of the Shoot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

88

Post-Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 The Job Ends with an Invoice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

97

Marketing and Business Considerations

99

6

Getting Started. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Building a Portfolio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Marketing Your Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Hiring Representation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Customized Promotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Pa r t 2 Shrimp Creole, Po-Boys, and Beignets

on e

125

The Big Easy

Preparations for the Shoot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Palace Café . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Parkway Bakery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Café Du Monde. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Image Post-Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 New Orleans Redux. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Ice Cream Scoops and Shakes

tw o

139

Ice Cream Headaches

Ice Cream Scoops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 More Scoops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Is That Legal? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Shake It Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Final Thoughts on Ice Cream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 T hree

Would You Like a Drink with That?

155

Liquid Pours & Splashes

Get Your Ice Cold Drinks Here!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Coca-Cola. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Silk Milk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Spilled Milk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 f o ur

Pizza, Stromboli, and Pizza Pulls

169

In the Brick Oven

Via Vite Ristorante . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Donatos Pizza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Stromboli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 What Is a Pizza Pull? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Carino’s Italian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 The Pull of Cheese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Looks Like Daylight

five

185

Natural Light with Flash

Breakfast Cereal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 My Front Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Wheat Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Pasta and Clams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Get Out There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Chocolate, Candy, and Cookies

s ix

199

At the Bakery

After-Hours with Chocolate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Like a Box of Chocolates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Powdered Donuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 Edible Arts and Crafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Waffles to Macaroons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Final Thoughts on Sweets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

se v e n

Burgers and Fries

213

An American Classic

How a Product Rollout Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Summer Daze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 The Big Burger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

219

Waffle Fries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Chicken, Not a Burger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226 Take Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 e ig h t

Shooting Food for Packaging

229

In the Supermarket Aisles

Pringles Potato Crisps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 Bush’s Beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

233

Chocolate Chip Cookies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 Self-Checkout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Courting Fried Chicken and Potato Wedges

n in e

247

With Colonel Sanders

A New Look. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 The Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Potato Wedges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

252

The Famous Bowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

255

Dessert, Anyone? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

257

Our First Anniversary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

260

Index

262

Bonus Chapters



TEN

Honey, Tea, and Bourbon

10-1

More Pours and Splashes E L EVEN

Steak and Potatoes on the Grill

11-1

Playing with Fire T W ELVE

Airheads, Hush Puppies, and Coffee Post-Production Saves the Day

12-1

Introduction

Food and Me

On a recent trip to New Orleans I stopped at a local restaurant in the French Quarter for lunch. Whenever I go out to lunch and especially when I’m on vacation, I have my camera with me. I always ask to be seated near a window. At this restaurant, I chose my seat based on keeping the window light in front of me, or slightly to the side. That way any images that I shot would have a strong backlight or sidelight. I can always hold a white napkin next to the camera for fill light if needed. I also encourage those who have accompanied me to the restaurant to consider ordering food based on the appearance, not just taste, and to order more than they can eat—in this case calas—if they think that something might make a great picture. You may think this is a bit over the top, and perhaps it is. But I’m always thinking about light and food. Many of these personal lunch photographs inspire me to create new lighting setups in my studio for the commercial clients that I work with. I chose to specialize in food photography almost three decades ago and I’m always looking for ways to improve my work and spark my creativity for shooting.

The Beginning I grew up in a restaurant in Cincinnati. My mom was a waitress, and after school she often took me with her to work. She fed me dinner, and let me stay out until my dad could pick me up. As a kid, I loved hanging out with the rest of staff and being in the kitchen. The food wasn’t bad either, but at that age I was more

interested in eating than noticing how everything looked on the plate. On some level that time of my life probably informed my thinking and led me to my focusing exclusively on food as a commercial photographer. These days, I’m not only trying to capture a beautiful image of the food, but capture the feeling and emotion that surrounds it. And I have to do this visually, without the smell of a pork chop or the feel of a fork in hand. The best food images try to reconstruct those memories or moments for the viewers so they will have a visceral attachment to the food, and hopefully, the product we are shooting for the client.

The Cake Shot My first real food shoot as a young photographer was for Duncan Hines, a brand that Procter & Gamble owned at the time. I was not looking forward to it. Up to that point, my only experience shooting food was as a class assignment in photography school. Trying to be the photographer, assistant, food stylist, and art director all at the same time was a recipe for disaster. I hated it. But my boss at P&G, where I worked at the time, assured me this would be different. He had already hired a food stylist and he was sure that I would do fine. I had never even heard of a food stylist. But once I had the opportunity to work with one, I realized that because the stylist was taking care of the food and making sure it looked great, I was free to concentrate on lighting—what I loved most about photography. I could get used to this, I thought. And so my journey started.

Digital Capture Digital photography entered my career about 15 years later, and at the perfect moment, because as much as we all want to stay fresh and try new things, the truth was I had been working in the business for a quite a few years and I already knew what worked and what didn’t. There was no sense in overexposing the image by two f-stops just to see what happened to the background—that would be a waste of film and money. But with digital, it was just a shutter click and no film expense, so why not try it? And so many new things were possible in postprocessing. For me it was like being back in photography school before you knew what you couldn’t do—when anything was possible.

Why I Wrote This Book This book was written to give you a better understanding of commercial food photography and the process of creating images for advertising and packaging. It is not meant to offer multiple solutions for each problem. Instead I have focused on the solution that worked for me on particular assignments. Are there other viable solutions, viewpoints, or ideas? Absolutely. There are always other ways to tackle a problem, and if my solution doesn’t work for you, hopefully this can inspire you to create one that does work. I also wrote this book to offer you a behind-the-scenes look at what it means to be a commercial food photographer today, and to learn about the relationships needed to make any food project successful. Things like, how to work with a food stylist or an art director, how to work with a fixed layout, or market your talent to new clients, and how to understand your role as an artist. As a commercial photographer, I am a member of a much larger team, and although I have my part to play as a photographer, my vision is not the only one that counts. I am often given a sketch or layout and charged with bringing that vision to life. Regardless of my own artistic preference or vision, this is the assignment that I was hired to complete.

What’s in This Book The first six chapters of this book detail what you need to know to set up a studio, to locate the right tools for the job, to understand the typical process for bidding and completing jobs, to work with the key players, and to find clients and market your work. The second part of the book includes nine assignment chapters, which are arranged around topics. There are also three bonus assignment chapters at the end of your ebook. These are all projects that I have completed, and I detail how I tackled specific challenges with the food, technique, lighting, and postprocessing the final image.

In these assignment chapters I share with you detailed lighting diagrams and candid descriptions of the events that led to the creation of the images. I’ve included everything from classic American hamburgers to ice cream scoops to pizza pulls. I also share practical advice for anyone who photographs food, or who just wants to better understand the process. Whether you are a student, a professional, an art director, or just someone who loves food and beautiful images—I hope that you will enjoy this book and the insights that it offers.

What’s Not in this Book I don’t cover basic lighting concepts or exposure techniques in this book. While these topics come up within the context of my assignments, you will not find these subjects or other digital photography basics specifically covered here. There are many fine books that can help get you up and running on those topics.

Final Note Today anything is possible—food photography is more popular than ever, and there are amazing opportunities available for photographers at every level. But there is not much information available on what it takes to become a successful commercial food photographer. I hope this book helps you on your journey. I have been truly blessed, getting to do what I love, with not just clients, but with friends. I wish for you the same success.

Part 1

1 What Makes Shooting Food so Difficult Why is it that most photographers will shoot just about anything except food? What makes someone say yes to an assignment to shoot Chihuahuas dancing in a basketball factory, but turn down an assignment to shoot food for a local restaurant? Perhaps you’re like me, where there was an early and traumatic episode when you tried to shoot food and failed. Or maybe you have heard the screams of fellow photographers who have attempted to capture food. Either way, many photographers will go through their entire career without ever shooting food.

LEFT  ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/9, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner, Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

PART 1 PAGE  ISO 100, 1/200 sec, f/14, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner, Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

One of the things that makes food photography unique is that, unlike most other types of photography, where images can be poorly lit, badly composed, or otherwise fall short of perfection—yet still be viewed as acceptable, food photography is either good or bad, very bad. You either make someone hungry, or you make them nauseous. I remember walking with my son in the food court at the mall when he was just four or five years old. There was a banner above the pizza kiosk announcing a new product, and although the photograph communicated what the product was, it didn’t do so in a way that was appetizing. The main light source appeared to be just to the right of the camera, resulting in a very flat-looking image, and it was obvious no one had taken the time to arrange anything on the plate before snapping the picture. My son asked me what it was, and I told him, “It’s a calzone. Would you like to try one?” He made a face as if he had just eaten a sour gummy worm and said, “No way, that looks yucky!” Here was a product, that had he tried it, I’m sure he would have enjoyed. He was just verbalizing what we all feel when we see bad food photography.

Creating Images That Are Irresistible We’ve all been there—buying food at the grocery store based solely on the photograph that was on the front of the package, or changing our order at a restaurant because we saw an image of something else that looked even more delicious. That’s what good food photography does; it draws us in, it’s irresistible. Loving to cook, eat, or just arranging and shooting editable still life is great, but being successful as a commercial food photographer requires more than just a love of photography and food. It requires three key things—that you are willing to work as part of a team, that you know when to press the shutter (or risk missing the moment), and most importantly, that you understand how to light food so that it is appetizing to the viewer.

4 

F o o d P h o t o g raphy & Lighting

Working as a Team As photographers, we’re not accustomed to being part of a team—we’re more of the lone-wolf type. Creating “behind the curtain” and only occasionally allowing others to become a part of our process is how we operate. But food photography requires collaboration. Doing everything yourself—from food styling to image capture—usually results in not doing anything particularly well. Working with a food stylist allows you to concentrate on the execution of the photograph and not

The stylist and I worked together to tweak the arrangement of the salad on set so that we could see how each leaf was being affected by the light. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/11, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Sylist: Barbara Coad

about how to keep the lettuce from oxidizing and turning black. It’s also one of the reasons I love what I do. I get to work with some amazingly talented people, who push me and allow me to bring my vision to life. The food stylist is your partner; stylists are the ones responsible for preparing the food so that it looks great in front of the camera, and making sure it lasts as long as possible on the set under the lights. Finding someone you work well with and who has the skill set for your particular project is a must, whether you’re shooting hamburgers, ice cream, or beverages. You may be a great photographer, and your partner may be a great stylist, but sometimes if the chemistry isn’t there, the results are less than either of you expects.

Wh at Makes Shooting Food so Diffic ult

5

It is possible that your partner is not a food stylist at all, but a chef. And although there is no questioning the talent chefs have for making food look beautiful, it may take some work on your part to help them understand what you see when looking through the camera. Chefs know how to use taste, smell, presentation, sound, and touch to make food appealing, but they may need help in distilling all of those attributes down to just one sense—sight. Without the benefit of all our senses, we are more discerning about the appearance of the food and are forced to allow our minds to imagine what we cannot taste. Chefs are not use to looking through hundreds of beans to find only the best ones, or purchasing produce based solely on its shape and color. They don’t purposely undercook meat so that it will last longer on set, or brush oil onto fish to make it glisten. They don’t typically melt their cheese with a clothes steamer, or fuss over a few broken tortilla chips. But when you are making food that will only be seen—never eaten—those details are what make your image so appetizing.

Knowing When to Press the Shutter A friend of mine shoots a lot of fashion photography, and when he is working with a model, he might get some nice shots early on, but maybe not exactly what he was looking for. Then, after working for most of the day, he asks her to change her outfit one more time, he adjust his lights, and WHAM! That’s it! The perfect shot! That’s not going to happen with food. With food photography, you don’t have that kind of time—from the moment you place the subject on the set, food wants to wilt, rot, die, or turn black. Your job is to capture it before it does that, and it may not be easy to recognize when that is happening. If you are shooting ice cream (real ice cream), you’ll know—but if you’re shooting a cheeseburger, it may be more about recognizing the moment when all of the elements together are at their collective peak. Taking time to fix a rogue piece of lettuce might mean that other things get worse. The tomato could begin to wrinkle, the ketchup might soak into the bun, or the hamburger could dry out. It might be better to capture the image now and fix the lettuce in post. Food almost always requires at least some post-production work.

6 

F o o d P h o t o g raphy & Lighting

Trying to determine the exact moment to press the shutter can be challenging. Is the cheese melted enough, does the burger glisten, does the lettuce look fresh, how does the bun look, are there any gaping holes, and is there enough spritz on the tomato? If I take the time to fix one area, will something else get worse? ISO 100, 1/100 sec, f/29, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Lisa Marie DeVille

I often notice when working with an art director or client who doesn’t have a lot of food experience that they don’t have the required sense of urgency during a photo shoot. They don’t understand you only have so long before you reach the point of diminishing returns. In other words, one step forward to fix something small can mean two steps back for something large to fail.

Lighting Your Subject Of course, lighting is an important part of any photograph. Understanding where to place the light, what type of light to use, or where to place your camera in relationship to the natural light are all part of what every photographer does, but food often presents subjects that require you to address several different lighting challenges in one shot. Using a stand-in can help you work through the process of creating a set and placing your lights. A stand-in is anything that represents the finished product. It may sound obvious, but lighting should accentuate the qualities of the subject that make it appetizing. Maybe it’s the color, maybe it’s the texture, maybe it’s the highlights on the sauce, or maybe it the translucency.

Wh at Makes Shooting Food so Diffic ult

7

8 

F o o d P h o t o g raphy & Lighting

Think about a stack of pancakes, for example, with honey and fresh berries— you want to bring out the texture in the pancakes and the color in the berries, but everything you do, every light you place, is reflected in the honey. These are the types of situations food photographers face daily, and their ability to use light appropriately is crucial to their success in making someone hungry.

Other Considerations There are a few other considerations when shooting food that are unique to the subject matter and how it’s presented.

Props and Backgrounds The choice of props and backgrounds can have an enormous impact on the over-

E NOTE

all look of your photograph. When choosing the props or background for a com-

Brand image or brand

mercial image, you may need to consider the brand identity of the product you

identity is how you

are selling, as well as to whom the product is being sold. If the brand is known

want the consumer to

for its use of organic food, and its consumers read Gourmet magazine, then you

perceive your product

might consider using well-worn props and backgrounds. But if the brand is known

or brand.

for its sparkling clean stores, and its consumers just want to know what is on the sandwich, then you might choose simpler props and surfaces.

Lens Choice and Aperture I occasionally use a wide-angle lens to photograph food, but I prefer a normal focal length. For a full-frame DSLR that would be a 50mm lens, and for medium format it would be an 80–90mm lens. I like using a normal focal length lens because it allows me to be part of the scene without the distortion a wide-angle lens can bring. A telephoto lens can work, especially for small shots of individual items, but for a larger set, I feel a long lens can compress the scene and remove the viewer from what is happening. The aperture setting you choose will also impact the look of your photograph. Shooting for commercial purposes sometimes requires that an image be captured completely in focus, but for me, I prefer to shoot at a lower aperture and allow at

FAR LEFT  Because the background surface was so large, I used my tripod instead of a studio stand to support the camera. I placed the tripod on the set and cropped tight enough to avoid seeing the legs in the shot. That worked fine, until we added honey to the pancakes. You could see the tripod legs in the reflection! We had to remove them in post. ISO 100, 1/4 sec, f/4, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

Wh at Makes Shooting Food so Diffic ult

9

least some of the image to be soft (or slightly out of focus). Part of what makes a great food image is its ability to connect with us on an emotional level. Reminding us of a wonderful meal we once had, a special relationship, or a beautiful place. If parts of the image are not in sharp focus then our minds will fill in those blanks, using our own experiences and desires in the process. That, I’m sure, is a better image than what I would have made by showing you the carrots in all their glory.

Current Conditions of Commercial Food Photography Recently, with the proliferation of food blogs and digital cameras we have been lead to believe that anyone who has access to a kitchen and a window can shoot food—and of course, they can. But it’s not the same as creating those images within the confines of a layout and the pressure of having your clients watch you do it. Images created for commercial purposes are not always driven by the creative desires of the photographer; they may be driven by the limitations of the product, the personal preferences of the client, the direction given by the advertising agency, or even by the way in which the image will be displayed or printed. If a food blogger doesn’t like an image, she can just choose not to post that story, and move on to the next subject. Something naturally photogenic, of course—not a sandwich that is regularly sold from a vending machine. Being a commercial food photographer means having to produce excellent work every day. No matter what the product is. In recent years, many of our clients (mostly advertising agencies) have cut staff and required more of their remaining employees. For an art director, a food shoot used to mean a day away from the office and a little bit of downtime, but in today’s fast-paced creative world, art directors need to continue their work on other projects while at the shoot. Many of their clients may not make time to be at the shoot at all—instead requesting emails from you as you work. This is not an ideal situation and can slow your progress significantly.

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We have also noticed that agencies are waiting longer to book assignments with photographers because their clients are waiting longer to approve projects. Gone are the days when planning ahead was the norm. I hear art buyers say all the time that, because of the turnaround time required by the client, they had to go with existing stock photography. Time, not budget or creative, dictated that decision. With deadlines being so tight, it is more important than ever for art directors to know they can count on you to deliver a great shot every time.

This image was captured at f/10, allowing the items on the back of the plate to drop slightly out of focus, giving the viewer just enough information. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/10, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

In the chapters that follow, we will detail our process and give you a behindthe-scenes look at the way we work, hopefully inspiring and teaching you along the way.

Wh at Makes Shooting Food so Diffic ult

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2 The Space My mom made curtains out of leather to block the light coming into the basement windows. I bought a set of Smith-Victor lights, the kind that use a regular 250-watt light bulb, and I stapled Clearprint 1000h drafting vellum to wood frames (to make diffusion screens). The ceiling wasn’t even 7 feet high, but that’s how it all started, in the basement. Back then I wasn’t shooting food, mostly just friends and the occasional really small job. I remember shooting portraits and not being able to raise the lights up high enough—so I had to find a shorter chair for my subjects. It wasn’t ideal, but it was a start.

Our prop room is like a library. Anyone can pull a book off the shelf and check it out, but when you return it, you don’t put it back on the shelf. You put it on the table—and the librarian (or in our case, the studio manager) puts it away. ISO 640, 1/125 sec, f/5, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR

When I moved out on my own, I found an apartment just across the river from Cincinnati in Covington, Kentucky, that had a large living room that I could use as a studio. It also had three tall windows. Leather curtains would have been expensive, so I opted to cut down sheets of 4’ x 8’ foamcore and wedge them into the window frames behind the metal louvered blinds. There wasn’t enough room for a boom stand, but I found a wall-mount version that worked perfectly. It was the late 1980s, so a soft box placed overhead was almost a prerequisite for every shot I did. By that time I had graduated to the lighting equipment I would use for almost the next 20 years—Speedotrons. How cool they were, with their black shiny cases and chrome-plated switches. They were also heavy, and capable of causing a shock if you didn’t attach the cables properly—but they worked! Business was picking up, but it felt as if there was something keeping me from reaching the next level, and after talking with the few clients, it was clear that although my work was more than acceptable, the fact that my business was based in an apartment made them nervous. I could be gone in 30 days! And besides, it really wasn’t big enough to work in. The few times clients actually came to a shoot, they sat in my living room discussing the shoot, and we made the food in my kitchen. I needed a real studio.

At work in my apartment, circa 1986, Covington, Kentucky.

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The prints on the wall were Cibachromes, a special kind of print made directly from transparencies—not from negatives. This was how we “posted to our wall” in 1988.

I discussed my plans with several advisors, who told me I would certainly fail. I had made $26,000 that year working out of my apartment, and now I wanted to rent a space that was going to cost $1,000 a month plus another $25,000 to fix it

The main studio space at Longworth Hall. Notice the soft box directly above the set—very 1988!

up. But I knew that if I had a bigger space I could get bigger clients.

My First Real Studio at Longworth Hall Back on the Ohio side of the river in downtown Cincinnati, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Warehouse was being renovated, and most of the new tenants were interior designers and artists. With its maple hardwood floors, exposed brick and beams—it was exactly the kind of space I was looking for. I chose a location on the fifth floor, mainly so that I could create a larger shooting space by having one of the support columns removed. The lower floors all had steel columns, as opposed to the top floor, which only had wooden ones. To get the money I needed for renovations, my parents took out a second mortgage on their home. If things went badly, I could get a real job on an assembly line, and pay them back. Fortunately that never happened.

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Working as an assistant in Chicago before I set up my own business, I had learned that client comfort is paramount. I watched as my boss held up a Polaroid in the direction of an art director, 20 feet away, who was playing pool. My boss said, “How does this look?” The art director barely glanced up from the pool table, and said, “Shoot it!” I knew then that I wanted a pool table! Shooting food often requires an inordinate amount of patience, and if your clients are standing on concrete floors, staring at cinder-block walls—they are much more likely to question your ability than if they are in a stimulating, creative environment with plenty of things to keep them occupied. I wanted to make sure my new space reflected that perspective.

The Kitchen That first kitchen wasn’t much to brag about, but it did have the basics—a sink, cooktop, oven, microwave, and a refrigerator. Besides, although I promoted myself as a food and tabletop shooter, most of my work was anything but food. I shot models, toys, products , and just about anything else available as I continued to build my food photography portfolio and network. In a typical photo studio, kitchens are built close to the set so that items can be moved quickly and easily from prep to shooting. But the layout for my space and the position of the plumbing necessitated that the kitchen be somewhat removed from the studio. It really didn’t bother me, and as it turned out, the food stylists loved it! They were used to working in dark or dimly lit studios without any windows, but at my place they could bask in the sunlight all day, never having to darken their workspace while the photographer exposed the film. A short walk to the set was a small price to pay. Years later, I made sure to incorporate this idea into This is a good example of a basic kitchen.

my next studio. Our space at Longworth Hall was remodeled twice in the 14 years we were there. The first time was to add more room for props and an office for clients. I sometimes found clients in my office on the phone, because it was the only room with a door besides the film-loading room. If they needed privacy it was the only option.

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The second time we remodeled was to enlarge our kitchen. The old one just couldn’t keep up as our list of food clients continued to grow. The new space was huge and reflected our commitment to being a destination for food-related busi-

Kitchen 2.0 at Longworth Hall. The only problem was when you couldn’t remember which cabinet you put something in!

nesses throughout the Midwest. The kitchen space was built to accommodate two stylists, either a lead stylist and an assistant, or two different food stylists working on different projects. This rarely happened though, because separate clients being in the same room, even when they were noncompetitive, was difficult to manage. The other reason we expanded our space was to gain a dedicated area for meals. Up until that point we had been eating at a large table set up in the studio. That meant that when it was time to eat, everything had to stop, and we had to turn on the overhead lights and pull out the chairs. It didn’t feel like much of a break and it wasn’t the way I wanted to treat my clients. I wanted them to have an experience when they came to our studio, not sit on folding chairs. Everything the client sees from the moment they arrive—the design of the space, the snacks on the table, and even the music that is playing—is meant to reinforce our brand. Eating in the middle of the working space on a folding table just didn’t reflect who we wanted to be.

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The Studio Removing the column in the middle of the room really opened things up, but it wasn’t until we started building that we realized we hadn’t considered where the props and backgrounds would be stored. Leaning them against the studio wall was an option, but we had worked so hard to create this clean design that having stuff piled in the studio didn’t seem right. Ultimately we built an 8-foot wall near the back of the studio so we could hide our lights, power packs, props, and backgrounds. The only problem was, like everything else, our inventory of lights and backgrounds kept growing. Although our expansions addressed other issues, such as a need for more prop storage and a larger kitchen, we did nothing about the lights and backgrounds except let them slowly creep into the studio until they had nearly overtaken it. It’s easy for your shooting space to close in on you if you don’t, or can’t, put things away. We knew we’d make sure to address that in our next studio. There wasn’t room for a pool table, but we did have the next best thing, a foosball table! It was a great way to keeps clients busy, and my assistant and I had a lot of fun after work, too.

Our Studio Today at Central Parkway BOTTOM LEFT  Just the way we found it. BOTTOM RIGHT  When we were finished with the renovations.

By the end of the 1990s we were contemplating another expansion, but our rent was increasing and I really wanted to own my studio. So we began searching for a new space. Because so many of our clients are based outside of Cincinnati, it was important to me that the new location was easy to find. I wanted a location that was just a few turns off the highway and accessible from the airport.

We spent almost $250,000 rehabbing our new building on Central Parkway. Construction took four months.

It took a while, but we found all we wanted and more in a building on Central Parkway, just three miles from Longworth Hall. Originally built as a manufacturing facility, the building had been added onto several times. At 13,000 square feet, it was a bit more than we needed. Our previous space was 4,500 square feet, so we were happy to find out that the current tenant, who was only using about twothirds of the new building, was willing to continue their lease with us. The space couldn’t have been more perfect—well, I guess it could have been, because we spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars remodeling it. But I had spent the previous decade rehabbing our home, living in it most of that time, and had learned from that experience that if I ever had to do that again, I would begin by stripping everything down to the studs and starting fresh. So that is what we did. We tore everything down, right to the cinder blocks, and started over with all new electric, all new plumbing, all new drywall, and a new facade.

The Design Moving to a new studio, after having spent so much of my life in the space at Longworth Hall, felt a lot like going off to college—I wanted to take everything with me. I loved the exposed brick walls and hardwood floors. I just didn’t want to accept anything less. It took a little while for me to come to the realization that if I found a location that worked, I could add brick walls!

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A new brick façade was built over the existing cinder blocks. Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore. The roof is gone.

The architect I hired to design the space on Central Parkway knew how I felt about my previous studio, and she worked very hard at incorporating many of the things that made the old studio special, along with many new features. The new space had a wonderful flow, and although most of it had decently high ceilings, the area we chose for the main shooting space did not, so we decided to raise the roof. Literally. To make sure we had enough height to position our lights, or to shoot down on the set, we raised the roof to 17 feet. Once we committed to that idea, we also thought it would be nice to have windows along both sides of the studio, reminiscent of the factories this area of town had been known for. The floor was made to look like saw-cut concrete, and we used bead-board for the office walls. We even used wired glass in the windows between the office and the studio. All in an effort to make it seem as if the machine shop had just moved out and then we had moved right in.

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The kitchen and lounge area, on the other hand, were much more refined. More sophisticated lighting, comfortable furniture, and carpet helped this space feel more like home. While everything in the shooting space was square edged and void of color, the kitchen area had a floor that incorporated a whimsical curved design, with birchwood panels around the windows and a more involved color palette.

The Prop Room We incorporated many of the things from our previous studio that had worked really well. We had a dedicated area for meals, we had a private client office, and we made sure the kitchen had lots of windows. We also made one of the same mistakes. We thought the prop room would be plenty big enough for many years to come—it was good for only about three years. After that, props and surfaces were overflowing into the studio. Shortly after moving into the studio, we had also transitioned to digital and increased our staff from just one assistant to an assistant, a producer, and a digital artist. We needed more room! We tried working with our tenants to reduce their square footage, but their business was growing too, so we made the decision to release them from their lease and we took over the entire building. It was at this point I considered the pros and cons of having a prop room at all. It was already 800 square feet, and with the new expansion we were considering,

What you see in this photo is roughly a third of the total space dedicated to props. Through the doorway, toward the fabrics, is another 2,000 square feet of space filled with tables, baskets, cutting boards, bowls, and one banana-suit costume.

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Prop Rental vs. Prop Purchase The way that you charge your clients for the props you purchase is important. Just listing props on your invoice, and then charging an amount that is equal to the cost of the props bought for that assignment can give the client the impression that they own the props and you are only storing them (for free). Instead, use the term prop rental on your invoice, and charge an appropriate fee.

If you already have a large collection of props, make sure you charge a

rental fee for each item that is used—to cover the cost of continuing to build and store your prop collection.

it would increase to almost 3,000 square feet. Wouldn’t it be better to just rent props, rather than allot all this space for what amounted to storage? Cincinnati is a large city and definitely a design and branding destination, and although there are a lot of photographers here, so far we don’t have any real prop houses. Sure you can rent items from certain establishments, but it’s not the same as a dedicated prop house that you might find in New York or Chicago. In my business, some of the items I need have to be collected over years. Ceramic pie pans for example—in any given season you might find just a few varieties available. If you bought several each year, then over time you could amass a collection and provide your client with lots of options. There is also the issue of homogenization in many of the stores we shop at. It used to be that I knew which store to go to for organic-looking plates, and which store carried brightly colored plates, but in today’s corporate world of mergers and follow-the-leader, most of the stores we shop at now look the same. It is certainly true of color choices. Just go to the mall and check out a few of the stores that carry kitchen-related items; you’ll see blue mixers, blue bowls, blue aprons, blue everything! But nothing yellow, because yellow isn’t in this year. But in our prop room we have a yellow plate we bought last year when yellow was popular!

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Having your own prop room on site also helps even if you have hired a prop stylist who has shopped for all of the client’s request. Sometimes we reach a point where we need something small in the background—maybe it’s a plate or bowl. Whatever it is, we don’t have to stop and send the prop stylist back out to look for that additional item; we can often just pull it from our prop room. It’s also nice to know that if the client decides to add a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit to their line of breakfast sandwiches, you still have the same plate and napkin you used on the last shoot, which increases the likelihood that you will get the job. It also makes it easier for you to duplicate what you did the last time. So in the end, we decided having a prop room at the studio was worth it—and soon we may be expanding it again. That’s right, it’s getting full!

Fun Facts About the Prop Room Our prop room contains more than 5,000 plates, bowls and glasses, along with almost 1,800 fabrics.

The glass cabinets all the way to the left in the image are from IKEA, and

they hold all of our glasses, saltshakers, cups, gravy boats, oil bottles, and anything else that is a pain to dust.

Plates are organized first by color and then by size, with the exception of

platters (they are all together). Plates that are not round have their own area, as do metal plates and plates that are part of a set.

Bowls, which are in the back room with the fabrics, are divided into two

groups—white bowls and all other bowls. They are then organized by size.

The wood cabinets to the right in the image are for props that are propri-

etary to some of our regular clients. They may be props they have provided to us, like a set of the dishes used in their restaurant, or packaging for their products. We also keep specific plates or utensils we have used before and may need again.

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The Studio This is the heart of the operation, the place where everything comes together. Clients often prefer to be close to the set, when they are not in the kitchen, so there are couches and chairs available here, and a shuffleboard table sits along one of the walls. My office is behind a series of windows, so I can check my email and still not miss what is happening on the set. Because I like things organized, we store our photo equipment in a room adjacent to the studio that has a roll-down gate instead of a door. We rarely close it except when we are closed for vacation, or if there is some kind of social function happening. It’s nice to know the equipment can be locked up and out of sight. On the opposite side of the studio is a room with no door at all. It is where we keep foamcore for lighting, wood to use for tables, milk crates, and most flat surfaces used for backgrounds.

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The windows that were added when we raised the roof did present a challenge in that we needed a way to cover them up when were shooting. We eventually settled on a low-tech approach to the problem. We used black gator board (it’s

Clients can check their email anywhere in the studio via our wireless network.

like foamcore but stronger), and screwed strips of 1" x 2" wood trim on the back of each board. I then attached steel cables to the boards, through a pulley, and running down to a wood box painted to look like a metal weight. The boards were not heavy—I just wanted that industrial look. On the inside of the wood box, I placed two 10-pound weights to counterbalance the three panels. When you pull down on the box, the shades go up. I didn’t realize it at the time, but by having these windows and being able to leave the shades lowered at night, we are able to walk into a brightly lit studio each morning. It also helps to keep our plants alive, which would otherwise suffer in darkness all weekend.

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The Kitchen I just love the way the sun paints this room.

A kitchen in a photo studio is no different than your kitchen at home—it’s the place everyone wants to be. But sometimes all those people can get in the way of the food stylist’s work. So, just like at home, we placed the living room right next to the kitchen. That way, clients can hang out, or work on their iPads and still be close enough to see what’s going on, or be available if the stylist has a question. The table on the far left in the photograph is where we have our meals, and the doorway next to it is the client office—as we like to say, “The highest ranking client gets it.” The doorway in the middle of the photo leads to the restrooms and an outdoor patio, where we have been known to have lunch on a nice summer day or two. The biggest requirement for a kitchen in a food photography studio is that it be a comfortable place for the food stylist to work. It doesn’t have to be this nice, or have this much stuff, but it should have the basics. Food stylists love to tell horror stories of photographers who didn’t have a sink, or expected the stylist to bring a hot plate to work on.

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The basics include things like a cooktop, a refrigerator/freezer, a microwave, an

E Tip

oven, and a sink. I think most food stylists would agree with this list, but some, I’m

Gas or Electric? Stylists

sure, would add a dishwasher.

usually prefer a gas cooktop, because it is

Over the years, we have accumulated a lot of equipment, some very specialized

more responsive than

and some that just helps get the job done. We have industrial refrigerators and

electric, but when it

freezers that can accommodate the large boxes that we often receive. We have

comes to ovens and

chest freezers for storing and styling ice cream. We have a meat slicer, toasters,

baking, electric is better.

scales, a pizza oven, a pressure fryer, mixers, table-top fryers, a baker’s rack, a milkshake maker and of course, a sink. We even have a washer and dryer. Great for washing towels and aprons after a long day of cooking fried food. In addition to providing stylists with many of the tools they need to do the job properly, we also stock staples that are needed on almost every project—things like paper towels, storage bags, aluminum foil, and cooking oil, along with a variety of spices and condiments. Stylists usually have to bring no more than their kit when they come to a shoot.

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Fun Facts About Leftovers We may have only shot one hamburger, but we have a case of meat, several heads of lettuce, 20 tomatoes, 40 red onions, 2 jars of mayonnaise, 200 slices of cheese, 3 bottles of catsup, and a few hundred buns left over. Oh yeah, and a 5-gallon bucket of pickles. What do we do with it? It can’t all stay in the refrigerator—we have another shoot tomorrow, and some of it won’t last more than a week anyway.

If the product is not yet available to the public, and donating it could

put company secrets at risk, or if the product has been stored in an unsafe manner, sitting out on the counter all day, then we dispose of it in the trash. Otherwise we donate it to a local food pantry, which then distributes what it cannot use to other charitable services in our community.

In certain cases, where color is critical and we have to match the color in

our final image file to the actual product, we may want to keep some of the leftover product on hand.

LEFT  You can never have enough freezer space! RIGHT  We only needed two pickles.

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Entertainment and Fitness When we expanded our studio several years ago, mostly because we needed more room for props and office space, we chose to use some of the additional

Some clients play pool, some clients watch TV, some clients take in a movie, but nobody works out.

space for that pool table I always wanted. We bought a 1937 Brunswick and made it the centerpiece of our entertainment area. A large-screen television, a dartboard and a high-top table complete the room. Just like any good entertainment district, we have a theater. Designed primarily to entertain those individuals whose expertise we need for only five minutes out of the day, the theater has comfortable furniture, a DVD player, a projector, and lots of popcorn. Maybe it’s a corporate chef whose only responsibility is to make sure the product looks the way it should in the final image. We don’t need that person in the kitchen all day, and the chef may not want to be in the kitchen anyway. By having so many entertainment options available, we increase everyone’s productivity. The theater has also been used, on more than one occasion, by a client who was not feeling well. And recently during a two-week shoot, I found virtually the entire team with their laptops in the theater, watching a movie. By the end of the shoot, we were even taking requests for what they wanted to watch the next day. The fitness room, to be honest, hasn’t turned out exactly as we had planned. Clients used to complain that they ate too much at lunch, or we fed them too many cookies and they wished we had a place they could work out. Well, it seems that all that talk about working out was just talk. Only a few clients have actually used it since it was built several years ago. But it is nice to have a full shower available, even if it is just for one of my employees who enjoys riding his bike to work.

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I love coming here every day.

I Love This Studio! We host several tours a year for photography students from local colleges, and the instructors will often start the introduction by explaining that “this studio” is not typical. And it certainly isn’t. Most commercial photographers in today’s economy have found it difficult to maintain a studio as large as this, and many have downsized—sharing a studio with other photographers, even giving up their studio altogether and moving into their garage or adding on to their house. Although it works for me, I know it’s not for everyone. The tools that we use and the space we work in are just what they are; it is how we use them that matters. But this space inspires me, and hopefully my clients, to do our best work. It is exciting to come to work here every day, and a studio this bold reflects our commitment, experience, and desire to be the premier destination for food-related businesses throughout the country. If you’re going to spend a lot of time at work—and if you’re self-employed, you’re going to—you might as well do it in a place that you love.

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Starting Over If I were just beginning my career today, I would look for a really cool apartment with lots of open space to use as my studio. Renting an apartment means you already have a kitchen built in and you don’t have to deal with the expense of building one in a rented commercial space. You just clear out the furniture in the living room and bring in the lights. Another option is to find a photographer who has a large space and doesn’t need all of it anymore. Perhaps you could share space for a while. In most large cities you can find a rental studio for those projects that require something more. Even some camera stores are building rental studios, but most of them don’t have a kitchen. Consider becoming a member of a professional organization. Post flyers at a local camera store, or go on Craigslist to connect with other photographers in your area that have space to share or are in a situation similar to yours. Make sure the space you choose is easily accessible and close to your clients. Then, as your business grows you can move to a more professional space of your own. Keep in mind that expenses will grow with you, so it’s important that you reassess your business model every few years to make sure your physical space is in line with your career path.

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3 The Tools Look inside a plumber’s toolbox and you’ll immediately know that person’s a plumber, because those wrenches and clamps are the tools specific to that job. They don’t have to be brand new, or even in good shape, but the owner does have to know how to use them. The same can be said about the equipment a photographer uses; it doesn’t have to be the newest, most amazing camera available—just one that works for that situation. There are specific tools that every food photographer needs, and having the right ones can make a huge difference in the quality of your work and the speed with which you can produce it.

In the studio. ISO 1250, 1/200 sec, f/2.8, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR

Most of my equipment I’ve selected or modified to fit my needs and my style of shooting. This chapter describes the tools that I use and the reasons I use them. It is meant to be a conversation starter and not a shopping list. Individual photographers will find the tools that work best for them as they develop their own individual style.

The Right Camera I use both a Sinar P3 view camera with a medium-format Hasselblad digital back and a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III DSLR. Which one I choose to use is no longer based on resolution alone, but on the way I want to work and the type of image I want to create. If I want something loose and editorial, I might choose the Canon DSLR. If resolution is paramount, like for a very large print that will only be viewed up close, or if I want to use the movements that the Sinar P3 offers, then I might choose it instead. The quality of the DSLR cameras available today far surpasses anything that was achievable just a few short years ago, allowing me to be completely comfortable shooting with my Canon DSLR for almost any project, even images that will be reproduced very large. The Sinar P3, with its view camera movements, allows me to correct for distortion in camera and change the plane of focus by using the swings and tilts. It also has a higher resolution, but it is impossible to hand hold, and moving a view camera around on a bulky studio stand just doesn’t lend itself to spontaneous moments. Using the Canon DSLR allows me to move around the set easily and seek out alternative viewpoints that I might not have considered otherwise. I tend to capture more natural, less-staged images when working with my DSLR. And even though most of my work is done in the studio, if I am shooting with the DSLR, I prefer to shoot hand-held whenever possible. There are times when everything has to be locked down, but hopefully not before I’ve had some time to experiment.

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Scheimpflug! I’m always amazed at the number of photography students who come to visit my studio and don’t know what the Scheimpflug principle is or how to use it. It refers to a geometric rule that describes the orientation of the plane of focus when the lens plane is not parallel to the image plane (see diagram below).

With a typical DSLR camera (excluding the use of tilt/shift lenses), the lens plane and image plane are

always parallel (see diagram below).

If the image plane is not parallel to your subject, it will create distortion in the subject. Think of shooting

up at a building and the keystone effect that you get. If you shoot at a wide aperture, such as f/2.8, the building may even be out of focus toward the top and/or bottom.

Using the movements on a view camera can help eliminate or reduce that distortion and reposition the

plane of focus so that the entire subject can be sharp. This same principle can be used to make the part of your image that would normally be in focus, out of focus.

an pl e of us

c fo

focus plane of

Unless you use a tilt/shift lens on a DSLR, the plane of focus will always be parallel to the image plane.

The plane of focus changes as you tilt the front and/or rear standard of a view camera.

Regardless of which camera I am working with, I shoot tethered to a computer and use the camera’s proprietary software to capture, name, and save the files to the designated folder as I work (see Chapter 5, “The Process”). I then process the files on the computer using either Phocus (Hasselblad’s own image-processing software) for images captured on the Sinar P3, or using Adobe Camera Raw for files captured using the Canon DSLR.

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What Is a Normal Lens? A normal lens on a DSLR camera is not the same focal length as a normal lens on a medium-format camera. The reason it’s not is that the image area (or camera sensor size) is not the same for the two formats.

The focal length of a normal lens is determined by measuring across the

diagonal of the sensor. Since the diagonal measurement of a full-frame DSLR is 50mm, the focal length of a normal lens for that camera is 50mm. But a 50mm lens on a medium-format camera, with its larger sensor, would be considered a wide-angle lens. The medium-format camera would require an 80–90mm lens to achieve the same angle of view as you get using a 50mm lens on the DSLR camera.

Shooting tethered to a computer allows me to review the images immediately on a large screen, where I can check exposure and focus. It also enables me to easily share images with my clients when I am ready.

Lens Choice I prefer using a normal focal length lens for most of my work, regardless of the format that I am working with. I have, on occasion, used a wide-angle lens when I wanted to emphasize the depth of an image or an important item in the foreground, but I rarely use a telephoto lens (I don’t even own a telephoto lens for the Sinar P3 camera). The reason I believe in using a normal focal length lens is that it has the ability to make the viewer a part of the shot. That food is right there! The viewer is so close, looking down on the table in the foreground and up at the plate in front of them. A telephoto lens would minimize the distortion that happens when you are that close to your subject, but it also compresses depth and makes your image appear less three-dimensional.

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Where to Invest Your Money If you’re getting started in food photography, you should begin by purchasing the best camera body you can afford and a good macro lens. Keep in mind that many manufacturers offer similar resolution across many different camera models, so the main advantage of the more expensive ones is durability, not necessarily quality.

A zoom lens is also a good choice when you are on a limited budget, but

whatever lens you choose, make sure to purchase the professional series. This will give you not only higher quality but the ability to use the same size filters on various lenses. Lens quality is more important today than ever, because the resolution of the digital bodies continues to increase.

Using a Macro Lens When you’re shooting food using a DSLR camera, a macro lens is almost a necessity. Unless your assignment is to shoot a buffet, for most food assignments you’ll be required to get closer than 18 inches from the subject (the distance that a non-macro lens typically can’t render in focus). And if you can’t get close enough to your subject, then you also cannot take full advantage of the camera’s sensor and the resolution it offers. If you have to enlarge the image after capture, you are effectively reducing its resolution.

The Workstation Many of the studio photographers I worked for as an assistant had some sort of cart that followed them around the studio. In those days, the cart was mostly a place to keep film holders, Polaroid, filters, light modifiers, balls of clay, a tape measure, or just about anything the photographer might need an arm’s length away. These carts took many forms—from modified tool chests to custom-made pieces that expressed their individual owner’s passion and character. If you consider that most photographers spend more time with those carts than with their spouse, then you start to understand the significance of “the workstation” and the reason each one is so personal.

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FAR RIGHT  Finally a workstation I can be proud of. Two 23-inch monitors, an Apple G5 computer, battery backup, and of course—a cup holder.

I was no different—when I moved into my first studio I chose a Craftsman toolbox for my workstation, customized with a few of my own touches along the way, of course. But as I transitioned to digital, I no longer needed a place for my film holders; I needed a place for my monitor. I didn’t want to get rid of my Craftsman toolbox entirely, after all, it still held a tape measure, balls of clay, and lots of other things I still needed for my shots. Maybe it was because I wasn’t sure this “digital thing” was going to last, but I decided to use a printer cart that had once been home to my dot-matrix printer. It was an ugly series of shelves on wheels, but it was functional. Unfortunately, it only had room for a monitor, computer, keyboard, and mouse—so for several months I was caught between two carts (the toolbox and the printer cart), which followed me around the studio. It was kind of like those awkward teenage years, when you’re just not sure who you’re suppose to be yet. Over time the wobbly cart and the small 18-inch monitor began to take their toll. I knew something had to change. I had to find a cart worthy of the digital photographer I had become. The cart had to have drawers and it had to be cool!

The Workstation Details One of the qualities of this cart that led me to purchase it (from anthro.com) was that the desktop could be positioned at a variety of heights—anything from seated to standing. I chose to assemble mine in the standing position, because I like having the room underneath for my computer and its battery backup. And believe me, with a power cord stretched across the floor, a battery backup is money well spent. Adding wheels made it easy to move the workstation around the studio. The monitor arms not only free up valuable workspace by allowing the monitors to be positioned above the work surface, they also make it easy for me to share my screen with the food stylist by just rotating the monitor in her direction. It’s also nice to know that I can’t accidently knock off a monitor. The monitor was one of the challenges of my previous workstation. Because of its size, I didn’t have the opportunity to keep other images or applications visible. By going to two monitors, I am able to fill one screen with Adobe Bridge or

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two monitors

camera

cup holder battery back-up

Apple G5 comfy seat

wheels

tether cable

a similar program and leave the second screen available for other applications or related images. The images might be from a previous project that I need to match in lighting, color, or composition. They might be the three images I just shot, so I can check for continuity. I can also use the second screen to launch Adobe Photoshop and do some quick fixes, or to drop the image into a layout if there are particular constraints I need to work with. Having two screens has been wonderful, but lately I have been experimenting with adding a third—my iPad! By downloading an app called Air Display it is possible to use the iPad as a third monitor. I can position the Live View screen on the iPad and walk it over to the set for the stylist to see, or I can hold the iPad in one hand as I adjust lighting with the other.

What’s In the Drawers? Here’s a list of supplies and gear that I keep hidden in the drawers of my I often use 4' x 8' pieces of foamcore that are bent in the middle (horizontally). I bend them to keep the light from bouncing up into the ceiling. Bending the board helps to direct the light back toward the set.

workstation and close at hand while I shoot: CC

Wobble wedges: Small clear plastic shims that are perfect for leveling a glass or plate on a table.

CC

Super glue: There will be some in the stylist’s kit if you run out.

CC

Metal weights: When I need something heavy to mark the position of the plate.

CC

Tape measure: Useful for taking meticulous notes about the set and the position of the lights.

CC

Fingernail polish remover: Good for removing date codes (but not the graphics) on a package.

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CC

Tweezers: Just don’t let the food stylist catch you touching her food.

CC

Canned air: For dusting the set or your keyboard.

CC

Clay or putty: Useful for propping up anything, from plates to food.

CC

Gray card: I rarely use it, but just in case.

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CC

Grill lighter: Perfect for melting butter on the spot.

CC

Laser pointer: I use it when I want to show the stylist which French fry I want moved.

Lights and Light Modifiers In photography school, I was known as “available light Campbell.” Not because I liked to shoot with available light, but just the opposite. I liked to use every light available. In our school’s small studio, which had limited equipment, I often used more than my fair share of lights and light modifiers. Even then, I wanted as much control as possible over every aspect of my photography.

Studio Strobes I began my career using Speedotron strobes, but when considering the purchase of new studio strobes several years ago, I chose Elinchrom lights and power packs, mainly because the packs allowed me to adjust each light in increments of one-tenth of a stop without affecting the power to any of the other lights.

To focus light on the subject I use a Fresnel spotlight (upper right corner of the image).

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Using the Lastolite TriGrip one-stop diffuser as a fill card.

Most lighting systems at the time only allowed for the symmetric and asymmetric distribution of power, meaning that two lights plugged into the same channel would share that power evenly or in some other predetermined portion, such as a 70/30 split. Reducing the power of one light often meant using your math skills to determine what combination of lights, plugged into which channels, would produce the desired effect.

Diffusion The most common way for me to diffuse light is by bouncing it off a surface, not by using a diffusion screen, unless I am looking for a little more direction or harshness to the quality of the light. Then I will use a diffusion screen. If I am bouncing the light off a surface, it is most likely that the surface will be a 4' x 8' foot piece of foamcore—but I also sometimes use the wall in my studio. When shooting on location I like to use my Lastolite TriGrip as a diffusion screen for either direct sun or my Canon Speedlite. But I have also used it as a reflector.

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Although I still have a rather large collection of Chimera soft boxes, I no longer use them. Style-wise, I just don’t find them as useful as I used to. However, it’s only a matter of time until they are back in vogue. So just like my black Plexiglass background—I’m keeping ‘em!

These images were shot “on location” in our parking lot. ISO 100, 1/800 sec, f/3.5, 70mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Lisa Marie Deville

Reflectors Light modification begins with the reflector or accessory you attach to the light.

E NOTE

Even the shape and surface of the reflector you choose will change the quality of

We chose to paint the

your light.

walls of our studio gray in order to minimize any

I prefer to keep things simple by using a standard 8-inch reflector for most of my

unwanted reflections

work. Occasionally I will add a honeycomb grid to the front of the reflector to

or color casts. We didn’t

create a more directional light, with harder shadows. But when I really want to

intend to purposely

focus the light, I use my Fresnel spotlight. It can be adapted to accept a variety

direct light at the walls,

of strobe lights from different manufacturers. Because the Fresnel spotlight has

but it turns out they

a lens, it can actually focus the light, as opposed to a honeycomb grid, which

make a pretty nice

merely directs the light.

bounce card.

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Dots and fingers from Matthews Studio Equipment, Inc. The single-density flag (on left) helps to even out the light across the set.

When I want a large but directional light source, I use my beauty dish reflector— usually without the internal deflector, but with a white silk over the reflector to soften the quality of light.

Scrims, Flags, Dots, and Fingers E NOTE

Originally created for the motion picture industry, these tools have been invalu-

Flags are usually opaque

able for me. I use the dots and fingers all the time to shade very small areas with-

and scrims have some

out affecting the rest of the shot—and the flags are perfect for evening out light

transparency, but that is

across a set. I have most of these in my collection, but you might also consider

not always the case.

renting or borrowing this equipment until you determine what you will use most. The dots and fingers are thin steel frames covered with one of three fabrics: black for blocking light, silk for diffusing or bouncing light, or a single or double layer of black mesh for cutting the intensity of light. The flags are much larger versions of the dots and fingers, with one exception— the flags (also called scrims) come in a three-sided option. This is useful when feathering light, so that you do not project a shadow of the steel frame onto the set.

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The Flag to the left of the set keeps the highlights from blowing out in this image. ISO 100, 1/200 sec, f/14, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

Using dots and fingers to shade the bread and background. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/11, 60mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Lisa Marie Deville

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Drinking Problem One of my very favorite ways to modify light is using old liquor bottles, especially the ones that have facets in the glass. They are perfect when the mashed potatoes on the back of the plate are too bright but I don’t want to diminish the light on the Salisbury steak—‘cause, Lord knows, I need the light on the Salisbury steak. Placing the bottle close to the plate, I can position it so that it only affects the mashed potatoes. Unless the lighting is highly directional, the edge shadow of the bottle quickly disappears, and the glass itself helps to scatter and reduce the amount of light on the potatoes. If I want to reduce the light further in a specific area, I will sometimes place pieces of white or black tape on the bottle— basically suspending my light modifier in the air.

Fill Cards and Mirrors Fill cards come in all shapes and sizes, and can be made from various materials, including anything from cardboard to bedsheets to precision-engineered fabric stretched across sleek metal frames. In the studio, I prefer to use foamcore or Lightrights. Foamcore is fairly inexpensive, comes in 4' x 8' sheets, and can be cut to any size. Lightrights are small foldable fill cards, white on one side and silver on the other, with a magnetic strip that helps them to stand on their own. I have been These types of bottles are excellent for “just enough” light diffusion or for casting dramatic shadows when they’re placed in the path of a focused light source.

using Lightrights for as long as I can remember, and they are awesome! If I am shooting on location, I will usually take a small folding foamcore fill card with me, but if I need something larger I just use my Lastolite TriGrip diffusion panel as a fill card. I also like to use small plastic mirrors for additional fill light when I want to brighten up a particularly dark shadow area, or add sparkle to a cut piece of fruit, or add a highlight to meat that is looking too dark, or… well, just about anything. To make sure the reflection produced by the mirrors is not a perfectly sharp, squared-off edge, I first spray the mirrors with Krylon matte finish. After they are dry I rub them with a little bit of Bestine and then smear the surface. (I learned this technique from an article in PDN describing Tim Turner’s process for creating his mirrors). I then glue a small magnet on the back of each mirror to make it easier to attach to an articulating arm or stand.

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Low-Tech Light Modification Sometimes when I want to cast a small shadow on the subject, I just reach for whatever is closest—a glass, a small block of wood, a piece of paper, and sometimes even the food stylist’s spritz bottle. Once I used the stylist herself as a light modifier. She hadn’t moved completely out of the way when my flash fired, so her shadow was cast on the set. After looking at it for a minute, I realized that the shadow added some realism that the shot was lacking. I couldn’t ask her to just stand there all day, and she needed to get back to work, so I used a piece of black velvet wrapped over a c-stand to replicate her position and the shadow.

Tripods and Studio Stands Deciding on the right support for your camera, lights, and accessories is very much a personal choice, and usually based on the type of work that you do. Because so much of our work is done in the studio, when making a purchasing decision we don’t usually concern ourselves with how portable something is. That is why we have a studio stand and not a tripod to support our Sinar P3 camera, although I do use a tripod when shooting with my DSLR.

The shadow area in the middle portion of the bench was created by a piece of black velvet placed in the path of the light to mimic the realistic shadow cast by the food stylist when she failed to exit the set quickly enough during a test shot. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/9, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

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One support accessory that has really made a difference for me is the ballhead I recently purchased for my tripod from Really Right Stuff. It’s durable, and with an optional adapter plate I can switch from a horizontal to a vertical composition with ease. I no longer have to tip the camera all the way over to get a vertical crop of the image. Other equipment I wouldn’t be without includes c-stands. Like scrims, flags, dots, and fingers, c-stands were originally created for the motion picture industry. C-stands are rock solid and available in black or chrome; I prefer black, because with chrome I often find I have to wrap black velvet around the stands to minimize the reflections. These stands come in various sizes, but I like to use the 40–inch for holding large lights or diffusion screens, and I use the 20-inch for flags or anything else that needs to be low to the set.

Taking Care of Business It’s all the stuff nobody likes to do, but without it we couldn’t do all the stuff we really want to do. Keeping jobs organized, paying the bills, scheduling the assignments, and keeping clients happy—all take time, and usually software of one kind or another. Here are a few of the tools we use to run our business.

FileMaker Pro A database software program that we use to create everything from job cards to emails to invoices. It comes with some templates, but I chose to build ours from the ground up for a completely customized solution.

Daylite This one falls under the heading of customer relationship management software. We use it to keep track of our clients, create mailing lists, track marketing materials and project status, and to keep promises that we have made. Because Daylite integrates with Apple’s mail program, we can easily log our emails with clients and vendors.

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For years we discussed having a monitor in the kitchen to share images with the food stylist. Dropbox and the iPad make it easy to have everything the stylist or photographer might need.

Dropbox and iPads When a project is booked, we assign it a unique job number for organization and

E NOTE

billing (see Chapter 5, “The Process”). Each job has its own manila folder or job

Dropbox is a free service

file, which contains the job sheet, a shot list, and any other information we have

that lets you share

about the project—layouts, pre-production documents, delivery memos, cooking

photos, documents,

instructions, and mood boards provided by the ad agency. If we have these items

and videos with others

saved electronically, then we also place them in a Dropbox folder so they can be

via your computer,

viewed on any monitor in the studio, or on the iPad in the kitchen during a shoot.

phone, or the Dropbox website. Once saved to

Tools for a Digital Artist My transition from film to the digital world was expedited when I hired a new assistant in 2002—Scott Martin. I was still shooting film at the time and not inter-

Dropbox, your files can be viewed on any device you allow to access your Dropbox folder.

ested in a full-scale transition to digital. Scott had just graduated from the photography program at a local college. He had taken some Photoshop classes and was a little more excited about the possibilities than I was.

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Although Scott had used Photoshop in school, the photography environment was changing quickly and we needed to learn so much more. We sought out any seminar that came close to town, and even some that didn’t. Today, he is an Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop and has even lectured on the subject at photography conferences around the country. Having the right equipment is great, but in the world of image manipulation knowledge is just as important as the hardware.

The Hardware I guess technically, all you really need is a computer loaded with Adobe Photoshop and a calibrated monitor to get started—that’s all we had. But there is so much more that you will need as your skills increase and you strive to provide your client with a more seamless experience. Start with a great monitor, and make sure it is calibrated monthly to avoid a call from the ad agency wanting to know why all your files are green, or why the reds in the tomatoes are flat.

The digital artist’s workstation. Notice that the entire screen on the LaCie monitor is available for viewing and working on images because the tools palette and other open programs are displayed on the Apple cinema display to the right.

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One Step Behind Something very interesting to note about ad agencies, especially the large ones: they are usually one to two versions behind the Photoshop and Illustrator programs we are using. Because of all the possible conflicts with other programs being used by such a large company and its vendors, ad agencies resist upgrading until they are certain that everyone is compatible.

We update just weeks after a new product has been announced. I love it

when a client notices me using a tool they didn’t even know existed. They get so excited—until they realize we have the upgrade and they don’t.

If you can afford one, buy a Wacom tablet and learn how to use a stylus instead of a mouse. It will give you greater control of your adjustments. The stylus’s precision, ease of use, and pressure sensitivity make it almost mandatory for all those who make their living retouching images. And the sooner you start learning how to use the stylus, the sooner you will be comfortable with it.

File Server If you have several computers and team members that need to access the same files, then you might consider a server. Our file server is connected to several hard drives that store all of our digital images and other information. The hard drives, in addition to being configured as a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) to help prevent the loss of data, are also backed up offsite daily, via the Internet.

The Software Adobe Photoshop is the obvious choice here, but you might also want to consider purchasing Adobe Illustrator, so you can open that layout the art director brought only as an Illustrator file. Other software, such as PowerPoint and Word, can be helpful for opening up documents sent by the agency or client.

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Photoshop Plug-Ins and Other Programs There is an amazing amount of choice when considering image-enhancement software, but here are a few that we use: CC

Topaz Labs: Offers a wide variety of Adobe Photoshop plug-ins, such as Topaz DeNoise, which we use to remove noise. They also have several other products for creative effects, such as Topaz Adjust.

CC

Nik Silver Efex Pro: Great for high-quality black-and-white conversions that allow you to add toning to your images and create unique borders.

CC

Photomatix Pro: A program we use for HDR (High Dynamic Range) image assembly.

CC

Knoll Light Factory: Useful for adding lens flare to an image. It allows precise control and much more variety than Photoshop’s limited effects.

CC

Adobe Labs Pixel Bender: An Adobe Photoshop plug-in that allows you to add painting effects to your images.

The subtle painting effect was created using the Adobe Labs Pixel Bender Photoshop plug-in.

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Digital History Lesson Industry advancements usually begin at the upper end of the market and then over time trickle down to the rest of the industry. Companies that serve a more affluent customer can afford to integrate new and still expensive technologies into their businesses quicker than their low-end competitors. A good example might be computers—originally requiring an entire room with specialized temperature controls to operate. Hardly the kind of thing just any business could afford.

Digital photography, on the other hand, although expensive, was better suited to the low end of the

photography market.

For a high-end commercial photographer who shot mostly 8x10 and 4x5 film, the first digital cameras were

not acceptable because the sensors were not capable of producing the kind of quality that was needed for that type of work.

One of the main benefits of moving to digital capture was that you no longer had the expense of film and

Polaroid. That was true, but as an advertising photographer, I was capturing at most three to five images per day, so it didn’t save me much money at all. Especially when you considered the cost of the camera. A company that shot catalogs, however, captured hundreds of images every day, and they were reproduced at a very small size, so poor resolution was not a problem. If you could eliminate the cost of film and Polaroid for that company—now you had something.

Digital sensors continued to improve over the years, until finally they reached the point of meeting and

then exceeding the quality of large-format film. I finally joined the world of digital photography.

File Delivery Today most of our files are delivered to our clients via the Internet. We utilize a service offered by the company that hosts our website, but there are many services (even some that are free) available for sending and receiving large files. We also deliver some projects on thumb drives or external drives, depending on the size of the project. As with any tool, the more comfortable you are working with it, the better you will be able to use it, so it’s important to find the right tools for you, your budget, and your clients.

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4 The People and Their Roles In baseball, it’s hard to play if you don’t know what you are supposed to do. Commercial photography is no different. Understanding the rules and your role on the team is an important part of how you play the game. There’s no need to ask the model maker a question about the layout—you should be asking the art director. And whose role is it to make sure we have a fresh pot of coffee in the morning, anyway?

Food photography is a team sport. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/4, 60mm lens on Canon DSLR

Although only one person presses the shutter, many contribute to the final image. In this chapter we’ll talk about who those individuals are and how they contribute to the finished piece. Please note that many of these roles may be combined or even unnecessary in certain situations, and there may be additional roles that may not be discussed, but what’s important is to know that food photography is a team sport, and you have to be able to work as a part of a team.

Home Team The home team is made up of people who are hired by, or who work at the direction of, the photographer. The visiting team is everyone else, including those who hire the photographer. We are not competitors, but teammates working together to achieve the same thing, and each person has a unique role to play in achieving that result.

Photographer Food photography is the collaborative effort of many talented people working under the direction of a photographer. The photographer must assemble the right team for the project, direct them, and take responsibility for the outcome. The layout, maybe even the concept, might have been developed by the agency, but it is still the photographer’s job to bring the vision to life. On the set, the photographer needs to be able to direct the food stylist, engage the client in conversation, ask an assistant to move the light—and at the same time, create something beautiful.

Photographer’s Assistant Photographers have always had assistants, to carry the equipment, load the film, take out the trash, get lunch, or to just listen.

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A good assistant supports the photographer by knowing what is needed next even before the photographer asks for it. Maybe it’s a different lens choice; maybe it’s something as simple as changing the radio station when the photographer is having a stressful day. In addition to keeping notes about exposure and lighting, the assistant captures images of the set that can be used later to recreate it, if necessary. Those images might also be used for blog or Facebook posts. The assistant keeps the equipment clean and organized, and reminds the photographer—discreetly, of course—of a promise made to the client to shoot a version without the napkin. Some assistant duties might even overlap with those performed by a digital tech, such as processing files and placing images into layouts. And yes, the assistant carries the equipment, takes out the trash, gets lunch, and just listens.

Taking lunch orders. Just one of the responsibilities of a photographer’s assistant.

Teri - Chicken fingers , fries Ben - Burger , fries

burger med. well

Meggie - House salad, balsm. dressingon side (add chic.) Erin

New girl - Turkey bacon wrap, onion rings Sherry - House salad Sarah - Chicken sand. , side veg. of day no onion

Sam - Meatloaf sand. fries Roast beef sand.

Scott - Buff Chic Salad, ranch

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Food Stylist When I talk to people who are not in the business about the role of a food stylist, they often have one of two reactions. Either they think it’s the best job ever, or they say something like, “Oh, I’ve heard about them; don’t they use motor oil and stuff to make the turkey look cooked?” The truth is, a food stylist is an artist who works with food. Some use a little science in creating their art and measure things out (although I’ve never seen motor oil used on a turkey), and others are more organic in their approach. One thing all of them share is a lack of formal training (in food styling anyway). They usually have a culinary background combined with some artistic training along the way. Some of the stylists we work with have experience in photography, drawing, sculpture, film production, and pottery. But unlike a chef, who is trained to make food that tastes good, a food stylist knows how to make it look good and keep it looking good while the photographer makes tweaks to the lighting or the set. Most food stylists I know didn’t set out to become food stylists at all—instead, falling into the profession accidentally. This happens mostly due to the lack of educational opportunities in food styling and the unique skill set required. Most stylists learn by assisting, attending workshops, or sometimes, just jumping in.

Food Stylist Assistants The name pretty much says it all. They assist the food stylist. Mostly by keeping the kitchen clean and organized, but then again, someone needs to look through that bag of carrots and find the best ones. When you’re working on a large or complex project it’s a good idea to hire an assistant for the food stylist. Most of the time it’s just someone who can wash dishes and help with basic prep. At other times it’s someone who has lots of culinary experience. We are usually able to source an assistant locally, but occasionally food stylists prefer to bring in someone they work with regularly.

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Food Stylist Jacqueline Buckner working with me on set. Jackie started in the film industry as a production assistant before becoming a food stylist.

Prop Stylist Prop stylists are like iPhones—you wonder if you really need one, until you get one and realize you can’t live without it. I love using prop stylists whenever possible. They will not only help you find the perfect cutting board, napkin, or bowl, they can also deal with last-minute changes from the client.

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The prop stylist might begin a search days or weeks before the actual shoot, finding or creating just the right props and backgrounds that will be needed. But even with all that work beforehand, things often change on set—something may have been misunderstood, or information might not have been communicated correctly, or maybe someone has just changed his or her mind. Either way, adjustments have to be made. The prop stylist can work with the art director and/or client to resolve the issue, while the rest of the team works on other shots.

FAR LEFT  The wooden box in the background was borrowed from a carpenter who was working at the prop stylist’s house. She saw the box on his truck and knew it would be perfect. By taking note of the places she goes and the things she sees there, Nora is usually able to quickly find what we are looking for. ISO 100, 1/160 sec, f/5.6, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: William Smith Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

Producer The producer touches every aspect of every project. From the initial call about a project to the final invoice (see Chapter 5). Without our producer, our entire operation would cease to exist. The producer prepares estimates and reviews them with the client, works on scheduling, books stylists, assistants, models, and model makers (see “Model Makers,” below)—and even arranges flights and hotels for our stylists and vendors. This person coordinates the delivery of product and confirms its arrival with the client, then makes sure all of it is properly labeled and stored. The producer works with the food stylist and prop stylist to address any questions or concerns that may arise before and even during the shoot. The producer can arrange dinner reservations for a client, or secure tickets to sporting events. Once, our producer even went shopping for clothing and toiletries when a client’s luggage was lost by the airline. After the shoot, the producer sends the final invoice and prepares the paperwork necessary to register our copyright (see Chapter 5). If there is product left over (and the client has given their approval for a donation), the producer coordinates delivery to our local food pantry. She also makes one last sweep of the studio to make sure everything has been filed and confidential information destroyed— then it’s on to tomorrow’s shoot.

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After consulting with Scott (our digital artist), we decided to shoot the coffee without creamer, and then shoot it again with creamer. Scott created the swirl by combining the two images in post. (See bonus Assignment 12 at the end of your ebook.) ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/18, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Barbara Coad Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

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Studio Manager What we used to call a producer. (That’s not exactly true, but close.) The studio manager has many of the same responsibilities as a producer, but the studio manager’s primary goal is to make sure the studio runs smoothly, whereas the producer’s main goal is the successful completion of a project. A studio manager is also responsible for dealing with stock image requests, as well as planning promotions and advertising. The studio manager may handle business functions, such as working with accountants and lawyers, crafting press releases, or contracting building maintenance.

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Producers differ from studio managers in that they can be either employees or freelancers (who are paid by the project), while studio managers are almost always employees.

Digital Artist Depending on the studio and the type of work performed, digital artists or digital techs can have many names, mainly because they are so new to the field of photography. There obviously wasn’t much need for a digital tech when photographers shot film, unless maybe you had to scan the film. But today, it’s almost impossible to do an assignment without one. Even if that means you are both the photographer and the digital tech. A digital tech is the person responsible for all of the stuff that happens during and after the capture—file naming, organizing, saving and processing files, dropping images into an overlay, backing up files, and doing post-production (retouching). A digital tech might even provide the camera and other tools needed for digital capture. Some photographers prefer to handle all of these tasks themselves, but for me, I enjoy focusing on the creative process and allowing someone else to devote themself to mastering Photoshop and the related products that are part of the digital process. I obviously need to know what is possible, but I don’t have to know exactly how to do it. The fact that I already had an established business when I began the transition to digital probably affected my decision. If I had to shoot the next day, I didn’t want to stay up all night naming, organizing, and retouching files. And because all I shoot is food, and food almost always needs some retouching, it made sense for me to hire a full-time digital artist. The fact that we work together every day has also helped us to build a strong creative workflow that enhances our ability to deliver incredible images to our clients.

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FAR RIGHT  Italian chef preparing dinner in Montaione, Italy.

Hand Models The most common type of model around our studio is a hand model. That’s because if the project is talent- or person-centric, we don’t take the assignment. A lifestyle photographer would be a much better choice for that client. We only work on projects where food is the focus and models are secondary. Occasionally we will have a model in the background of an image, but usually it’s just a hand reaching for, or holding something. It’s not necessary to always hire a professional hand model, although it does help, because hand models know what is expected, and are prepared to do whatever you need, even if that means contorting their hand into several awkward positions. But using a “real person,” like a chef or someone who works with their hands, can be a great way to add realism to your image. Hand models are often used in food photography to show scale, or just to add that human element. Even when we don’t use a hand model, we try to make you believe the person was just there by using things like a fork left on the side of the plate, a missing bite, a tossed napkin, even a trail of grease from the pizza that was on a cutting board. Hiring a hand model is also a great way to meet new people. It’s how I met my wife, Susie.

Special Effects Designer/Rigger This is getting into a highly specialized area, and not the kind of thing we need every day, but occasionally we have an assignment that requires the talents of someone who can create special effects. Most often used in video and motion picture applications, special effects designers can create “steam” or “smoke” that will last all day. They can create flames for a grill that can be turned on and off so as not to cook the food being photographed. They can rig a machine to pour the milk on cue so you can capture the perfect pour. All kinds of things are possible with the right designer/rigger.

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Model Makers Sometimes art directors come up with a crazy idea—like when I was asked to photograph pancakes made in the shape of the United States. Just the lower 48, thank goodness—not sure how we would have handled Hawaii or Alaska. We found a model maker who could craft a mold in the desired shape. Then the food stylist used that mold to cook the pancakes in.

E Note

Not all pieces are custom made; some are readily available—like acrylic ice cubes,

Acrylic ice cubes,

splashes and pours, or charcoal briquettes. We use acrylic ice all the time when

splashes, and faux

photographing drinks, because real ice would melt and dilute the liquid as we

charcoal briquettes

worked. Faux charcoal briquettes are handy when you need to shoot on a grill but

can be purchased

don’t want to smoke up the studio.

or rented from the trengovestudios.com. For

Some projects require us to work several months in advance of when our images

special effects and props

will actually be utilized, and if the growing season doesn’t align with our shooting

try the setshop.com.

schedule, we still have to find a way to get the job done. That may mean using peaches made by a model maker in February because real ones are not available until June, or using a silk vanilla flower because a real vanilla flower only blooms for 8–12 hours once per year.

Visiting Team While the home team may occupy most of your time leading up to and through the shoot, the visiting team also has key players that you will interact with either directly or indirectly throughout the process. The visiting team is made up of ad agency people, the client, and other vendors sourced by the agency. The visiting team is not the competition, and we do not win by beating them. We win when we all work together toward the same goal. So it’s important to know the visitors’ roles in a project.

Art Director The art director (AD) works for the ad agency and has responsibility for the project as a whole. This person is probably a big part of the reason I got an assignment in the first place, and I want to respect that. When I need input or have an image to

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Geoff Binns-Calvey, a special effects designer we hired to work with us on this project, made the coals in this image. You can see more of his work at manbehindthecurtain.net. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/8, 50 mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: William Smith Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

share with the “visiting team,” I go to the art director first. The AD is probably the most creative person on the other team, and as such can identify with the limitations and opportunities photography provides. The art director and I collaborate in much the same way that I collaborate with a food stylist. The art director will communicate what is needed and wanted for the project and then allow me the room to interpret that vision photographically.

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The art director wanted this image (for a salad dressing line) to be similar to a photorealism painting. We used a very directional light from above as our main light source in order to create crisp shadows similar to the kind you might see in an old-world painting. We then added a background in post to complete the effect. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/20, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Barbara Coad Prop Stylist: Sherry Wilson

Art directors come in all shapes and sizes—of personalities, that is. It’s like having a different boss every day, and some can make your life easy—particularly if they know what they want and are able to articulate it clearly. Others can cause a substantial rise in your blood pressure if they oscillate back and forth from one idea to another, or say things like, “I’m not sure the background is working,” when all you really need to know is, “Is the cheese melted enough?” The background discussion needed to happen about two hours ago.

Art Buyer The art buyer (AB) is usually our first point of contact on any project. The art buyer works with the creative team at the agency to identify the best photographers or illustrators for a project and then contacts them to request more information or an estimate. The art buyer negotiates licensing and cost with each vendor, allowing the art director to focus on the creative process and not have to deal with the financial aspects and logistics of an assignment.

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Creative Director The creative director (CD) is the art director’s boss, and usually only attends the photo shoot if the assignment is his or her own project, the art director is new, or the client wants the CD to be there. Being the highest-ranking creative at an agency does give the creative director tremendous power over the creative direction of a package or advertising campaign. I work more closely with the art director, but having the creative director in your corner is never a bad thing.

Copywriter Think of a copywriter as an artist who uses words. Copywriters and art directors are often paired up on advertising campaigns; one does the art and the other develops the copy. Unless the copywriter is also the creative director, you rarely see the copywriter on set.

Account Executive The account executive (AE) is a liaison between the client (read: corporate type) and the agency (read: Animal House). Bridging those two worlds is not easy and requires a certain type of individual. The account executive spends countless hours getting to know the client and understanding its business, so that the AE is able to speak to the client in a way that connects. The account executive must be able to negotiate, entertain, communicate, and build a relationship with the client, because he or she is ultimately responsible for the ad agency’s relationship with that client. On the set, account executives are the front line of communication. Once the art director and I have the shot ready for client approval or input, we ask the account executive to review it with the client.

Intern Occasionally the agency or client will request that interns be allowed to attend the shoot. They are usually given this opportunity as a way of expanding their knowledge in areas they may not normally come in contact with, or of preparing them for future assignments.

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Commercial food photography requires the involvement of an entire team.

Client The client has the ultimate decision-making authority, but the client rarely overrules the creative team’s recommendation. The client is there to make sure the company’s interests are being represented, not to do the job the agency was hired to do.

Home Economist and Chef Many food-oriented businesses employ home economists and/or chefs to develop and test recipes or products. Occasionally they will be asked to attend a photo shoot as well. Home economists or chefs may be there to answer questions about portion sizes, cooking instructions, or the overall look of finished product, but their presence on set can lead to problems if their role is not clearly defined. The home economist or chef may have spent a lot of time and effort creating a recipe or process, only to see a food stylist shortcut it, or use a different brand of gravy on the chicken because the stylist knows it will look better in front of the camera. To the chef this may feel disrespectful.

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Allowing the chef to have input is important, and you should do everything you can to include that input in the process, but it is also necessary that the chef understand what you need from him or her during a shoot so that they don’t feel the need to interfere at critical moments. Some chefs or home economists who are accustomed to being on set, and are aware of the etiquette required, can be an asset to the project by making sure the final image represents the vision of the marketing department without ignoring the realities of the product.

Printer It is unusual for the printer of the final advertisement or product package to be based in the same city as the photographer, but occasionally the printer is located here in Cincinnati. If that is the case, the client may ask the printer to stop by the shoot to review other projects or just observe the process.

Lawyer Never seen on set but always there, the lawyer is someone whose presence can be felt through the hesitations of a client looking at a final image for approval. Before getting to the shoot, the client may have had several conversations with the lawyers about which ingredients they could and could not show on the final package—and now the client is confronted with making a decision they know will have to be justified to the lawyers when they get back in the office.

Other People You’d be amazed at the people who show up at a photo shoot. We once did a project for a local company that involved an iced-tea splash. I think they imagined us shooting ice cubes from a cannon into a glass full of iced tea

Photo withheld, pending review by the legal department.

to create this incredible splash in one amazing shot. I couldn’t believe how many people showed up to see the “magic.” After they realized that we were going to

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shoot the ice cubes as one shot, the glass of tea as another shot, and then shoot splash after splash to get the parts we needed to composite it all in post, they quickly lost interest and slowly began leaving. It can be difficult to concentrate with all those people around, but it’s also a reminder that what we get to do every day is very special.

You Are Here It may seem a little silly to have such a formal communication structure on a photo shoot, but very early in my career, one of my clients recognized my lack of experience. He took me aside and shared with me why the way we communicate on set is so important. If the client is directing the food stylist and the art director is telling the photographer’s assistant what to do, the result could be chaos. The client might direct the food stylist to rearrange the baked potato on the plate, without knowing that the photographer had asked the stylist to place it that way because a portion of the plate would be cropped in the final image. The art director might ask the photographer’s assistant to go to the market and get more broccoli, without realizing that we also need more carrots, which would require another trip to the market later. Clear and consistent communication is an important part of helping a team achieve its goal. By having all information funneled through a single source— the photographer—it is easier for every member of the team to know what to do.

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unwritten Communication chart on set

Client Account Executive Creative Director Art Director

Chef

Food Stylist

Photographer

Food Stylist Assistant Prop Stylist

Talent/Models Digital Tech Special Effects Designer

Assistant

2nd Assistant

This chart may seem over the top, but precise communication lines on the set are critical for a smooth shoot and images that are successful.

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5 The Process The way we work, what we do first, and why we do it—all are part of our process, from the client’s initial telephone call to the hand-off of the finished images. And that process is constantly evolving and adapting to new challenges and opportunities. We read books, attend conferences, and network with our peers— all in an attempt to make our process, our structure, and our work better. There are parts of my process, like creating job files, that I learned as an assistant working in Chicago for a photographer named Jim Parks. Jim had a file packed with notes, diagrams, and Polaroids on every job he ever did. Other things you learn

ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/11, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

working on your own. Like how to communicate with an art director and how to deal with a food stylist who is having a bad day. Still other parts of our process come as the result of some very big mistakes. This chapter will detail our process from the estimate to the invoice, in hopes of helping you avoid some of our mistakes, or just helping you see new opportunities that could improve your process.

The Job Begins with an Estimate Because most of our work comes through ad agencies, our projects usually begin with a call from the art buyer requesting an estimate for an upcoming project. The art buyer will usually give us a brief description of the project, and if there is a tight deadline, will also confirm our availability for the days scheduled for the shoot. But to make sure we have as much information as possible from that initial call, we ask questions, lots of questions.

Do You Have a Layout? A layout can be a drawing, an illustration, a Photoshop file, or a die line. But the layout is really just a way for the art director to communicate to the creative team a vision of what the final project should look like. Some layouts are pretty minimal, and others are so detailed they could be entered in the Guru Awards at Photoshop World. A layout is also useful if the dimensions of the photo are irregular, or if there are graphic elements that will cover part of the photo. An advertising job is not the same as an editorial assignment, where the only question might be, “Vertical or horizontal?”

How Many Images Do You Need? We estimate each project individually, based on several factors, including the number of images requested, the creativity required to capture those images, and the way the images will be used. Although it may be necessary to consider how long it may take to complete an assignment, we do not base our estimates on hourly or day rates.

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Photoshopped Layouts One disappointment about the digital age and specifically the age of Photoshopped layouts is that, in the days before Photoshop, when an art director shared a pencil sketch with a client, the client understood that the final image would be much different. (For starters, It would be a photo, and not a pencil sketch.) But today, when a client is presented with a layout that has the look of a finished piece, that client starts to focus on the layout as the final product.

The art director never intended the layout to be the definitive visualiza-

tion of the final piece. He or she understood it was just a direction, a concept for the creative team to work with. But the client saw a photograph, and wants to know why the ad can’t just run as is! Clients may see no need for a photographer at all.

Basing your rates only on the time it takes to complete an assignment does not take into consideration the benefit your client receives from the use of your images, or the considerable skill you, as an artist, bring to the project. It may also encourage a client to request additional images beyond what was agreed to (without paying additional compensation), just because there is still “time” left in the day. When our estimate includes the number of images to be licensed, we are able to request additional compensation from the client if more images are requested, and the client benefits by knowing exactly what the cost will be, regardless of how long it takes us to finish the project. When photographers captured their images on film, it was understood that requesting additional shots would require the client to pay more, since film and Polaroid were not free. But today clients see additional captures as only the click of a mouse or push of a button. Each image is valuable, and whether it is easy or difficult for you to achieve should not affect its value.

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Need Help with Licensing? ASMP, the American Society of Media Photographers, provides advocacy and education for photographers. You don’t have to be a member to access many of the free resources they have available on their site. You can find more information about licensing at asmp.org.

How Will the Images Be Used? Are they for a package, a website, a menu, a concept for consumer testing, an editorial assignment—or all of the above? How long does the client plan to use the images and in what geographical areas (local, national, or international)? Understanding the intended use will help us to know what additional questions to ask and might even provide some insight into the client’s budget. Typically, clients don’t like to spend a lot of money for an image they may only show to 100 or so potential consumers in a focus group, but if the image will be used on packaging, they are usually willing to invest much more. If you are licensing your work, you will likewise want to charge based on the the way your image will be used and the value it will bring to your client.

Any Backgrounds or Props Needed? If the product is going to be outlined, meaning removed from the background in post, then all we will need is a gray sweep behind it, but if the product is going to be shown in a situation or environment, then we need to know what the background will be and whether there are any props we need to source. Clients may say they want a background that communicates “breakfast,” but do they mean something as simple as out-of-focus milk or juice bottles, lit from behind, or are they wanting a very specific type of surface and props that we will have to hire a prop stylist to find? You don’t want to base your estimate on a simple background, only to find out later that the client had a more elaborate set in mind. If you make that kind of mistake it will not only cost money, it could cost valuable time on set.

FAR LEFT  The client needed to license the use of this image only for a cookbook with a very short print run and limited distribution, so the fee was not too high. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/10, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

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We also want to know if our photography needs to match an existing package or advertising campaign. Is it something we have shot before? Will we have access to the same backgrounds and/or props that were used previously? If it is a shot we did, we most likely still have all the props and backgrounds that were used. We have a very large prop room, and we make it a habit to keep anything that is used on a set, especially if we think there might be additional shots needed later. If the shot was done by someone else, the art director might approach the previous studio and request certain items, but it is more likely that we will have to source the same items again, or find suitable replacements.

What About Garnishes or Other Food Props? This question is really meant to help the food stylist. The stylist needs to know if there are any unusual items we will need to source, and we need to include the cost of those items in our estimate. We once investigated having a fisherman in Florida catch and send us a whole tuna for a shoot. Ultimately the client decided to go in a different direction, but not before we researched and presented the costs and logistics needed to make it happen.

We once investigated having a fisherman in Florida catch and send us a whole tuna for a shoot.

Any Product Supplied or Purchased? Sometimes, depending on the product, the client is able to provide us with everything we need for a shoot, but there are times when we have to source virtually every item on the plate. More often than not, it’s a mixture of both. If the client is able to provide us with product, we ask for a minimum of ten times the amount of food we will be shooting. For example, if we were shooting a box

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One of almost 200 hamburger buns that have been hand picked at the bakery, put in plastic bags, placed in Styrofoam clamshells, and then stacked in a cardboard container and shipped to our studio.

of chocolates, we would ask for at least ten boxes, but if the client mentioned that the production varies and some are too light and others are too dark, we would ask for a couple of cases. And if we had to cut a few open to show the ingredients, we would want even more. If at all possible we prefer to receive the product components separately so that we can assemble them ourselves. A good example would be a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit. Even if the client provided us with ten cases of finished product, we might still have a hard time making it look good, but if they shipped us biscuits, eggs, sausage, and cheese separately, it would be much easier to get a great-looking sandwich. When we shoot hamburgers for a national fast-food chain we often receive more than 200 individually packaged buns for each sandwich we need to shoot. We recieve hamburgers by the case and pickles by the bucket. Any produce required will be purchased locally by the food stylist or my staff.

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Some clients may complain about having to send that much product, but companies that are used to commissioning photography understand that compared to the tens of thousands of dollars being spent on the photo shoot, the cost of the food is negligible, especially when you consider that the rest of the investment might be wasted if there’s not enough product to do the job right.

We recieve hamburgers by the case and pickles by the bucket. Any produce required will be purchased locally by the food stylist or my staff.

Do You Have a Budget? The answer to this one is often no, but they are not going to tell you if you don’t ask. If they do tell us their budget, we know right away if this is a job we can be competitive on. If they don’t have a budget, you might consider asking what other photographers they are requesting bids from. By knowing who you are competing against you will know if the client is doing a national search or just trying to find someone local who can do it for the best price.

A Final Thought About Estimates E NOTE

Our estimates include the usual things, like a job number, the project descrip-

Craft services refers

tion, and details about licensing, but several years ago I noticed that my highly

to the department in

detailed estimates, which broke down cost into several categories, were causing

film, television, or video

a few problems I hadn’t expected. Instead of helping our clients understand all

production that provides

of the expenses that were involved in a project, I found that some clients became

food service and

fixated on specific line items they felt were too high, or services they didn’t think

beverages on the set. The

were warranted, and these details became a stumbling block in our negotiations.

term is also widely used by still photographers

In reality, they should be comparing me against the other photographers based

when referencing the

on the bottom line, not the cost of craft services, so why would anyone need that

cost of meals.

much information? When you buy a bucket of fried chicken is it important for you to know what portion of the total price comes from the cost of transporting

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Our estimates list only five line items.

the chicken to the store? Or would you just like to know how much a bucket of fried chicken costs!? Our estimates and invoices now consist of just five lines. That doesn’t mean that we don’t calculate all of the costs associated with each project; we just don’t share all of those details with our client.

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Confirmation “Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.” —George Bernard Shaw What a mistake, two different clients showing up on the same day. And it almost happened. A few years ago I was going over details with one of our clients for a shoot that was suppose to take place later that week, and at the end of the conversation she said, “See you tomorrow.” What? I assured her that we had not agreed on that date and she must be confused, but it was difficult to prove. Luckily she was able to adjust her schedule to meet ours and disaster was averted, but out of that experience we devised this simple process, so that we would not make the same mistake a second time. Once the estimate has been approved and the project scheduled, we send a confirmation email to the art buyer or art director. This email confirms the day(s) we have booked and details our cancelation policy. By replying to this email, the client acknowledges that the dates are correct and that the charges for canceling or postponing the shoot are clear.

This is the email we send our clients to confirm a booking.

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Hold Versus Book When clients inquire about available dates, we share with them our availability and then ask if they would like to “hold” any of those days. If they do not want to hold any days and another client calls ready to book, we have no obligation to notify the first client that the day is no longer available.

If the first client had asked us to “hold” a specific day, then we would give

that client the opportunity to “book or release” before allowing anyone else to claim that day. How much time you give your client to make a decision is up to you; typically, we allow 24 hours.

If the date a client is looking for is already on hold, but the new client is

not yet ready to book, a second hold can be placed on the date. This same scenario can be applied to the way we book and hold food stylists, assistants, and other vendors for a particular date.

Pre-Production Planning The pre-production phase begins as soon as a project is booked. Once the client replies to our confirmation email, my producer confirms any stylists, assistants, and other vendors necessary for the assignment. The producer works with the client to coordinate the delivery of the product and communicates special needs to our staff or the stylists. The agency may request a pre-production meeting. Usually coordinated by the art buyer, a pre-production meeting is a time for everyone (from the client to the food stylist) to get together, sometimes in person, but usually on a conference call, to discuss details of how we plan to execute the shot list. We talk about product deliveries, how the client prefers their product to look, overall strategy, unique props or backgrounds, a grocery list for the stylist, and we generally gain alignment on what we plan to accomplish.

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Pre-Production Notes Pre-production notes are created by the agency and usually distributed as PDFs or PowerPoint presentations. They typically contain the names and contact information of everyone involved (client, agency, photographer, and stylist) along with any layouts or reference materials, cooking instructions, handling instructions, previous imagery, or anything else that might be relevant to the assignment. These notes often serve as an agenda for the conference call.

Choosing a Food Stylist The choice of a food stylist is one of the most important decisions we make on any assignment. Just because a stylist can bake wonderful cakes doesn’t mean you should hire that stylist to work on that upcoming pizza job. Many food stylists specialize in, or may just be better at, certain types of food. The way many photographers specialize in shooting people or cars. So it is important to do your homework and make sure the person you’re hiring is right for the job. You also want to make sure the stylist you choose is someone you can collaborate with easily. We rarely hire a food stylist for a project unless we have had the chance to work with that person at least once before. When I find a new person that I want to work with, I will ask that person to do a test shot. This way, we can work together in an informal setting and without the pressure of a full-blown production. I can gauge the food stylist’s temperament, abilities, and style before I risk my reputation hiring whoever it is.

Layouts and Mood Boards In a perfect world, photographers would create amazingly beautiful images of products that designers would then use to create packages that match the exact dimensions of the photograph. Copywriters would limit their text to the fewest words possible. The government would not require things like “net weight” to be on the front of the package or UPC codes to be a standard size. And brand managers would not insist that the entire background of the image be green.

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Example of a mood board.

Wood Surface Reflection on table in background

Fresh parsley not overdone Product looks moist Rice is not sauced over Nice texture on the napkin

Lighting feels like home Crumbs feel loosely styled Bright, colorful plate adds to casual feel

Color pallet

Logo Color

But in the world of commercial photography, layouts are created by art directors who are trying to merge the demands of brand managers, marketing departments, printing limitations, engineering constraints, and legal requirements to create something that consumers will find appealing on a store shelf or in an advertisement.

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By the time a layout gets to the photographer, many aspects of the design have already been determined—sometimes even how the photo should look. If we are working on a project that has a very specific layout, with lots of type or other graphic elements, we will ask the art director to provide us with a layered Photoshop file, where the image is on its own layer. If the art director can’t do that, then I will have my digital artist take the file, in whatever format provided, and create a layered file. We can then replace the image layer with our own capture to make sure everything fits correctly. To help communicate their design concepts to the rest of the team, many art directors will create “mood boards.” A mood board is a collage of images showing textures, colors, lighting, propping, or other elements that the art director would like to see incorporated into the photograph. One image may be used to illustrate the art director’s preferred type of grill marks, another may be for the kind of surface envisioned, and yet another could be an example of the kind of props the art director would like us to find. Some photographers might consider these boards to be an obstruction to their creativity, but I find it very helpful and when I do personal projects, I often prepare mood boards for myself.

The Day of the Shoot On the day of the shoot, the first thing we do is determine the shot order. Because some foods require more prep than others, we discuss the shot list with the food stylist to get the stylist’s preference on which shot to start with and which ones to wait on until later in the day. We want to group similar shots together, if possible, so that we can minimize the set changes and lighting changes needed. We also make sure the art director is in agreement with our plan. On more than one occasion, the shot list has been determined by when the final art is due. Final art is the file that the agency releases to the printer. We have literally had to shoot something first because final art had to be released the next day!

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Stand-Ins, Mock-Ups, and Heroes These are terms you hear a lot on a food shoot. Stand-in and mock-up are essentially the same thing; they refer to anything that is used to replicate what the final product will look like. We use stand-ins to help us arrange the set and set up lighting. The stand-in can be a perfectly styled hamburger, or a paper towel folded up and placed in a bun. A hero is just what it sounds like, the food you intend to use for the final shot. Spend any time at all around our studio and you’ll hear the phrase, “Don’t fall in love with the mock-up!” No matter how ugly the food stylist tries to make it, the problem with using the real product for a stand-in is that there will be some aspect of it that the art director or client will fall in love with—the way the lettuce looked so natural, or the highlight on the edge of the cheese—and you will have to spend the rest of your day trying to recapture that moment. Style endures, but fashions change. A couple of decades ago no one would have even considered using the stand-in for the final shot because the style of the day was to showcase perfection, but today’s style is much more relaxed. In fact, we rarely

No one is going to fall in love with this mock-up of a paper towel in a hamburger bun.

Celebrity Stand-Ins Photographers who shoot celebrities will sometimes hire a model as a standin who is similar in appearance to the person they will be photographing. This allows the photographer to test concepts and adjust lighting without the pressure that is generally associated with these types of projects. Then when the celebrity does arrive, there is not a moment of the celebrity’s time spent waiting for the photographer to figure out what to do next.

use a stand-in at all anymore. Instead, we try to capture spontaneous moments by going straight to hero, or final, and not fussing with the food on set as much as we used to. If it’s working—great, if not, we just clear the set and start again.

Staying Organized During the Shoot Keeping track of your favorite captures, tracking changes, and creating notes in a digital space can be challenging. One solution we use is a page we call the shot list. It is simply numbered lines, (representing each capture), where we can write notes about each image, circle selected images, make retouching notes, or otherwise detail what that capture represents. If we were shooting people, using a paper and pen to take notes would probably not be the best idea, but with food—we don’t typically capture that many images in a day, so it is a little easier to keep up. We also use a job sheet to help us organize various notes about the day—it is a diary of sorts, listing the name of the food stylist, prop stylist, art director, or others who were present—and recording the technical information about the lighting, exposure, how long we worked, and what we had for lunch. We use it to help us prepare the invoice, but it can also be used as a reference when we are working on a similar project, or shooting the same type of product again for a line extension.

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For example, if I were working on a project that involved shooting a slice of cake, and last year we shot something similar that I thought turned out really nice, I might pull that job folder and review the job sheet to see exactly how I set up the lights and other details that I could apply to the current project. When we are shooting for some of our regular clients, we often pull several previous jobs so we can make sure there is continuity between projects.

The shot list helps us keep track of which captures are the selects (circled), and which ones will need to be blended together in post (a line connecting two or more image numbers). We can make post-production notes right on this page, or note the difference between two seemingly identical shots.

We use this job sheet to track information about each project for billing purposes or when working on similar projects. Before digital capture, we also used this sheet to record how many Polaroids we shot and what type of film was used.

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Ready, On the Set We’ve decided what the first shot will be, I have a stand-in, and I know what camera I want to use, but before I can capture any images, I need to set up a destination folder on my desktop. Each file will be named using the project job number followed by a four-digit consecutive number (for example, 3568_0007). Let’s assume that today’s job does not have to match an existing package or ad campaign, and is an entirely new project. While the stylist begins prepping the first shot, I will use the stand-in to do a quick shot on the plate we want to use. I might even place the shot in the layout, just to see how everything fits. From this quick shot, I’ve probably noticed a few things about my lighting that I want to change; maybe the light is too far behind the subject or the shadows are too dark. The next several captures will reveal several different lighting scenarios, hopefully progressing toward one that works. At this point, I may want to check in with the food stylist to see how the hero is looking, and to let the stylist know the position of my camera and the direction of my light. As I continue to refine my light, I am communicating with the stylist to gauge his or her progress. I don’t want a situation where the food is ready and I’m not.

When to Involve the Art Director Art directors typically have responsibility for a project overall, so naturally you would want to involve them in any critical decisions on set, such as the choice of props, backgrounds, overall lighting, and the look of the food. But too much involvement can inhibit the creative process, and not enough can leave you scrambling later. The trick is to keep them in the loop, but out of your space. It’s hard to be creative with someone watching you make mistakes—and that is part of the creative process, trying new things, seeing what happens.

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One thing that I find works for me is to engage the art director early on— discussing our schedule for the day, what shot we plan to do first, the props we have selected and maybe even a few background ideas. If it is the art director’s first time at our studio, then a studio tour is in order. Afterward I direct them to an area of the kitchen filled with fruit, bagels, donuts, pastries, and of course, coffee. Encouraging the art director to feast while I get things ready in the studio. When I initiate the conversation and illustrate that I have a plan, art directors will be less inclined to insert themselves into my creative process. And the food will keep them in the kitchen for a little while, anyway. The only clients who show up at the studio having already eaten breakfast are new clients. Once I have something for the art director to see, I will call him or her over to the set. It may be that I want the art director to see only the camera angle and background I have chosen, to make sure we are in agreement. I don’t want to get everything done and be showing it to the art director for the first time, only to have them say they don’t like the way the background looks. There are some occasions when I may not ask the art director to look at the image at all until I have captured what I think may be the final image. Maybe we didn’t use a standin and all the elements just came together. Or maybe I have worked with this particular art director a lot and we know each other so well, we don’t need as much communication. Art directors are a lot like music producers. They allow the natural talent of the artist to shine through, but they also push the artist to discover strengths they didn’t know they had.

Approval Once the art director is satisfied, the account executive will let the client know we are ready for them on set, and when the client approves it—we’re done. If the client can’t be on set, but still needs to approve the shot, we will post the final image in a web gallery, or send an email, but this is not the best plan of

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action. Waiting for a client to respond can be the most frustrating part of the process and can easily add up to hours of lost productivity over the course of a day. If possible, enlist the agency’s help in convincing the client to defer to the judgment of those on set and not to require an approval before moving on to the next shot. You may still need to send an email, but at least you won’t have to waste time waiting to hear before moving forward. If you do have to wait for a client approval, make sure the client knows in advance that a timely response is critical, and let them know when to expect an email from you, so they can be ready. Nanci Dixon, General Mills Photography Studios Manager, described her company’s process for remote approval this way when she spoke at the 2011 International Conference on Food Styling and Photography in Boston: “When we send an email to our client for approval, in addition to the image, we always include specific information and questions.” Here is a list of some of the information General Mills provides with the image: CC

What we love about the shot: We love this shot because of the marble surface and rustic feel.

CC

What we need input on specifically: Is the height of the cake right? (Not what do you think of the cake.)

CC

Why we think the shot works: The image showcases the product in a way that is consistent with the brand.

Nanci’s department provides her General Mills clients with iPads and an email address that they can use to view and respond to requests for approval. Since hearing Nanci’s talk, we have incorporated several of her ideas into our own remote approval workflow.

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Post-Production As soon as we wrap for the day, my assistant copies the day’s selects (as noted on the shot list) from the camera workstation to the server. We start by creating a folder on the server, named the same as the job number. This folder will contain all of the digital assets related to the job, including the raw files (files that have not been processed), the processed files (raw files that have been processed and saved as tiffs), the working files (files that have been retouched using layers to provide maximum flexibility later), and final files (flattened files to be delivered to the client or agency).

Retouching Because all we shoot is food, and food is never perfect, we have a full-time digital artist who handles all of our post-production needs. After the files have been placed on the server, the first thing our digital artist does is add a copyright to the metadata, along with the job number, licensing information, and client’s name. Once this is done, the digital artist will usually call me in to review the images. Using the shot list as our guide, we talk about what needs to be done to each image, and if there are any reference files to be reviewed. A reference file may be an image that I placed in the layout, or an image that I retouched myself, just to illustrate to the client how we would could fix a problem in post. We bill these services by the hour, but we know that almost every project will need at least some retouching done, so we include one hour of post-production per day in almost every estimate.

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Final Files Final files are delivered as tiffs in RGB, unless the client requests otherwise. Layered files are delivered only in very specific circumstances and include a warning layer on top. Layered files are trouble for several reasons—layers can be turned off, modified, or deleted before they get delivered to the printer.

We include this warning on all layered files.

Delivery and Storage of Images When the files are finished, we upload them to our FTP site and send the client an email containing a link to begin the download. In some cases, depending on the number of final images, we might deliver the files using a thumb drive or a portable hard drive. We store all the files from every assignment on hard drives connected to our server. The hard drives are configured as a RAID, a redundant array of independent disks, so that even if one drive fails we won’t lose any data. But just to be sure, we also back up 200 of the most recent assignments, along with portfolios and other key files, off site on a weekly basis, using CrashPlan PRO. We don’t do this as a service to our clients, as we don’t want to give them the impression that we are an archival service, but we do want easy access to the images when we need them. If clients need us to locate a file for them, we are happy to assist, but we don’t want to be legally required to keep their files in perpetuity.

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The Job Ends with an Invoice That’s not really true, but it sounded good. The truth is, you still have to get paid, and making sure the client keeps coming back will require a lot more work in the months and years ahead. To help prepare the bill, my producer will gather billing reports, job sheets, retouching notes, and anything else linked to that job number. Once the producer has the final invoice ready, much like in the post-production process, we will review it together and make sure everything is correct before saving it as a PDF. We then prepare an email that is addressed to the art buyer or art director and also the person in accounts payable responsible for processing the invoice. We attach a PDF containing the invoice and a contact sheet showing the final files that are referenced by the invoice. The last thing is to print a hard copy of the invoice to give to the bookkeeper so it can be recorded in accounts receivables. Payment terms vary by client, but we normally request a deposit equal to 50 percent of the estimate before the project begins, and the balance due within 30 days of the final invoice. Especially if this is a new client that we haven’t worked with before. One last note. Our invoices clearly state the number of images that are being licensed, the duration of the license, what rights are being licensed, who they are licensed to, and that the copyright belongs to Teri Campbell. Only in rare cases do we agree to transfer our copyright to the client. Doing so means I no longer have any rights to that image. For some clients it is important to own the image, and if the compensation is right—then it’s okay with me too. To make sure those rights are protected, we file all of our images, once a month, with the United States Copyright Office.

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6 Marketing and Business Considerations Before I had my own studio, when I was still assisting other photographers, I asked one of them how he did it. How had he gotten started in business for himself? His answer was, “I just jumped in.” Sometimes in life you have to take a chance. It’s not wrong to plan and debate the correct path, but there are times when you have to follow your passion.

A recommendation by of one of our clients led to our receiving this project. ISO 100, 1/160 sec, f/8, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

My desire to create images for a living was never based on the financial returns it offered, or the fact that I might one day write a book about it. Photography was the only thing I really wanted to do with my life. If you don’t have that passion, that need to create, then save yourself some heartache and find another path. But if you decide to follow that dream and become an independent photographer, you’ll also have to learn how to run and market your business.

Getting Started After attending the Ohio Institute of Photography, I spent several years assisting other photographers in Cincinnati and Chicago, as well as working for the in-house creative group at Procter & Gamble. Eventually I reached a plateau in my career where I felt I was no longer learning and growing. I needed a new challenge. It was time for me to go out on my own. In Cincinnati, there were almost 40 commercial photographers, but only about 5 who shot food, and 2 of them were old enough to retire. Combine that with the fact that I liked shooting food, and you can see why food photography seemed like the perfect niche for me to promote. I didn’t shoot just food; I took any commercial assignment that walked through the door. Anything from babies to car parts. It took years for food photography to become 100 percent of my business. Ironically, it was around the same time that I decided to go out on my own that P&G began outsourcing some of the projects I used to do in house. What a great way to start—I was doing the same work for more money. But I also knew that it was not good to have the majority of my income coming from a single client, so I aggressively pursued small ad agencies that I knew had a relationship with P&G. I touted my experience working for P&G and my knowledge of their process and preferences.

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It took time, but I slowly began getting assignments from these agencies, and although the majority of my work was still traceable to one client, at least it came through different sources. Then, once I had established a relationship with an art director and proven my ability, I worked to convince them to hire me for other projects, hopefully ones that involved food.

This is a screen capture of the first page of our portfolio on our website. Your portfolio should reflect who you are as an artist and the type of work that you want to be hired to create.

My Dad always told me, “You’re only as good as your last job.” And that is definitely true when you work in a field that has no contracts—only assignments. You have to give 110 percent on every job. When I started my business, if something wasn’t right, I reshot the project for free. I wanted my clients to know that I was committed to giving them my best. I joke that I lost more money than I made those first few years due to my lack of experience and the complexities of estimating a project properly. But making sure I gave my clients the results they expected, at the price I promised, gained me a lot of trust and respect down the road.

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Building a Portfolio I’ve never had a potential client ask to see my diploma. A photographic education, although valuable, does not demonstrate your ability or style— only a portfolio can do that. My portfolio is a collection of images that I feel represent my best work and the type of work that I want to do. Even when I was still shooting babies for diaper ads, my portfolio consisted of only food images, because that is the kind of work that I wanted to shoot.

Even when I was still shooting babies for diaper ads, my portfolio consisted of only food images, because that is the kind of work that I wanted to shoot. The vehicle I use most often to share these images is my website, but if I am presenting directly to an individual or a small group, I will use an iPad instead of my computer so they can pick it up and have direct interaction with the images. If I need a physical representation of my portfolio to mail to a client or share with a larger group, I use Apple’s iPhoto to create a printed photo book. It’s high quality and inexpensive—making it an ideal choice when you know that what you are producing will be out of date within months. If I’m meeting with a potential client with a specific need, I will tailor the portfolio to that client based on their requirements. (The iPad version of our website allows me to create custom galleries.) But on our website—because it is intended for a wider audience—I include not only food images, but some personal work as well. There’s just something about seeing the images a photographer does when no one else is looking that tells you a little bit more about who he or she is as a person and an artist. When you present your work to potential clients, remember to keep the presentation short and focused. If you are presenting in person, try limiting the number of images to somewhere between 20 and 25. If you only have 12 great shots, show only 12 and not 13 images. And don’t show anything you have to make an excuse

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for. For example, “This would have been a better shot if the client hadn’t insisted on using a blue bowl.” Everything in your portfolio should be something you are proud of and should represent the kind of work you want to be hired to create. Your website could contain more images than you might share if you were presenting in person, because the viewer has control, but dividing them into galleries can help your clients know where to look for what interests them.

Marketing Your Business A portfolio is really just the first step in marketing your talents. You’ve created the ad, now we just have to get someone to see it! There are lots of ways to get the word out and let the world know that you have arrived—but you need to start slow.

Cold Calls One of my favorite marketing tools is the cold call. How cold is up to you. You can randomly call an ad agency and ask to speak with the art director who works on food accounts—or you can do some research first, like finding out if they even have a food account! You can also look to see if they have an art buyer on staff. The art buyer’s job is to source talent for the agency, so that person is much more likely to listen to your pitch. Gather as much information as you can and then make the call.

Word of Mouth Word-of-mouth advertising is one of the best ways to grow a new business—it’s cheap and persuasive. The best way to be introduced to a new client is through a current client. That peer-to-peer relationship has more influence than any postcard you can send to an art director or art buyer.

Testimonials Another way to leverage your current relationships for building new ones is to ask your best clients for a written recommendation or testimonial. Share this accolade on your blog, LinkedIn page, or in other marketing materials.

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One Free Day Change is difficult, especially for an ad agency trying to convince its client to invest a substantial amount of money in a new photographer the client has never worked with before. And what about the agency’s investment of time and money? The fact is, people don’t really want to jump out of the airplane unless they have a parachute. So why not make it easier for everyone? On more than one occasion, I have offered a potential new client who I believe is capable of doing several projects a year one free day. That means I waive my creative fee for one day of the project. They pay only the expenses. (If they want to book a multiple-day assignment, only the first day is free.) To make sure that clients are not misled by our offer and don’t expect a similar deal the next time, we quote the project as we normally would and then clearly indicate the reduced creative fee on the estimate so that everyone understands what the costs should have been—and what they will be next time.

Take the Cake This is practical advice for any presentation by a photographer to a potential client, but especially for a food photographer. Bring some food! If it’s a large group you are presenting to, bringing food will help make it bigger. And if you are just interviewing with one person—imagine the reaction that person will get from their coworkers when they bring a cake back from the meeting to share. Whenever we travel out of town to visit clients, if they are within driving distance we usually take a cake from the BonBonerie with us. The BonBonerie is a local bakery that has amazing cakes and sweets. Bringing clients something they can only get in Cincinnati reinforces the idea that our city is a destination for all things food, and especially food photography.

A cake from one of our favorite local Cincinnati bakeries, the BonBonerie. ISO 800, 1/500, f/3.2, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR

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Social Media Inexpensive and almost required in today’s marketplace, social media cannot be ignored—but you can decide which platforms offer your business the best return on investment. We utilize a number of channels, including our blog, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, but I believe our most valuable resource is LinkedIn. In addition to posting updates and promoting ourselves, we use it as a research tool for finding information about new clients or existing ones. I once received a call from a new client whose name I recognized but couldn’t place. By checking the profile under that name on LinkedIn, I learned that the client used to work at another ad agency that I had a relationship with. Problem solved, without any awkward moments.

Website Having a website where potential clients can review your work is no longer optional. When I am researching a new food stylist for a project, if the stylist doesn’t have a web presence, I know immediately that I don’t want to work with that person. A web presence speaks to a stylist’s credibility and status within the industry. Photographers are no different. Our website is built on a highly customizable template from aphotofolio.com. Utilizing the same service that many other photographers and illustrators have embraced means that our sites share similar visual and navigational features— making it easier for art buyers to find their way around. At one time I’d have opted instead for a highly individualistic site to match my tastes with its own style and navigation. But as the template sites became more popular among photographers, art buyers became more accustomed to navigating them and less tolerant of alternate navigation, even if the site was cool. The Portfolio section of our website consists of three sections: Food, Food for Packaging, and New Work. Because almost 50 percent of our work involves packaging, we feel it is important to highlight our work in that area. We also share Personal Work, a Client List, Images of Our Studio, and links to our Fruitcake Photography Contest, as well as books we have produced.

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Professional Organizations The most difficult part of leaving Procter & Gamble’s in-house creative group was learning to work alone. At P&G there were five or six photographers, and all of us worked together sharing ideas and techniques and critiquing each other’s work. That was all lost when I started my own business. But I have found that same energy in professional groups, like the American Society of Media Photographers, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. Not only are they places to share ideas, but also a wonderful way for me to expand my horizons and meet new people.

Conferences Keeping up with new trends and techniques is not always easy. Staying involved with professional organizations is one way, but you might also consider attending conferences, like PhotoPlus Expo in New York City, Photoshop World in Las Vegas, or the FoodPhoto Festival that takes place biannually in Tarragona, Spain. Another biannual conference for food stylists and food photographers, called the International Conference on Food Styling and Photography, is currently being revamped and may reappear soon.

Teri presenting a workshop at the FoodPhoto Festival in Tarragona, Spain. (Image © FoodPhoto Festival, Björn Göttlicher.)

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There are many smaller workshops available as well. Some, like the Santa Fe workshops, are long-running programs, and some are boutique events sponsored by camera manufacturers or by distributors.

Advertising Once your business begins to grow, you may decide to reinvest part of your profits into advertising as a way of reaching a larger audience. You might consider placing an ad in a magazine that your clients regularly read, or you might want to advertise in a creative sourcebook, like the Workbook. There are also a lot of options for advertising online. Buying a mailing list, or creating your own, is a great way to start speaking to a larger yet highly targeted audience.

Teri Shoots Food A couple of years after I opened my business, Teri Studios, I had an opportunity to place an ad in a regional sourcebook that would be circulated among potential clients. I turned to an art director that I had a close relationship with and asked for his help in creating the ad. Even though food only accounted for about 30 percent of my business at the time, it was one of the things that set me apart from other photographers, and I wanted to do more. The art director and his creative team (consisting of another art director and a copywriter) came up with some amazing concepts, but the one that everyone gravitated toward and the one that would define my career was “Teri Shoots Food.” The art was simple—a tomato splattered against the wall would fill the frame, and a sling shot with a basket of tomatoes would be outlined and dropped into the lower right-hand corner. Across the bottom of the ad in bold type it would read “Teri Shoots Food.” It was so simple, but—as with most great advertising—something that people would remember. Of course, I supported that message throughout the years, and some people I have worked with don’t even know my last name, but do know Teri Shoots Food.

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The original layout for our ad. Instead of throwing tomatoes against the wall, we dropped them on a sheet of white Formica laminate for the splatter effect. ISO 100, 1/60 sec, f/16, 210mm lens on 4x5 view camera with film

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The Workbook Similar to the sourcebooks, the Workbook is a national directory of talent that is used by ad agencies and creatives to find photographers or illustrators for their projects. Before the Internet was available, this was the “phone book” for these types of creative services. It is still published, in print and online, and is still helping creatives connect with great talent. But it is just one of the tools we use as part of our marketing mix. I have been an advertiser in the Workbook for several years now, and I would love to tell you a story about getting a $56,000 assignment based off of one ad, but I can’t. Not that the advertising we do with Workbook doesn’t create business— it does, but we can’t always trace every job to a specific source, and it might just be the cumulative effect of all our advertising that influences the buyer’s decision.

Direct Mail Another staple in our marketing plan is the use of postcards mailed to current and potential clients. Email blasts can also be effective, but I believe that there is just something special that happens when your clients are holding that card printed with your image in their hands. You can create your own mailing list of art buyers, art directors, ad agencies, and other companies, or you can purchase a list from companies like AdBase or Agency Access. The design of our direct mail has taken many forms over the years, but one of my favorite campaigns was “Eat. Shoot. Be Happy.”

Postcards If you decide to use postcards or other printed materials as part of your marketing strategy, one company worth considering for printing and fulfillment is Modern Postcard (moderpostcard.com). Their customer service is excellent, and I like knowing that I can place an order online, anytime. No more excuses or promises to do it tomorrow.

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Front and back of a postcard series that highlighted local eating establishments in Cincinnati. This one featured one of our favorite hangouts, Mt. Adams Bar & Grill.

The idea began when I noticed that when our clients discussed shooting in New York or Los Angeles, they didn’t mention the photographer’s amazing talent— instead they talked about where they ate each night. It was as if they went there for the food and not the photography, so I decided to produce a postcard campaign that highlighted the food of Cincinnati. On the back of each postcard we even included a map to show the restaurant’s proximity to our studio. The idea was simple—we have great food too!

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Hiring Representation At some point in your career, you will ask yourself—“Do I need a rep?” It might be because you already have one, and the rep is not bringing in the amount of business you expected, or it might be because you’re not busy, and you wonder, is a rep the answer? A rep represents you to potential clients. In a sense, a rep is your sales force— contacting clients and negotiating projects on your behalf. But a good one will also be your sounding board, motivator, and business partner. Most reps represent several photographers across different disciplines or geographical areas at the same time, and they receive a percentage of the photographer’s fee as their compensation.

In a sense, a rep is your sales force—contacting clients and negotiating projects on your behalf. But a good one will also be your sounding board, motivator, and business partner. As an entrepreneur who wears many hats, you may be very tempted to hire someone to be responsible for the negotiation and sales portion of your business. After all, marketing yourself is fine until you get busy on a project and everything has to be put on hold. Starting a conversation with a potential client in May and not following up until early August just doesn’t work. Another reason for hiring a rep is that, as artists, we have difficulty objectively valuing our own work. We live for the affirmation of others. If you told me you loved my work and thought I was the only person who could do the job, I would charge even less, but my rep would know to ask for even more. Traditional reps are not without drawbacks, one of them being the high commissions they often require, but another, more important consideration is that you are hiring someone to represent you and your talent—not just your company. Having a rep can feel very personal, because the rep becomes the face of your business, and every decision they make can reflect directly on you.

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What Are House Accounts? When a photographer enters into an agreement with a new rep, that photographer’s existing clients from before the agreement (referred to as house accounts) are often treated differently than new clients. The photographer and rep may agree that the photographer will handle house accounts directly and not share a commission (or will share a commission at a reduced rate) with the rep on those projects. Then any new work after the agreement (whether it is traceable to the rep or not) will be subject to a commission at the regular rate.

There are many photographers that have a quality relationship with their rep, and many situations where both parties benefit from their partnership, but my experiences have been different—at least until I connected with Wonderful Machine. Wonderful Machine is my rep, but not in the traditional sense. There are no longterm contracts, no fighting over house accounts, and no commissions. Imagine if a rep’s services were available à la carte. That is Wonderful Machine. I pay a monthly fee that includes a listing on their website and occasional showings of my portfolio to various ad agencies across the country. If one of those ad agencies asks me to quote on a project, I have the option of handling the quote myself or hiring Wonderful Machine to help me with it. I used Wonderful Machine to act as my rep when a large international company wanted to negotiate usage for one of my images. I felt that I didn’t have the experience to enter into such negotiations, so I authorized Wonderful Machine to do it on my behalf. They have also done portfolio reviews and assisted with other marketing issues—all without having to sign a partnership agreement. For me this is a perfect arrangement. For more about Wonderful Machine, see their website at wonderfulmachine.com.

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Customized Promotions Doing the same thing everyone else does can work in some situations, but in order to really stand out, you have to get outside the city limits and try something different. Some of those different ideas will fail miserably, but every now and then one of them will work. Here are a few that worked for me.

Studio Parties If you were a part of the creative community in Cincinnati during the 1980s and early 90s, there was one event that you didn’t want to miss—it was the Holiday Party at Media Center. The Media Center was home to a video production company, a commercial photographer, and a recording studio. Every year during December, they would invite several hundred guests to an outrageous party with live music, food, and an open bar. Having been to a few of those events, I witnessed the impact it had on their clients. It was as if they had been invited backstage to party with the band! By making the event exclusive, many clients made sure to book assignments just before A party invitation from 1992.

December to ensure their invitation, and the town was abuzz for weeks afterward with stories of intoxication and good times. As I began to think about ways to market my business—a party seemed like a pretty good idea. I didn’t want to compete with the Media Center event, but it turns out Cincinnati could handle more than one holiday party. After a couple of failed attempts at producing an event in any month other than December, we gave in and held our first Teri Studios Flamingo Christmas Party in December 1989. Over the next decade our party continued to grow, until it ultimately it became too large to accommodate in our studio and had to be moved to an off-site location—a bowling alley. Free food, free bowling, and an open bar! The cost and the attendance had continued to increase as well—the last year of our party had more than 500 people in attendance and a budget of almost $20,000.

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Eventually our party, just like the Media Center party before it, collapsed under its own weight. Every year it got bigger and bigger and finally was just no longer sustainable. Besides, our client based had also expanded and was no longer just regional, but national, and a lot of those clients couldn’t just stop by for a party. As a testimony to the power of these events, I remember meeting a potential client years after our parties had ended, who said, “We haven’t met, but I was at one of your holiday parties.”

You Are Here Studio Map After expanding our studio in 2005, we wanted to find a way to share it with our existing and potential clients. Our space is nearly 10,000 square feet and includes a movie theater, a game room, an enormous prop room, offices, and a patio. So we decided to create a map like you would find at an amusement park, with cartoon-like drawings that exaggerated the key features of each area. On the back we listed the top five reasons to shoot at Teri Studios.

We had a special name tag for the first person to arrive at the party, and one for the last person to leave. If the same person received both, he or she would win a limousine ride to the following year‘s party. Can you believe someone won? That’s means they spent more than eight hours at our event!

This whimsical map was created by Quincy Robinson, a toy designer and friend. We give the map to clients as they arrive at the studio and say, “If you ever get lost….” We also use the maps as leave-behinds when we visit new clients. It really helps to give them a sense of who we are beyond just our portfolio.

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Test Your Photography Skills with Fruitcake What began as a way of illustrating to our clients just how difficult shooting food can be has turned into one of our creative community’s most anticipated holiday events. In 2005, our clients were buying digital cameras and beginning to shoot less complicated images in house. In response, we saw an opportunity to demonstrate to them that shooting food was not as easy as it looked. The idea was simple. We would give our clients a fruitcake and ask them to shoot it. Try and make that look good! We asked our clients and friends to photograph a fruitcake and enter our contest. They could sculpt it, smash it, or dress it up—but the fruitcake had to be in the shot. Prizes ranged from $1,000 cash to iPods to iTunes cards. The submissions we received were amazing, and then we got something we didn’t expect—a video. We hadn’t even conceived of the possibility, but nothing in the rules prohibited it. Of course, the video took the top prize that first year, leading to the separate video category that we have today.

We designed a custom box to deliver our fruitcakes in. The box was designed specifically so that it could be either mailed or dropped off in person. By branding the outside of the box, we’ve made it so the recipient doesn’t even have to open it to know what’s inside.

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The winning entry in our 2008 Fruitcake Photography Contest, from Cindy Lund and Val Bourassa. The Small Fries Cookbook—a personal project we created to benefit the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

The next year, we had more than a few people complain about designers who were using Photoshop to get a leg up on the competition. So we added a nonmanipulated category to help level the playing field. Today there are three categories: manipulated, non-manipulated, and video, with a first and second place award in each category and also the grand prize—an Apple iPad. The best thing about this promotion from a marketing perspective is that, because we send out the fruitcake in the middle of December and the deadline for submissions is not until the end of January, many clients take it home with them during the holidays and share the concept and sometimes the fruitcake with their families. Some have gone as far as taking it on vacation. Even if they don’t do anything with it, most people will keep it on their desk, assuming they might get around to creating something—and then finally the deadline passes, they take one last look, and toss it in the trash, vowing next year not to wait until it’s too late to enter.

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FAR RIGHT  The recipe for these cookies, sent to us by six-year-old Dominic, is so simple and so good that we regularly make these cookies as an after-lunch snack for clients. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/12, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

That person has kept a box with my logo on it on their desk for six weeks! You just can’t put a price on that. Our most recent contest saw the inclusion of the Facebook People’s Choice Award. Anyone who wanted to vote could connect with our page and vote for their favorite image. So in addition to winners chosen by our judges in each of the three main categories, we also had a winner chosen by the people. And our Facebook fan base increased five-fold. You can find out more about our contest at fruitcakecontest.com.

The Small Fries Kid’s Cookbook I always thought it would be fun to shoot a cookbook, but no one had ever asked me to. So, as a personal project, we decided to create our own. The idea was to create a cookbook with simple recipes that kids selected and liked. Every recipe would have a photo, and the book would be bound with a glue strip instead of a normal spine so that pages could be torn out and used like recipe cards. We invited kids from across the country to send us their favorite recipe and a note about why they liked it. We also wanted to add a community service component and partner to the project. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book would be donated to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the book would serve as a promotional piece for everyone involved. The hardest part of a project like this is finding the right people to work with. From the beginning, Jacqueline Buckner, the food stylist, and Nora Fink, the prop stylist, were on board, but finding a designer willing to invest the time that would be needed was difficult. Then I met Brian Keenan, one of the owners of Openfield Creative. I was there to show him my portfolio and discuss possible opportunities for us to work together, but at some point I mentioned my idea for a kid’s cookbook and he lit up: “We’d love to work on that with you!” From there the project really took off. We enlisted

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To facilitate online ordering and promotion of the book, Openfield Creative designed this website. See more at smallfriescookbook.com.

a local printer, and a few local bookstores agreed to carry the book. A grocery store even donated $500 worth of groceries for our photo shoot. A licensed dietician contacted me and offered her services when she read about our project on a blog. We included several pages in the book on tips for healthy eating. The project took nearly two years to complete, from concept to final product, and when it finally went on sale, the book was very well received. We made the rounds on local television and radio shows promoting it, and for a while sales were good—but if I have learned anything from this process, it is that you can’t stop promoting. I thought once I had the ball rolling down the hill, I could just step back and watch it go. Turns out, it’s all uphill. In the end the book raised money and awareness for a good cause and still serves as a great leave-behind when we visit clients—especially ones who have children.

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Each recipe card has a photograph on the front and a recipe on the back. We also included a portrait of the child (sent by their parent), their first name and age, along with a brief story about why they liked the recipe.

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Part 2

Shrimp Creole, Po-Boys, and Beignets Assignment One: The Big Easy It began with a call from the art buyer. Her creative director had seen our ad in the Workbook and she wanted us to bid on a project for the New Orleans Tourism Board. The assignment was to capture images of classic New Orleans dishes—shrimp creole, po-boy sandwiches, and beignets. Normally I prefer to work in my studio with all the control that it offers, but as we talked it just seemed to make sense for us to shoot on location.

LEFT  Shrimp creole, shot on location at the Palace Café in New Orleans. ISO 100, 1/5 sec, f/5, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

PART 2 PAGE  ISO 100, 1/125 sec, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR

E NOTE

Even though the images would be cropped tight and you wouldn’t see much of

The Workbook and other

the background, I felt that the food would be more authentic if it was prepared in

publications like it are

New Orleans, and I personally felt that my photographs would be better if I was

one way photographers

immersed in the city and its people. This was, after all, for the tourism board.

can advertise to potential buyers. Physical publications and online counterparts allow photographers to showcase their work where individuals looking to hire a photographer can find them.

Preparations for the Shoot After we were awarded the project, the first thing we needed to do was find someone on the ground who knew the city. Luckily, I had met someone at an IACP conference a few years back who lives in New Orleans. He’s a photographer and a food stylist, so I knew he would know the best places to shoot, based not only on the look of the food, but also the lighting. Having someone scout the locations and lay the groundwork with the management turned out to be very important indeed.

E NOTE

We arrived on Wednesday to meet with the agency and review the locations that

IACP is the International

our location scout, David Gallent, had suggested. Originally we had planned to

Association of Culinary

review the locations on Thursday and shoot most of them on Friday, but when

Professionals, an

David spoke with the owners, it turned out that one location was not available

organization that

on Friday because there was a movie being filmed there, and another location

includes virtually

said Friday might be too busy for them to accommodate us. So we adjusted our

anyone who makes their

schedule and shot three of the four shots on Thursday and the last one on Friday.

living around food— chefs, food-bloggers, food photographers, stylists, writers, and restaurateurs.

Palace Café At our first location, the Palace Café, we had amazing window light and a private dining room in which to work. Having a room to ourselves made it very easy to work and not feel that we were interrupting the restaurant’s normal flow. It also allowed us to accommodate everyone who stopped by from the agency. The client, the New Orleans Tourism Board, was not on location with us, but we were not required to obtain their approval before moving on. They had delegated that authority to the art director on set.

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Here is the lighting setup for the shrimp creole.

The chef at the Palace Café prepared the basic ingredients we needed for our first shot (shrimp creole), and our food stylist, Jackie, began assembling the food on a plate similar to the way it was in the layout (rice in the center of the plate with the rest of the ingredients around it). While Jackie worked on the food, I began to think about how to make the most of the available light. I decided to place the table so that the window was slightly to the right and behind my set. I then added a white fill card on the back left side to help the light wrap around the subject, and I placed a black card on the front left side to create more intense shadows in the foreground. The wood surface came from The Green Project—started after Hurricane Katrina, it is a salvage yard for building materials and fixtures. Items are donated and then made available for purchase. You can buy wood, bricks, cabinets, fencing, tile, or just about any other building material here, with the proceeds being used to help those in need. For us it was perfect because the condition of most of the wood made for some very interesting backgrounds. Our only problem was finding pieces that we could fit in the trunk of our rental car.

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Far Left  Shrimp creole shot with available light. All of the rough natural surfaces give this dish a rustic feel. ISO 100, 1/5 sec, f/5, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

Jackie, the food stylist, and Teri working together on the shrimp creole.

After we finished capturing the shrimp creole the way the client had requested, and the client approved the shot, we changed the camera angle and restyled the food with the rice on the bottom. We also used a metal plate that we liked, but had been rejected earlier by the agency. We brought the plate and napkin with us from our prop room back in Cincinnati. In the end we were able to provide the agency with options to choose from and satisfy our own vision as well.

Parkway Bakery On Thursday we met up with the client at the Parkway Bakery to shoot the po-boy sandwich. We arrived about an hour before the shoot so we could grab lunch, which was delicious. I knew from the scouting that David had done that I wanted to shoot on the bar top, with its dark surface and the bottles in the background. David had also learned that because the Parkway Bakery was normally so busy, the only time of day we could shoot and not be in the way was between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., when things finally slowed down. Even then we had to wait for a few patrons to finish before blocking off enough space to set up our shot.

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Here’s the lighting arrangement for the po-boy sandwich.

Teri shooting the po-boy sandwich, with Parkway Bakery customers looking on.

Jackie got busy right away setting up her kit on the patio and getting a stand-in for us from the kitchen.

E NOTE

The lighting on this location proved to be the most difficult of all to control. There

The word gobo is from

were windows to the left that provided some very nice light, but there was also

“goes between” and

sunshine coming through a doorway to the right of the camera. Since we were

refers to something that

traveling light and I didn‘t have a flag big enough to block the light coming in

is placed between a light

through the doorway, I had my producer, Sherry, stand in the path of the light

source and the subject

to create a human gobo, readjusting her position as the sun continued to move.

to affect the shape of

I didn’t want to block all of the light, but trying to get the shadows where I want-

the light.

ed them resulted in my saying things like, “raise your arm, lean left, higher” as she adjusted her position. I wonder what the patrons in the bar thought of us.

This is the final result of all our scouting, planning, and last minute adjustments. The bottles behind the bar work perfectly to add depth to our image, and the dark bar helps the sandwich really stand out. ISO 200, 1/25 sec, f/2.8, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

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Here’s the lighting arrangement for the beignets.

Café Du Monde Friday’s shot was at Café Du Monde—a 24-hour mecca for sweet tooths, and a New Orleans institution. We stopped by on Wednesday and I quickly understood why David said he had trouble finding anyone in authority to talk with during his scouting trip. The place was so crowded that you couldn‘t see the counter, much less who was in charge. I had another problem. Since New Orleans was experiencing a cold snap, the opaque curtains surrounding the outdoor patio had been pulled shut, making it impossible to do a daylight shot there as I had planned. I left thinking we would have to buy 50 plain beignets, take them to an alternative location to shoot, and add the powdered sugar ourselves. Then, the next morning, after grocery shopping with our food stylist, we drove past Café du Monde. I noticed that it didn’t look as crowded as the day before, so we decided to stop in and have a look around. This time I was able to find a manager and describe to him what we wanted to do. He was happy to help us out, explaining that between 8 and 10 in the morning was actually their slowest time. Who knew? A place that sells coffee and donuts! So with plans to return the next morning, we headed on to the Palace Café with our groceries for that day.

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Far Left  Teri and the art director reviewing images on a laptop during the shoot. Teri shoots beignets at Café du Monde. Jackie’s workstation on the Parkway Bakery patio.

The Setup and Lighting We returned on Friday to Café Du Monde, a little earlier than planned so that we could snag the corner table by the window. I had hoped to use window light for this shot, but that was before I realized that the sun rose on the other side of the building and that the ambient light—from what seemed like a thousand light bulbs inside—overpowered the little bit of daylight there was coming through the glass. So I had to go with plan B, a hand-held flash positioned just in front of the window, with a large white silk on the left side to soften the shadows.

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E NOTE

I had considered using the silk to soften the flash, but after a few test shots I

TTL stands for through-

decided I liked the harsh light created by the small flash. I was able to use some

the-lens metering, and

of the available light as well to fill in shadows, especially when the sun began

it allows the camera to

bouncing off the windows from the building across the street. As the sun con-

participate in deciding

tinued to rise and the clouds shifted, our lighting conditions were constantly

the proper exposure

changing, requiring adjustment of my exposure throughout the shoot. Because

for the flash. With my

my Speedlite was set to auto and I was using TTL metering, I didn’t have to worry

camera set on manual

about changes to my f-stop affecting the flash exposure. I could concentrate on

and the flash set on

getting the ambient light exposure correct.

auto, the TTL metering system will determine

Getting the flash off camera but still being able to utilize TTL metering is not

when the flash exposure

always possible, but with the PocketWizard MiniTT1 and the FlexTT5, the process

is sufficient and shut

is simple. The MiniTT1 mounts on your camera’s hot shoe, and the FlexTT5 has a

down the flash at just

hot shoe for your flash. Using radio frequencies the FlexTT5 is able to not only fire

the right moment.

the flash remotely, but it can also transmit the TTL data to the flash so that you get the proper flash exposure every time. Although the manager had told us to do whatever we needed—the servers make their money on tips, so as adjoining tables opened up we found ourselves bribing the servers to allow us to expand our set.

As the sun continued to rise and the clouds shifted, our lighting conditions were constantly changing… In the layout there was a person in the background holding a cup of coffee. We had decided at the pre-production meeting not to hire a model and just use someone from the agency instead. During my test shots, I had asked my assistant, Sarah, to stand in, and even thought we hadn’t planned on using her for the final image, she was perfect.

We chose a location by the window, hoping to use natural light for the shot, but the ambient light in the room was too strong. Our solution was to use a hand-held flash and overpower it. ISO 125, 1/80 sec, f/2.8, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

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Beignets and Styling When it came to the beignets, we could have ordered several plain ones, sorted them out for the best shape, carefully positioned them on a plate, and then slowly sifted the powdered sugar over them. Or we could just place an order and see what we’d get! We chose the latter. The reason was that we wanted them to look spontaneous and natural, and if you spend too much time fussing with something, it can start to look like you spent too much time fussing with it. Even when we are working in the studio I often prefer to have the stylist rebuild a dish that isn’t working rather than continue to keep moving things around trying to make it work. Sometimes it’s best just to start over.

Image Post-Production Whether I am on location or working in the studio, I shoot with my camera tethered to the computer if possible. When I am using the Canon DSLR, I’ll use Canon’s proprietary software to capture and name the image, but I use Adobe Bridge to view the images. I will usually make some adjustments to the raw files using Adobe Camera Raw. On this assignment is was mostly minor adjustments using the sliders in the Basic panel, including color balance and exposure, or maybe adding a little fill light or clarity, but I always made sure to check the box for Enable Lens Profile Corrections from the Lens Corrections panel. This helps to eliminate distortion inherent to the lens and also helps with chromatic aberration. Chromatic aberration is a type of distortion caused by the lens’ inability to focus all of the colors on the same convergence point. It will look like color fringes along a high-contrast edge of the subject. After I got back to the studio, I had my digital artist, Scott, go through the files and see if there was any additional cleanup work that needed to be done on details we hadn’t noticed when looking at the files quickly on location. In the case of the po-boy sandwich, I noticed when I was adjusting the color using Adobe Camera Raw on set that I liked the background bluer, but I didn’t like what it did to the food, so I asked Scott to process the file two ways: one warm for the

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sandwich and one bluer for the background, and then combine the two images in post. We also adjusted the color on the pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes to make them just a little richer.

New Orleans Redux Working on location requires improvisation and some luck, especially when using natural light. The effort paid off adding local flavor to the final images

Before (left) and after (right) images. Notice how adding blue to the background helps the sandwich stand out—and it feels more like natural light. We even let some of the blue light “spill” onto the paper. The pickles needed the most help, and we also added color to the tomatoes and lettuce in post.

for the New Orleans Tourism Board.

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Ice Cream Scoops and Shakes Assignment Two: Ice Cream Headaches Nothing makes me want to get a real job like my parents always told me to as much as an assignment to shoot ice cream. With the subject threatening to melt under your lights on the set, it’s, well, a headache. There are some special preparation requirements and timing issues that make shooting ice cream, frozen drinks, or desserts a very demanding assignment.

This peppermint pie image was part of our Small Fries project (see Chapter 6). To make sure it looked natural we added the chocolate sauce and peppermint pieces on set. The melt on the front corner added to the realism and approachability of the image. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/11, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner, Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

Here we’ll explore some of the assignments that I’ve worked on in my studio in Cincinnati and learn about the techniques I use. So turn down your thermostat and let’s get started.

Ice Cream Scoops It’s August and we’re in the middle of a two-week shoot for an ice cream manufacturer we have worked with before. This time we are shooting ice cream scoops that will be used on their new packaging. The air conditioner is working overtime trying to keep the studio at 65 degrees, and the food stylist is bent over a small freezer styling scoops of ice cream. Next to her is a table where she keeps her

Here is the lighting arrangement for the peppermint pie. Notice the specular light source to the left of the set creating the hard shadows and texture on the top of the pie. We wanted the background to disappear, so we used a light behind the set—shining through a diffusion screen—to blow it out. A shallow depth of field also helped “soften” the background.

B 8”

bent foam core

A

8”

5x5 diffusion screen

2x4 table

Power settings (watts per second): A=495, B=62, C=108

C 8” 2x3 foam core camera

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tools—all sorts of scoops, paddles, and tweezers—shoved into a bowl of shaved dry ice. The dry ice keeps the tools cold so that when she scoops the ice cream they don’t melt it. Forty bulk ice cream containers (2½ gallons each), enough for the first week, were picked up two days ago and placed in chest freezers set at 0 degrees. This is done so that the product can temper, or stabilize. If the ice cream is too cold when the food stylist is ready to work with it, it will be almost impossible to scoop, and if the ice cream is too warm, the “barking,” or texture, won’t look right. This ice cream was styled using the “slice” technique.

Technique If we are shooting just the ball of ice cream and its “skirt,” sometimes called the

ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/22, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Lisa Marie DeVille

“collar” (the fluffy ice cream that surrounds the ball), the stylist uses a 4" x 5" white card as a base. The stylist first scoops a small ball of ice cream using a regular scoop (a couple of sizes smaller than what the final size will be). Next, a paddle is used to scrape off a thin layer of ice cream—usually about ¼ to ½ inch thick— from the top of a carton that has not been dipped out of. The stylist then places that thin layer over the small ball of ice cream. At this point it looks like a slab of stone balanced on a rock. The stylist then takes an ice cream scooper that is the actual size wanted and uses it to push the slab onto the small ball of ice cream, rounding it in the process. The full size scoop utensil has the mechanical sweeper arm removed, making it basically a half dome. This helps it form the perfect scoop without the arm getting in the way or dragging. Next the stylist adds the skirt by using tweezers to scrape ice cream and place it around the ball. Once the scoop is perfect, the stylist closes the freezer lid and allows it to solidify for a few minutes before taking it to the set. Because the scoop cannot be placed in the exact same position on the card each time, we have to find another way to mark the position on set. In this case I used a c-stand with two arms, one placed horizontally and the other one at the end of the first, placed vertically. The end of this vertical arm is just an inch or two above the center of the scoop. When the stylist is ready, he or she brings the ice cream

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LEFT  The food stylist keeps her tools in dry ice, so that they won’t melt the ice cream when they come in contact with it. RIGHT Marking the placement of the ice cream scoop so it can be swapped in and out quickly. The entire armature can be swung out of the way before the final image is captured.

to the set and slides it on the background until it is directly under the c-stand’s arm. We then spin the c-stand out of the way if necessary, and shoot—quickly! It should be noted that not all stylists use the slab, or slice, technique—I have worked with some stylists who just scoop it like you would at home (except with an ice cream scoop that has been buried in dry ice for several minutes). They are able to get some amazing results from this technique as well, but the former is the most common way that I see food stylists work with ice cream. If possible, have an assistant food stylist scoop out the smaller ice cream balls and let the lead stylist focus on the finishing touches. We have even hired off-duty firefighters, or anyone else with strong arms, to do the small scoops for the stylist. Be aware that many food stylists will charge higher rates for ice cream work, because of its specialized nature.

Lighting Before the stylist began scooping the ice cream, I had her make me a stand-in using fake ice cream (see recipe in sidebar) that I could use to help in setting up my lighting. With ice cream, it’s all about texture—making the colors pop is nice, but you have to get great texture on the surface of the ice cream. Since a scoop is pretty small, the light source needs to be as well, at least in relationship to the

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subject. A large light source placed too close to the subject will cause the light to wrap around the sphere and fill in the shadows, reducing the contrast and texture. One of my favorite ways to light ice cream is to use a silver-lined extra small Chimera soft box with the front diffusion screen removed. It’s basically a bare bulb with a silver reflector. I place it very close to the ice cream (about 1–2 feet), so that the light falls off very quickly, and because it’s so harsh it creates nice texture and just dark enough shadows. If the ice cream is going to be shown in a bowl, or cup, or anything else that I can block on set, I do that next. Normally when I want to exchange a stand-in for a hero, I place small weights or markers around the bowl (this is called blocking). I then lift out the stand-in, replace it with the hero and then remove the markers— but with ice cream, you don’t have that kind of time. With ice cream I like to mark the bowl or cup in such a way that I don’t have to remove the marker. A couple of weights behind the bowl that cannot be seen from the camera angle, or a piece of foamcore cut out to fit up against the back of the cup and then taped down to the surface. Anything that won’t move and can serve as a backstop when we’re placing the hero ice cream bowl into the shot.

Using a silver-lined Chimera soft box with the front diffusion screen removed to light ice cream.

Recipes for Creating Faux Ice Cream Ice Cream Recipe #1 1 lb. Confectioner’s sugar 1/3

cup Crisco shortening

1/3

cup Karo corn syrup

Ice Cream Recipe #2 1 can Canned frosting 1 lb. Confectioner’s sugar

You can adjust the texture for either recipe by adding Karo corn syrup if

it’s too dry, or adding confectioner’s sugar if too moist. Do not freeze to store, but place the mixture in an airtight plastic bag.

Note: For soft-serve-style ice cream, use same recipe as above (recipe #2),

except add two cans of frosting instead of one.

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The UDF billboard with the “smile” added by the agency in post. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/25, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Lisa Marie DeVille

More Scoops For this project, we knew from the beginning it was going to be difficult to find just the right bowl and have it match with the size of ice cream scoop we needed to use. We also knew that if the bowl was not tempered in the freezer along with the ice cream, the ice cream would begin to melt when it was placed in the roomtemperature bowl, especially in the areas where it came in contact with the bowl. And if the bowl was kept in the freezer it would start to condensate, or appear too frosty, when we brought it out of the freezer. So we decided to shoot the scoops and the bowl separately.

Technique The scoops were shot in a different bowl, one that was proportional to the scoop, so that the skirt still looked like it was in a bowl, and to make it more believable when we combined them in post. The bowls we found that were the correct size were not white, so they had to be spray painted first and then placed in the freezer with the ice cream. We also made sure to have several of them on hand, to make it easier for the stylist to keep working and not wait for us to clean the bowl and get it cold again each time.

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Lighting

E NOTE

I also wanted to try something a little different for the lighting set-up. I wanted

This ice cream project

the ice cream to feel more like it was being lit from both sides, which is called rim

was intended for every-

lit, like many of the portraits I see these days.

thing from billboards to magazine ads. Using

So rather than opt for one light source gently wrapping the circumference, I

an image on a billboard

decided to bounce one light off of a 4' x 8' piece of foamcore on the left side

doesn’t affect the way we

of the set, and shine another light through a 3' x 3' diffusion screen on the back

capture. The resolution

right side of the set. Another sheet of 4' x 8' foamcore placed directly to the

used is often less than

right of the camera provided fill light. Both pieces of foamcore were bent in the

a magazine ad, because

middle horizontally, to direct the light back at the set. The light bouncing into the

you view a billboard from

foamcore on the left of the camera was 50 percent brighter than the light shining

a greater distance.

through the diffusion screen on the back right of the set.

8”

2x4 table A

B

3x3 diffusion screen

8”

bent foam core

This is how the bent foamcore looks.

bent foam core

camera

Here is the lighting arrangement for the UDF ice cream campaign. Power settings (watts per second): A=750, B=570

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145

The hero empty bowl that was used.

Best scoop overall, but it needed more inclusions.

Additional ball of ice cream shot for pieces and parts. Notice the nice piece on the right side.

Image Post-Production The assembly of the final images happened in post. Since two of the three flavors had inclusions (like cherries, chocolate chips, or cookies) in them, and because it is almost impossible to capture a nice round ball shape, a natural looking skirt, and the perfect relationship of both to the bowl—we didn’t worry about the inclusions looking perfect. Just the opposite: we tried to make sure the ball that would be used for the base had nice texture. Then we shot additional balls of ice cream that had great inclusions showing, and edited them together in post. Elements used to make up the final image.

Notice the perfect cookie on the top of the cookies and cream flavor. It wasn’t there in the original shot; it was added from one of the additional shots we did. It wasn’t necessary for these additional shots to be placed in the cup, so the stylist styled them on 4" x 5" cards, and I shot them separately.

Is That Legal? If you are shooting ice cream for a package, it should be real ice cream and it should be that particular brand of ice cream. The only exception I see to this is when it is just not possible to duplicate the product in its natural state. Like an ice cream novelty that has several layers of ice cream and chocolate and nuts. It may be that you have to use fake ice cream because the real product just can’t hold up long enough for you to get the shot, and as long as you are not trying to

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Additional ball of ice cream shot for pieces and parts. Notice the cookie showing on the top.

One more for pieces and parts.

The finished shot before it was dropped into the hero bowl.

embellish the product in a way that makes it look like something it is not, then it usually won’t be a problem. Government agencies are usually concerned only with advertising that makes false claims or misleads consumers, and besides, it’s those consumers you have to worry about—corporations are far more likely to make changes to packaging due to consumer complaints than government intervention.

Ice Cream Product Request When requesting product for an ice cream shoot, we ask for one to two bulk containers of each flavor, but if there are inclusions in the ice cream (like cherries, chocolate chips, or cookies) we ask for even more. The reason we need more is to get a scoop that is aesthetically pleasing and representative of the final product. We have to shoot lots of ice cream. Even then, it’s very difficult to get a scoop that has good texture and just the right amount of inclusions in just the right places.

One way to help speed up the process is to find one scoop that looks good

overall, even though it may be lacking a few chocolate chips, and combine it with other images that have great looking chocolate chips, but don’t look as nice all around.

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FAR RIGHT  Is it real ice cream? Nope.

If you are shooting for an editorial assignment then there are no such stipulations.

ISO 32, 1/100 sec, f/16, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Lisa Marie DeVille

area. For example, if you were shooting for a story about summer for a national

But when the main product being advertised is not ice cream, you’re in a gray magazine, you could shoot fake ice cream all day long. If you were selling ice cream toppings like sprinkles—you could use fake ice cream then, too. The gray area is when the main product is a pie and you show it à la mode. Should the ice cream be real? Again, I believe that as long as you don’t misrepresent the product, it shouldn’t matter. Besides, if it’s done well enough, who will really know the difference?

Here is the lighting arrangement for the fake ice cream and the berry cobbler. Power settings (watts per second): A=1610, B=495, C=76

bent foam core

8”

A

2x3 foam core

2x3 table

8”

C

2 glasses w/ gel on top

8”

cutting board

B

3x3 diffusion screen

bent foam core

camera

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Shake It Up Shooting a milk shake or other blended drink is all about trial and error—finding just the right mixture of ice cream, milk, and “melt” to achieve that look of thick but drinkable can be a test of your patience.

FAR LEFT All elements were combined in Photoshop to get the best looking shake. ISO 40, 1/100 sec, f/20, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Lisa Marie DeVille

Technique I always try to capture straws and spoons separate from the shake or sundae. This way they can be placed at the exact angle you need them in post, or even moved to the opposite side. Sundaes especially benefit from being shot in stages, especially if the cup has a logo on it, or a side that needs to face the camera. The first thing I do is to find the best-looking cup or bowl. If it is a paper cup, I fill it with instant mashed potatoes, or anything else that will block the light so that it doesn’t make the cup look transparent. Then I make sure the logo on the cup is square to camera, and capture that image. After that I can build the sundae or shake in another cup, but I don’t have to worry about which direction the logo is facing. I combine the hero cup image with the best ice cream image in post.

The cup without condensation. Sometimes if the water drops make the logo too difficult to read we combine parts of this image with the image that has condensation.

The hero cup with condensation. The spritz to create the moisture is a mixture of 50 percent water and 50 percent glycerin.

The hero milk shake. It doesn’t matter that the cup is not centered, or that the straw is badly positioned.

The hero straw, which can be placed at a perfect angle in post.

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This is the lighting arrangement for the milk shake. The black card lying on the table in front of the cup is there to increase the contrast and make the spritz stand out. It also keeps the table surface from reflecting back into the cup and washing out the color.

2x4 table w/ dark grey formica black card

Power setting (watts per second): A=1310

glass bottles

black card

18” reflector & defusion

2x3 foamcore

camera

Lighting It’s always a good idea to be thinking about your food stylist when you are lighting your set. If you surround it with cards and lights, how will the stylist get in to touch anything up? And if you are shooting anything frozen, a clear path to the set is a necessity for the food stylist. Try to simplify lighting when possible, and place cards on stands or arms that can be swung in and out of the way quickly.

Image Post-Production Small type or logos on packaging can become distorted underneath water droplets. By capturing an image before and after we add spritz, if the logo or other type is unreadable, we simply clone over it in Photoshop using the image version that didn’t have condensation. We usually don’t clone the logo or type at 100 percent because then it might look like the area was purposely avoided or cleaned, but we can take off some of the water drops that are the worst offenders, or dial down the opacity to make them look less distracting.

The hero cup, the one that is shot straight on to camera (or whichever direction you prefer), is used as the base image. The perfect milk shake is then added to the top of the cup by outlining it and placing it on its own layer above the base cup. If everything was locked down properly for each version, then each image should line up correctly. The straw can be added in the same way, but you have a little more flexibility with the placement. You can easily move it up or down—or even to the other side. The final phase is outlining the image to create the finished piece. You may want to leave the straw slightly transparent so that once it is placed on the new background it will still appear to be see-through.

Final Thoughts on Ice Cream Ice cream can be a challenging subject, but done well it’s also beautiful. With the right amount of planning, the rights tools, and the right stylist, it’s not so bad shooting ice cream. Until you get that electric bill.

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Would You Like a Drink with That? Assignment Three: Liquid Pours & Splashes Although shooting drinks, pours, and splashes can be a photography specialty all its own, as a food photographer, I am often asked to shoot liquids as a part of my regular assignments. Combo meals for large food companies are the obvious: “Would you like a drink with that?” I have also shot milk splashes for packaging and honey pours for cough syrup. And although it’s never easy, it’s always a lot of fun—and it’s one of the few things

This image was originally shot as part of a menu for one of our clients. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/11, 90mm lens on Sinar P3

that doesn’t require a food stylist. Having a food stylist, or rigger, on set when you are shooting beverages can be helpful, but it’s not always necessary. Shooting liquids can be about capturing the moment, or it can be a testament to your Photoshop skills. Most of the time, it’s both. It’s wonderful when you can just capture the moment as it happens, as was the case with the Coca-Cola shot on the next page. But there are other times when compositing an image gives you complete control over how each of the elements interact and work with the layout. The important thing is to make viewers believe that what they are seeing is real.

Get Your Ice Cold Drinks Here! E NOTE

Making a glass of cola look cold is not that difficult; making it look refreshing is.

Artist tape is a

The first thing I do is spray the cup or glass with either a clear or semi-matte lac-

repositionable white

quer (available at most art supply stores), depending on if I want the glass to look

tape, usually sold in

frosty or not. Unless it will be filled all the way to the top, I mask off the portion

1-inch widths, and it

of the glass above the “fill” line using artist tape, and then spray the glass with

doesn’t leave any residue

lacquer. The lacquer gives the water droplets some “tooth” to cling to, and in

when removed from the

the case of the semi-matte lacquer, it gives the glass a frosty look. The reason for

glass. Drafting tape has

leaving the top of the glass clear is that condensation would not naturally form

similar properties and

above the liquid level, unless the glass itself had been stored in a cold environ-

could also be used.

ment. After the spray dries, I apply the spritz (a 50/50 mix of glycerin and water), using a spray bottle. After removing the tape I’m left with a glass that looks cold, but still has no ice or liquid in it.

E NOTE

Next comes the most difficult part, for me anyway: arranging the acrylic ice cubes

Floating ice (or rubber

so that they look natural and not like a game of Jenga. The top of the glass,

ice) can be purchased

where the ice breaks the liquid level, can be especially difficult, because if the ice

from trengovestudios.

appears to be lifting out of the water (and not floating), it will look fake. If the ice

com, along with acrylic

barely extends above the level of the liquid, the drink may look watered down.

ice and other props.

Another option is to use a synthetic rubber ice, which can be broken into a variety of shapes to look like small cubes or crushed ice, similar to what you get in a commercial ice machine—and it floats!

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The artist tape prevents the lacquer and spritz from showing above the “fill” line.

Using lacquer helps the water droplets stand up. Think of rain on a freshly waxed car. Using a semi-matte lacquer will add a frosted appearance to the glass, and clear lacquer will not.

I prefer to arrange the ice on set, so I can see how it is reacting with the light. These cubes are basically multifaceted mirrors, so it’s easy to get hot spots or near-black shadows. The liquid is another variable. If you are shooting root beer, some hot spots might work to your advantage. If, however, you are shooting lemonade, the arrangement of the ice has to be near perfect.

I sprayed the glass with clear lacquer before spritzing with a 50/50 mixture of glycerin and water using a spray bottle. By shooting immediately after the drink was poured we were able to capture an image that looked completely natural and required very little work in post-production. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/11, 90mm lens on Sinar P3

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Coca-Cola Although the Coca-Cola image was for a menu, the drink didn’t need to be shown with a specific meal, so we were free to arrange the set in any way we wanted. By including the bottle and the cap in the shot, we reinforced the feeling of “hey, someone was just here.” The rough wood is reminiscent of a picnic or a family gathering and contrasts against the smooth glass and bottle. If I can connect with the viewers on an emotional level, I will have a better chance of causing them to respond to my photograph, and buy a Coke. Maybe this image takes them back to a summer picnic with friends, or a time spent in the backyard with kids. I believe it’s those emotional connections that affect what we buy or what we are drawn to.

Here is the lighting diagram for the Coca-Cola image.

A

Power settings (watts per second): A=188, B=62, C=108

8”

8”

5x5 diffusion screen

bent foam core

B

8”

2x3 foam core

4x5 camera

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F o o d P h o t o graphy & Lighting

C

Technique and Lighting Even if the drink has to be included with the rest of the meal in the final image, I prefer to shoot it separately, so that I can make small adjustments to the lighting as needed, making sure the drink and the food look their best. This also allows for more flexibility in the proportion and placement of the drink in the final image. If the drink were captured along with everything else, we would have to make sure the lighting worked for both the liquid and the sandwich—and we would not be able to move the glass or change its size. Capturing the glass alone allows us the flexibility to make it a little bit smaller or a little lower in the frame. Sometimes I capture the main image with the glass full of cola in the approximate position it will have in the final image, so that we have accurate shadows cast across the rest of the food. But I also capture it without the glass, so that we have uninterrupted background in which to place the final drink.

This version has no spritz (condensation), just nice foam.

Some condensation in this shot, but not enough. Getting water on the background doesn’t have any impact, because the final image will be outlined.

This one has just the right amount of condensation.

Too much condensation for me, but I like the ice above the liquid better here than in the previous two shots.

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Another advantage to shooting the glass separately from the rest of the food is that I can capture several levels of condensation on the glass. With the method

FAR LEFT  The final merged Coca-Cola image.

I’ve outlined above, it is not possible to add more spritz to the glass once the tape protecting the top of the glass has been removed But if you don’t spritz the glass at all, and capture the glass without condensation, you can then spritz the glass knowing that any water drops that land above the liquid level can be cloned out in post using the image that didn’t have any spritz on it. We all tend to be a bit conservative when we know we only have one chance, but with this method it is possible to go too far, and then just use the previous shot.

Silk Milk We perfected this technique—glass, pour, splash, and bubbles—while working on a similar project for a local milk company years ago. We learned from that experience that just pouring milk into a bowl isn’t enough. We had shot the pour as one capture, the splash as another, and bubbles as a third. When Dean Foods approached us with this new assignment, we didn’t have to reinvent the wheel; we knew exactly what to do.

The heart-shaped glass on the package is hard to find, and it’s almost impossible to get all of these elements together and looking right in one shot. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/22, 90mm lens on Sinar P3

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Technique and Lighting Although it looks believable, there’s really no way to capture all of the elements in the Silk Milk shot that we wanted in a single image. We knew from experience that there would be at least four components to this image—the glass, the pour, the splash, and the bubbles. Since the lighting needed to be consistent among all four parts, we started by setting up a 3' x 3' diffusion screen behind the set, and a 4' x 8' piece of foamcore on the left side. For fill light to the left of the camera we had a piece of 2' x 3' foamcore and to the right another 4' x 8' foamcore. (Both pieces of 4' x 8' foamcore were bent in the middle horizontally to direct the light back at the set.)

Here is the lighting diagram for the Silk Milk shot. Power settings (watts per second): A=750, B=1220

A bent foam core

B

3x3 diffusion screen 2x4 table

2x3 foam core

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4x5 camera

bent foam core

One of several parts that were used to create the final splash.

The perfect pour, to be used later in combination with the splash.

ISO 100, 1/500 sec, f/18, 90mm lens on Sinar P3

Here is the original exposure of the round glass.

Here is the original exposure of the vase used for the square edge.

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To get the heart-shaped glass, the first step is to compress the glass horizontally using Transform in Photoshop.

Then the layer is duplicated and twisted, and a mask is created.

Next we add the square vase to create the bottom corner.

Behind the diffusion screen was a light pointing directly at the subject, and to the left of the camera, a light was bouncing off the foamcore to create a large soft light. How close or how far away from the foamcore I placed the light determined the quality of the light produced (whether it was more directional or soft).

Stopping the Action The pour is easy, aside from finding the right vessel to pour from, one that creates nice movement in the liquid. You really don’t have to worry too much about stopping the action on a pour shot. The splash, however, is a different story. Shutter speed is important only if you are capturing the action using continuous light and not flash. You’ll want to use a shutter speed of at least 1/1000 of a second (or as high as you can based on the available light and your aperture setting). If you are using a flash, then your shutter speed is not important at all, except to the extent that it allows the ambient light to influence the image. The flash duration is what is important. The shorter the flash duration, the more you will be able to stop the action. Although it should be noted that it is not always necessary to freeze the action completely; some movement actually makes the splash feel more realistic and less like an acrylic model.

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After that we continue masking and cloning where necessary to complete the heart shape.

The completed glass.

And finally, it just needs a little twist to fit the layout and splash properly.

To create the splash, we dropped various objects into a metal bowl that was about five inches in diameter. Some objects were round, some had flat edges, some were wood, and some were metal. It takes a lot of experimentation and often the compositing of several images in post-production to achieve the perfect splash. The milk bubbles were created in the same metal bowl, by just whipping up the milk and shooting a variety of options.

The Secret of a Great Splash Use the lowest power possible on your flash or power pack to stop movement. Just increasing your shutter speed isn’t enough—even if you had enough light, shutter speeds can only go as high as 1/8000 of a second—but flash durations can be shorter than 1/10,000 of a second.

The lower the power setting on your flash, the shorter the flash duration.

Because the flash’s energy is stored in capacitors, a lower power setting will result in less energy being released, and it will take less time to release than if the flash were set on full power.

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Image Post-Production We have a very large prop room at my studio, but we don’t have a heart-shaped glass. That’s not to say that one doesn’t exist, but it would probably be very difficult to find—so we created one. The top left and right of the heart are made from a normal round glass, but the bottom point is from a square-edged vase we found in our prop room. Both the vase and the glass were filled with milk before shooting. After a little Photoshop magic (see images above), we had the perfect glass. After creating the glass we had to composite in the pour, splash, and bubbles. Then, using a Curves layer in Photoshop, we brightened the color slightly for the vanilla milk package. We also created a chocolate milk version for the package from this same image by using Curves layer along with a Hue & Saturation layer to adjust the color.

Spilled Milk Creating effective splashes and pours requires capturing the moment or assembling a composite of multiple images in post production to have ultimate control. Either way you need to make the experience appear real for the viewer. If you are interested in more advanced splashes and pours, see Assignment 10 at the end of your ebook.

Here is the final Silk Milk image. ISO 100, 1/500 sec, f/18, 90mm lens on Sinar P3

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Pizza, Stromboli, and Pizza Pulls Assignment Four: In the Brick Oven If a client wants us to change the tomato on a sandwich, it’s fairly easy to do—but if that tomato is on a pizza, well that’s a different story. Replacing something that has been baked in is not easy. The cheese is probably melted into it, and the sauce is oozing around it, and what about the tomato we are using to replace it? Will it look baked enough? Who knows, it might be easier to make a whole new pizza.

I used a hand-held flash and a Lastolite TriGrip diffuser to capture this image. ISO 100, 1/60 sec, f/9, 60mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jimmy Gibson

For the food stylist, shooting pizza is not just another day at the office. Each pizza requires so much time and attention, from stretching the dough to weighing and sorting the toppings. And even if everything else is perfect, it can all be wasted if the crust gets a little too dark.

Via Vite Ristorante We rarely do editorial assignments, not because we don’t want to, but our commercial assignments keep us busy enough that we really don’t have the time to devote to promoting ourselves in that marketplace. So when we were asked to shoot the cover of Cincinnati Magazine, we thought it would be a good opportunity to dip our toe in the editorial market. Editorial assignments typically don’t pay nearly as well as their commercial counterparts, but editorial clients don’t need the same kinds of image usage, either, so it can balance out.

Here is the lighting diagram for the pizza at Via Vite assignment.

tables

flash

diffusion screen cutting board

camera on tripod

2x3 foam core

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The assignment was to shoot pizza at a local restaurant, but because of the budget, flying in a food stylist for one shot was just not an option. Turns out the creative director for the magazine knew someone she thought could do the food styling, and she had worked with him before. He was a chef who also works as a food stylist. Not something I would consider on a commercial assignment, but in this case, I thought it might be our best option. Arriving on location at the restaurant, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I hadn’t really prepared for a full-on location shoot, opting instead to travel light, hoping to get the shot using only available light and some fill cards. The creative director had other ideas. She wanted a very directional light source and heavy shadows. That’s not what window light looks like, and besides it was raining outside and extremely overcast. Fortunately, I had brought along my Canon Speedlite hand-held flash and a Lastolite TriGrip diffuser. Using those and the fill cards I had brought proved to be just enough to get the shot the creative director had in mind, and one we were happy with too. For the background I used a wood cutting board that we brought with us from our prop room. Working on location means never knowing what to expect. I really wanted to shoot in the brick oven, but this was a working restaurant and it was almost lunchtime. They preferred for us to stay out of their way—so we shot in a private dining room upstairs with gray carpet floors and nondescript tables. Good thing I brought those cutting boards.

Donatos Pizza When the vice president of marketing for Wendy’s International changed jobs, the relationship we had built with him over the previous decade played a large role in our opportunity to collaborate with him and Donatos Pizza on their visual brand. Working with pizza, for food stylists as well as photographers, can be a specialty, just like ice cream. So when we began our relationship with Donatos we looked for food stylists who had lots of experience working with pizza. That is how we first came to know Jacqueline Buckner, now one of our favorite stylists.

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Technique Unlike most of the food we shoot, which can be prepared many ways, pizza has to be cooked in a pizza oven. We don’t have to cook hamburgers on a griddle; we can use a frying pan. But pizza, unless it’s frozen pizza that you make at home, needs a pizza oven in order to look like what you would get in the restaurant. Luckily for us, Donatos had a mobile pizza oven that was used primarily for focus groups, and they allowed us to borrow it. Unfortunately, it required three-phase electric power to operate. Our building, having been built in the 1930s, was not equipped with three-phase power, only single-phase. So we rented a three-phase generator and ran a specially made extension cord out the window to plug it in. After doing that for a few months, when it became obvious we would have an ongoing relationship with Donatos, my producer managed to locate a similar Shooting restaurant-style pizza requires the use of a pizza oven.

pizza oven (wired for single-phase) on eBay. Incredibly, the seller was only about 30 minutes away. No more loud generator!

Donatos Pizza is known for their “edge-to-edge toppings,” and this is their classic pepperoni pizza. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/18, 60mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner Prop Stylist: Sherry Wilson

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Lighting The pizza slice image here is typical of my lighting style—a couple of large 4' x 8' pieces of foamcore with a light aimed directly at them. Next to that I place another light, with a standard 8-inch reflector aimed directly at the set, not the foamcore. A 4' x 8' piece of foamcore to the right of the camera and a 2' x 3' piece to the left of the camera provide the fill light. The key light, the one that is bouncing into the foamcore, creates a large light source that wraps around the subject. The second, more directional light enhances the texture of the image overall and adds specular highlights in the pepperoni slices, making them appear just a little bit greasy. That’s a good thing. The lighting diagram of the pizza slice. Power settings (watts per second): A=2800, B=124

bent foam core 8”B bent foam core

8”A

E NOTE A focus group is a bent foam core

2x3 foam core

form of quantitative research in which a group of people is

camera

asked questions about a product or service, for the purpose of market research.

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Here is the original exposure.

Layer mask on image that was processed darker.

The final merged image.

Image Post-Production The exposure that I liked best overall from this project was a little too bright in some areas. Especially the cheese along the edges of the slice, as it melted over the sides and caught strong highlights, washing out its color. Some of the pepperoni also needed more saturation, so we reprocessed a darker version of the file and merged that new file with the original, using a mask in Photoshop so it would only affect the areas that were too bright. Notice the loss of detail in the highlights of the first frame above. The second frame shows the darker exposure with its mask. The last frame is the final image.

Stromboli Several months after I created the above pizza image, I was asked by the same client to shoot stromboli. Since both items would most likely reside on the same menu board, it was important that they not look too different. In fact, the lighting is almost exactly the same for the two shots except the stromboli needed more light on the front, so I repositioned the light that I had used behind the set when I shot the pizza, and used it on the left side to light the face of the stromboli.

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By using the notes that I had taken about lighting and exposure when I shot the pizza image, I was able to re-create a similar look and feel for the stromboli shot, even though the two images were taken several months apart using two different food stylists. Keeping good notes is an important part of being a commercial photographer or food stylist. Clients expect us to be able to duplicate previous images or successes. Our images are not individual works of art, but a collection that may represent a client’s brand, and we have to be able to execute that each and every time.

Extreme directional lighting in this image enhances the detail and saturates the colors. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/12, 60mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Lisa Marie DeVille, Prop Stylist: Sherry Wilson

Lighting diagram: Stromboli. Power settings (watts per second): A=1400, B=62

bent foam core 8” A

bent foam core

8” B bent foam core

2x3 foam core camera

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What Is a Pizza Pull? Clients talk about pizza pulls as if they were just another small variation of an existing shot. They say things like, “We need a whole pizza shot from overhead, a slice on a plate, and a pizza pull.” A pizza pull! Did they just say a pizza pull? Alarms ring in my head. Sure, it looks simple—lift up a slice of pizza and watch the cheese stretch as the slice pulls away from the pie. But it requires a lot of planning to make that happen. Who started this anyway? The cheese on most pizzas will pull some, but never to the extent most clients envision it happening in their heads and ultimately want us to photograph.

Technique Creating a pizza pull begins when the dough is only partially baked. The food stylist removes it from the oven and cuts slices into the crust. She then finishes dressing the pizza with sauce, cheese, and any toppings, making sure that the cheese is heaviest in the areas around where the pizza is cut, sometimes even

Thumbtacks hot glued to the spatula give it the power to grip and pull the slice of pizza, dramatically stretching the cheese.

FAR RIGHT  I prefer a more natural-looking pizza pull, like this one. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/4.5, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

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using a slice of cheese instead of shredded cheese over the “gap.” This will help to ensure a nice cheese pull when the piece is lifted out. Once the pizza has finished baking, the stylist will place it on set, making sure the area that is sliced faces the proper direction. A spatula is then placed under the pre-sliced piece and lifted to reveal just the right amount of cheese pull. To make sure that the spatula has enough grip, we hot glue thumbtacks face up on it so that it can pull the slice out and stretch the cheese.

Lighting The first thing I did when I set up this image was to decide which direction the light would be coming from. I wasn’t sure yet what my viewing angle would be, so I decided to bounce one light into two large pieces of foamcore to my left, and bounce another light at the back wall. As the shot progressed, I began to reconsider my original plan and instead chose to create a darker image overall. So I added black flags to keep the side light focused on the pizza and not on the bottles or the foreground. I didn’t need, or want, much fill light in the shadows, as you can probably tell by the position of my fill card.

A rare quiet moment on the set of a pizza pull.

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Here we’re sprinkling oregano on the pie just before we lift the slice out.

Here is the lighting diagram for the Pizza-pull shot. bent foam core

18”x30” black card 8” B

Power settings (watts per second): A=124, B=62

8” A

cutting board

bent foam core

old wood

single density large flag

2x3 foam core 18”x30” black card

camera

Carino’s Italian Many national restaurant chains utilize franchisees, and these franchisees may own one or hundreds of locations. If you only owned one Subway store, and you wanted to test a new chicken sandwich that you think is perfect for your geographical area, the realities are that it would be very difficult for you to cover the cost of marketing and promotion with only the revenue from one store. If, however, you owned 63 stores on the East Coast and you wanted to test an East Coast sub sandwich, you might be able to pull it offbecause you would have a much larger base to spread out the cost, and enough clout with the corporate headquarters to make it happen. Most of our work comes from advertising agencies representing national or regional brands, but occasionally we will be asked by an advertising agency that represents one of these large franchisees to bid on an assignment just for them. And these three pizza images were from just that type of assignment.

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Backgrounds with Character At the client’s request, all three of the pizzas had to be paired with an alcoholic beverage and, in the case of the flatbread, a salad too, but everything else was up to us to decide. We knew we wanted to keep things simple and allow the food to be the star, but we also wanted backgrounds that had character. Our prop stylist, Nora, chose an antique drafting table as the background for two of the shots, using a marble cutting board under one of the pizzas and placing an overturned wood tray under the other to add depth and variety. She propped the flatbread pizza on a block of wood that was over 100 years old and was originally used to make tin-can molds. The table under the flatbread pizza was the only surface that was relatively new. I used to think that I could paint a surface to make it look old, but I have come to understand that the patina that develops as a wood or marble surface ages cannot be duplicated—only found.

Lighting The common thread among all of these images is the lighting style we chose. Even though the lighting systems are not exactly the same, the results are similar on purpose. We wanted the flatbread pizza to have a slightly different appearance than the others, but they all share dark backgrounds, strong shadows, and a tavern atmosphere. I used small mirrors to direct light back into the pizza toppings from the shadow side, and I used black cards in the path of the light to create shadows and interest across each one.

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TOP LEFT  Because the top of the glass would not be seen in the final printed piece, we just poured the beer into the glass and shot a few quick captures before the foam dissipated. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/8, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner, Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

3x3 diffusion screen

pizza & beer

8”

TOP RIGHT The drafting table in the background was purchased from an antiques dealer we work with to find beautifully aged props and surfaces. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/8, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner, Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

A

Here is the lighting diagram for the round pizzas—the same set was used for both images. Power setting (watts per second): A=188 black card

2x3 foam core

camera

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This image with the flatbread pizza needed to reflect that it was a meal, so we added a salad and changed the background. ISO 100, 1/125sec, f/8, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner, Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

Here is the lighting diagram for the flatbread-square pizza shot. Power setting (watts per second): A=215

3x3 diffusion screen 8”

A

bent foam core

2x3 foam core saw-tooth black card

mirrors camera

The black card is used to create a shadow on the side of the cutting board, and the small mirror is adding a bit of light to the front. The other mirror is used to create some sparkle in the shadow areas.

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No Pizza, No Dessert Who can resist hot apple pie filling inside a pizza-dough crust topped with caramel sauce? These were originally shot for the menu of a new concept store. Such a high-key image is not the norm for a pizza establishment, but it worked well with the store design and we had a lot of fun conceptualizing the look and feel for the images that would be used in the new store. Very selective focus and bright shadows defined the style.

bent foam core

8”

A

bent foam core

bent foam core

1x3 foam core

I used one light with an 8" reflector to create this image.

camera

ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/12, 60mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

Here is the lighting diagram for the dessert pizzas. Power setting (watts per second): A=1720

The Pull of Cheese Shooting pizza requires a special oven and careful assembly by the food stylist. And if the client wants the cheese to stretch—that's another story. Hopefully, you've learned a few techniques to pull off your own pizza assignment.

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Looks Like Daylight Assignment Five: Natural Light with Flash I was having lunch one day at a local restaurant, and with a new DSLR at my side I couldn’t resist photographing my meal. After taking a few shots of my plate, I noticed something interesting. I reviewed the images on the tiny LCD screen. I really liked what I saw, especially the lighting. What was it about this light that was so appealing? I had purposely sat near the window at the restaurant, but as I studied my surroundings I realized that it

This scene is lit by just one light and a fill card. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/8, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: William Smith, Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

wasn’t just a window, but a large group of them just to my right. And the light that came through from outside, although bright, was not direct sunlight. Toward the back of the room there were other windows too, but they were less intense. I thought about how I could create that same effect in my studio. Then it occurred to me—if I used large pieces of foamcore to bounce my light, I could recreate the same light I saw coming through the bank of windows at the restaurant. I have always used small pieces of foamcore for fill cards to bounce light back on my subject in the studio, but rarely have I used full 4' x 8' sheets. And to get the same quality of light that the back windows at the restaurant provided, I could just bounce a light off my studio wall. I went back to the studio and began to experiment. I discovered that by moving the light that was aimed at the foamcore closer, then farther away, I could change the quality of the light from something that had direction to a very soft light, especially if I put two or three pieces of foamcore side by side. I also found that lighting a 4' x 8' sheet of foamcore was very inefficient, as the light bounced in every direction—especially up. To remedy that, I decided to bend the foamcore at its midpoint, so that it formed sort of a bowl shape and directed the light back down at the set. The result created what I had seen and liked so much at the restaurant.

Breakfast Cereal We don’t do a lot of editorial work, but sooner or later (mostly later), what’s happening in the world of editorial food photography makes its way into commercial photography. And that is what’s happening now with commercial photographers FAR RIGHT  Bouncing light off a large white board makes this image feel like it was shot near a window instead of with a flash.

and their clients, who are finally embracing a trend toward more natural-looking

ISO 100, 1/160 sec, f/5.6, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Joyce Sangirardi

That is what we were presented with on this assignment: The art director wanted

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food shots, in terms of both styling and lighting. So being able to re-create natural looking light in the studio can be a good skill to acquire.

us to make the subject look natural and not overly lit.

F o o d P h o t o graphy & Lighting

Technique E NOTE

A bowl of cereal without milk wouldn’t be very appetizing, but that doesn’t mean

Most food stylists I

you’re selling the milk—you’re selling the crispy flakes, and using real milk might

know prefer to use

make them soggy or cause them to sink. That is why in many of the cereal images

Wildroot Hair Tonic

you see, it’s not milk at all—it’s glue. And not always glue; sometimes it’s Wildroot

for milk rather than

Hair Tonic, a perennial favorite among food stylists.

glue, because glue can sometimes have a blue

Bowls of cereal are also regularly styled by filling the bowl with a base of instant

cast, but Wildroot can be

mashed potatoes and then pressing the flakes into that base. This technique will

harder to find. Lately I’ve

keep everything in place while you wait for your client’s approval. Once everyone

only been able to find

is happy with the placement of the flakes and any inclusions, like almonds or gra-

it online at places like

nola, it’s time to add the “milk.” Just make sure to cover all the mashed potatoes.

Amazon.com.

Lighting For this image, the lighting was based on what I had learned at the restaurant when I was taking pictures of my lunch. One light aimed at a couple pieces of foamcore to simulate the window light, and one light aimed at the back wall for overall fill. I did add a few small mirrors—one to illuminate the top of the cereal, and one to brighten the shadow side of the bowl. You can see the reflection of the mirror on top of the front blueberry. It helps the definition of the blueberry and keeps the shadows on the flakes from getting too dark.

Here is the first shot, without any milk in front.

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Here is the second shot, with milk in front of the flake. This area was copied to the first capture to create the final image.

Here is the lighting arrangement for the cereal image.

wall 8”

Power settings (watts per second): A=94, B=285

A

8”

bent foam core

B

white table

small mirrors bent foam core small double density flag camera

2x3 foam core

Image Post-Production You can always add more milk. That’s why it’s better to capture images in stages, rather than wait to make your first exposure until you have just a little too much. We go even further, capturing the image just before the milk is added. That way if the stylist mistakenly gets milk on a flake that we wanted to be dry, we don’t have to start over; we can just use the Clone tool in Photoshop to bring back the dry flake using the previous image. For the cereal image, we captured the milk at a variety of levels. The first shot was the overall winner, but we liked that there was milk visible in front of the flake on the second shot. So we copied that area into the final image.

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RIGHT I accidently discovered the beautiful light that was waiting for me at my front door. ISO 100, 1/4 sec, f/3.5, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

My Front Door Another opportunity to hone my skills in working with natural light came while I was preparing to shoot a promo with a food stylist. I had gathered a few props that I wanted to share with her, but I hadn’t started setting up any of my lights, and the table I planned to use (a recent purchase) was still sitting by the front door. So I just dragged the table into the light that was coming through the glass

LEFT Here is an additional capture of mushrooms in a similar composition. ISO 100, 1/4 sec, f/3.5, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

of the door and spread out my props. I only did this so she could see the props clearly, but when she brought over the onions we were planning to shoot and started to arrange them on the table, I grabbed my camera and took a few quick shots. After looking at the images on the screen, I knew we needed to shoot them right there at my front door. It didn’t take long to get a couple of beautiful shots. In fact, we captured a very similar composition using mushrooms—assuming we would decide later which one we liked better. But we love them both!

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A few days later, I listened to one of my regular clients describe the type of image they were after for an assignment. I realized that what they wanted was virtually the same thing I had done by my front door. But shooting by the window wasn’t an option. For one thing, the setup made it difficult to open the door to the studio, and besides, I needed something that was easily repeatable. So I took my inspiration from that shot and thought about how I could re-create it.

Lighting Although I was comfortable mimicking natural light in the studio, there was some-

LEFT I moved my workstation close to the setup so I could shoot tethered.

thing different about the shots I had done at my front door. The only thing I could come up with was those darn window blinds. They directed the light across the set rather than allowing it to wrap over the top of the subject. So I began lighting by placing two large pieces of foamcore on the left side of the set, but this time I

RIGHT The only light modifier besides the window blinds was the black card used to shade the side of the cutting board.

also added a black flag to play the part of the window blind. When I shot the onions I didn’t use any fill cards at all. I didn’t care if the shadows went black—in fact, I kind of liked it—but for this assignment we were going to need some fill light. Instead of shining a light against the back wall and filling in all the shadows I had been trying to create, I place a 3' x 3' diffusion screen on the back-right side of the set and put a light with a standard 8-inch reflector behind it. I used the same table and props as I had in our promo shot by the door, at the client’s request.

LEFT  You can see the black flag that I used to keep light from wrapping over the sandwich. RIGHT The liquor bottle next to the turkey burger was there to shade the bottom bun and keep it from getting too bright.

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I think they make a nice couple. The onions were shot in natural light and the turkey burger was shot using strobe in the studio.

black velvet

bent foam core

(Left) ISO 100, 1/4 sec, f/3.5, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

8”

B

8”

A

(Right) ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/16, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Barbara Coad

3x3 diffusion screen

Here is the lighting arrangement for the turkey burger shot. Power settings (watts per second): A=94, B=1140

bent foam core

black flag

white card

2x3 foam core camera

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Wheat Field We needed to create a field of wheat that would be used as part of a logo for a local bakery. How do you shoot a wheat field in the studio in the middle of winter? Fortunately, we knew where to go to get the materials.

Technique The first thing was to buy as much wheat as we could (fortunately most craft stores have plenty of it year-round). Next, we used several Styrofoam blocks, the same kind florists use in vases to hold flower arrangements, and stuck our wheat stalks into them. By spreading out the Styrofoam blocks, both sideways and front to back, we created an illusion of depth—even if it was only 2 feet deep. Next, I positioned the camera so that I was looking slightly up at the wheat field, and behind the set I placed a golden fabric that kind of sparkled in the light.

8”

A

TOP Here is the image without Knoll Light Factory.

gold fabric

ISO 50, 1/160 sec, f/8, 90mm lens on Sinar P3

8”

B

BOTTOM The image with Knoll Light Factory applied. Notice how much more depth the lens flare creates.

black flag shading wheat

2x3 above camera

camera

Here is the lighting arrangement for the wheat field. Power settings (watts per second): A=95, B=95

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Lighting To illuminate the fabric, I placed a single light with an 8" standard reflector about 6 feet away. Behind the fabric and slightly above it was another light with an 8" standard reflector aimed directly at the wheat—and by proxy, the camera lens. For fill light, I placed a 2' x 3' piece of foamcore above the camera. This backlight created a way for me to shoot into the sun and flare my lens, which in turn might make it feel as if the wheat field were much larger than it was.

Image Post-Production This image didn’t require much in the way of post-production. Even though the image felt backlit and the light was shining into the lens, the result didn’t have the dramatic lens flare I was hoping for. So I used Knoll Light Factory to create it. Knoll Light Factory is an Adobe Photoshop plug-in that allows you to create your own amazing lens flare. You can see the before-and-after images on the previous page for the wheat field project. It’s not an amazing comparison, but it doesn’t need to be. We’re talking about really good shots becoming amazing ones—and that difference is usually found in the details and in the extra effort.

Pasta and Clams This was the last shot of the day for an assignment, and probably the most relaxed. I wanted to get a shot for my portfolio that felt more like the end of a meal. The kind of image that makes you wonder, who ate this? What type of person are they? And are they still here? FAR RIGHT  One light source makes this scene feel like daylight. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/8, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: William Smith Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

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I asked the food stylist to take the lead and create a dish of his choosing. Meanwhile, the prop stylist began assembling the props, and I worked on lighting the set. The simplicity of the food and the props plays an important part in creating studio images that look like they were lit by natural light. Being spontaneous and not fussing too much are also factors in making images that feel relaxed and attainable.

F o o d P h o t o graphy & Lighting

Here is the lighting arrangement for the pasta and clams shot. Power setting (watts per second): A=190 bent foam core

8”

A

camera

bent foam core

Technique Storytelling is part of the creative process. Telling yourself a story about the person or place you are photographing can help guide your choice of props or the style of light. The time of day, the season, the location, or even the person you imagine eating the food can affect how you approach your lighting style. For this shot, I imagined a shack near the sea with no electricity and a few dirty windows. I believe that a nearly finished plate tells you more about the person who ate it than a full plate that has not been touched by a spoon.

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Lighting To recreate the natural light I envisioned coming through the window of the shack, I placed a bent piece of foamcore on the left of my set and positioned my light close to it. This would help the light to appear more directional, like the late afternoon sun coming through the window. On the right side of the set, I used another piece of bent foamcore to address the shadows overall—I only wanted enough fill to barely read the detail they held.

LEFT A very simple set for the pasta and clams shot. RIGHT  You can see how far away the lights are from the set. I didn’t use a tripod for this image. I just walked up into the empty space and took my shot.

Every picture tells a story, and the simplicity of natural light that shines through this image is exactly what I set out to create.

Get Out There Some of my favorite lighting techniques have come from simply paying attention to my surroundings every day. I notice the lighting on my plate—the direction, the diffusion—and I ask, what makes it special? I think about what time of day it is and whether the lighting is directional or diffused. If you want your images to look like they were shot using natural light, then you need to study what you see, and consider how you can then re-create it in the studio. Some of the best ideas are out there waiting for you.

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Chocolate, Candy, and Cookies Assignment Six: At the Bakery Who doesn’t love something sweet? After dinner, as a snack, or on your birthday! Desserts and candies are a part of our culture. Drizzled with sauce, dipped in chocolate, sprinkled with sugar, or beginning to melt. Capturing images of sweets is usually about capturing the moment. The moment just before they are eaten. Photographing them can be challenging, but oh, so rewarding.

Macaroons are so colorful and so much fun to shoot. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/16, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jean-Francois Flechet

This shot was done after the assignment was complete and the client had left. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/14, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Barbara Coad

I believe it is that shared memory we all have of sweets being associated with good times that makes them just a little bit easier to photograph than, say, a turkey sandwich. Even a not-so-good photograph of a decadent dessert causes viewers to reminisce about their childhood, or a wonderful meal that ended with a fabulous dessert—and thus feel a strong connection to your photograph. That link to our memories also explains why the images in my portfolio that elicit some of the strongest gut-level responses are to images of sweets. People just can’t help themselves, especially if it is just before lunch. I’m sure you’ve heard the advice that you shouldn’t go to the grocery store on an empty stomach? Well it’s just the opposite for photographers. Whenever I am sharing my work with a perspective client, I do my best to arrange the meeting for late morning, with 11:00 a.m. being my preferred time slot. If they are only available right after lunch, I try for another day.

After-Hours with Chocolate We were having too much fun to stop! We had finished capturing the required shots, and the client had gone home, but we were still shooting and hoping to get a few images for our portfolio. They had brought more than enough product in for the shoot, so why not play…

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I enjoy experimenting and trying new ideas, especially once we have delivered what the client asked for. Then if there is time we push it a little further, both for the client and for us. We sometimes end up with shots that we can use in our portfolio and sometimes we end up with additional shots that the client wants to license. I had one client who didn’t even think he had a need for additional images, until he saw what we produced. Then he couldn’t wait to use them.

Technique To make the chocolate look as appetizing as possible, I sometimes use a grill starter to melt it just a little. A grill starter is an electric heating element about

You can see from this image how close the diffusion screens were to the set.

12 inches long that is made in the shape of a teardrop. In this case I didn’t need anything more than the heat from my studio strobes. I had them fairly close to the subject, and the modeling lights were turned up to full power. They might have even worked better than the grill starter, because they provided a constant heat source. When I use the grill starter, I just wave it over the chocolate until it starts to melt and then remove it.

Here is the lighting arrangement for the Kit-Kat bars.

B

Power settings (watts per second): A=1220, B=430

7” 5x5 diffusion screen

LightRight

bent foam core

2x4 table A

8”

camera

3x3 diffusion screen - leaning

Ch oco late, Candy, and Coo kies 

201

Lighting To create the reflections on the surface of these Kit Kat bars, I used diffusion screens in front of my lights on the right side of the set and the back of the set. I adjusted the angle of each light based on how I wanted the reflection to look. By feathering the light (aiming the light away from the subject to make use of the edges of the light), I was able to create reflections in the chocolate that faded out without an abrupt end.

Like a Box of Chocolates Esther Price is a local Ohio-based company that makes chocolate confections. They have an excellent reputation, but their brand, photographically speaking, had become dated, and they asked for our help in charting a new direction. They said one of our clients had recommended us to them. There were already working on redesigning their website, and new catalogs would be printed later that year, so it was a good time to make a change.

The contrast of light and dark chocolates makes getting separation between the pieces easier, but lighting is the key. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/11, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Barbara Coad

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After reviewing their current marketing materials with the in-house art director and discussing new directions for the photography, we decided that we would shoot the chocolates directly on a marble surface. They use marble tables in the making of their chocolates, so it gave the images authenticity. But a white marble would create too much contrast and would do nothing to elevate the product, so we chose a marble surface that had an overall warm tone, with a slight color vari-

LEFT The food stylist used and X-Acto knife to cut the chocolate shell. RIGHT Teri adjusting the chocolates on set. The white glove prevents leaving fingerprints.

ance to create some depth. We also suggested moving in close on the product and using a wide aperture so that the backgrounds would drop slightly out of focus. This allows the product to be more heroic and provides viewers with the opportunity to complete our image with their imaginations instead of seeing everything in stark focus.

Technique I remember shooting an assignment many years ago for a jeweler. I thought I had done a great job until I enlarged the images enough to see all the dust an imperfections up close. Chocolates are much the same. They look great until you really get in close. Then you can see every nick, fingerprint, and flaw. One of the ways I have found to avoid leaving your fingerprints on chocolate is to use white cotton

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E NOTE

gloves when handling them; the glove can still leave some dust and fibers, but

I remember using

that’s easier to take out in post than a fingerprint.

white cotton gloves to prevent fingerprints

To get the shot of the fudge-covered cherries, the food stylist used an X-Acto

and smudges on film

blade to cut the chocolate casing. Once the piece was on set, she gently opened

negatives. These gloves

it up and allowed the fudge to spill out onto the background. We loved every-

are great for handling

thing about the shot except the cherry, so we shot additional pieces of candy in

chocolates, too, or other

hopes of finding a better cherry that we could then use to replace the original

foods that fingerprint

(see “Image Post-Production,” next page).

easily. You can find them online or at some local camera stores.

Lighting Because of the subtle designs on the chocolates, I needed my light to emphasize their texture. I started by placing a large piece of foamcore behind the set, with a light bouncing into it. This was the main light source and created soft highlights on the left side of the chocolates. Next, I added a light to the left of the set with a grid spot to further enhance the texture, especially in the front of the chocolate where the light from behind did not reach. Then I added a third light on the right

Fudge-covered cherry— yummy! ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/11, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Barbara Coad

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Here is the lighting arrangement for all of the Esther Price chocolates. Power settings (watts per second): A=1060, B=63, C=76

8” A

bent foam core

8” C

directed at surface

7”

B

20 grid spot

bent foam core camera

side and behind the subject, similar to a hair light in portraiture. This light’s main purpose was to brighten up the background toward the top of the image, but because it spilled over into the entire area, it created rather specular highlights on the top of the chocolates that looked nice and added separation.

Image Post-Production Once the cut piece image was enlarged it was easy to spot the imperfections on the surface. But before we began the cleanup, we needed to composite the cherry we liked best with the image that looked the best overall. To make sure everything fit properly we created a mask. Once that was done we used Photoshop’s Clone Stamp and Healing Brush tools to clean up any imperfections.

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Powdered Donuts As a food photographer, one of the things I struggle with is doing self-promotion images when I have downtime. Not because I’m not motivated, but because I have to involve other artists in my process. I need the talents of a food stylist or chef to create my art—and it takes planning to make that happen. But every now TOP LEFT The original image prior to any post-production work. BOTTOM  We liked this cherry, but not the rest of the shot, so we placed this cherry into the first shot. TOP RIGHT The highlighted layer shows the mask, which allows the new cherry to fit exactly on top of the old one. And by organizing each fix on its own layer, we have preserved the original image underneath.

and then I come up with an idea that doesn’t require a food stylist. A personal assignment doesn’t always require a food stylist, because if it doesn’t work out, I can just delete the file and move on. If I am shooting for a client, there are very few jobs that don’t require a food stylist—because I have to get the shot! On this particular day, I was thinking about donuts, specifically powdered sugared donuts, and I thought—why not let Dunkin’ Donuts do the donut making and I’ll just stop by and pick a couple up. When we got there, they didn’t have any powdered-sugar donuts, at least not any that would work for a photograph. Then my producer suggested we buy a few plain cake donuts and she would sprinkle them with powdered sugar.

Technique and Lighting Once we were back at the studio, we thought we would stay with the let’s-notwork-too-hard-at-this theme. So rather than create a full set, we just headed for the back patio and placed the donuts on a napkin. The sun was fairly high in the

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Shooting without a food stylist often means tackling simple, yet still beautiful, subject matter. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/3.5, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylists: Dunkin’ Donuts and me

sun

picnic table 3x3 diffusion screen

We let Dunkin’ make the donuts. We just added powdered sugar. ISO 800, 1/125 sec, f/4, 85mm lens on Canon DSLR

camera

Here is the lighting diagram for the donut shot.

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sky, but mostly in front of me (and behind the subject), so I held up a 3’ x 3’ diffusion screen to shade part of the set. You can see where the screen did nothing for the top left side of the set and the back of the top donut, but that was just what I wanted. Yet something was missing. It needed a human element to complete the image. Maybe if the donut had a bite out of it? Normally, if we want something to look like a bite was taken out, the food stylist cuts or sculpts it carefully with a sharp knife. Since there was no food stylist—I just took a bite! Turns out that can work pretty well too, as long as it’s something you want to eat.

Edible Arts and Crafts Many independent publishers and small-town newspapers don’t have enough staff or resources to write recipes and design craft projects for their readers, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a need for that type of content. Airheads bars were cut into strips to create the flag pattern on a marshmallow treat. The stars were made using cookie cutters. All of the images created for this campaign were designed around holidays. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/11, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Lisa Marie DeVille Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

This can be an opportunity for large corporations that are willing to underwrite the creation of such content (making sure their product is used and brand name is prominently featured of course), and to allow its use by these independent publications. It helps the publication offer content to their readers that it could not otherwise provide, and it allows the companies to promote their products in a way that doesn’t look like advertising. This was the situation we found ourselves in when working on a project for Perfetti Van Melle a few years ago. They asked us to create edible arts and craft projects using several of their products. The final images, along with a description of the projects, were distributed to several publications that could either use them as provided or else re-create their own. We worked with food stylist Lisa Marie DeVille to develop the concepts and then style them for photography. In all we did about 12 images.

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Here is the lighting arrangement for the Airheads Independence Day image. Power settings (watts per second): A=350, B=100

bent foam core 8” 8”

A 4x4 diffusion screen

B

bent foam core

bent foam core

1x2 foam core

camera

Technique and Lighting I wanted to make sure the product felt like the hero of the shot and at the same time I wanted to give the viewer a sense that there was more going on in the background. I didn’t want it to feel like a studio shot, but more like it was an event taking place in a kitchen or craft room. Using diffused light from behind and only fill cards in the front creates a very natural light that also eliminates distracting elements in the background by washing them out (see diagram above).

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Waffles to Macaroons One day when we were prop shopping for an upcoming shoot, we noticed an unusual package of premade waffles for sale at the coffee shop we had stopped at. We immediately knew they would be great to shoot, so we bought a few packages and took them back to the studio. My producer found some blueberry topping in the refrigerator and a couple of fresh blueberries, so we set up a small set and took a few shots for fun. The images turned out so well we uploaded one to our website, where it was seen by the waffle-maker’s girlfriend. A conversation ensued, and eventually we got together with them to shoot more waffles and also one of their new products— macaroons. The macaroons were about as much fun as the waffles—a product full This shot was initially set up on a white surface. We needed color to separate the box from the background. The green paper worked nicely. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/16, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jean-Francois Flechet

of color, and so easy to shoot. Although we shot many variations, I particularly love this shot of the macaroons in a custom-made box.

Lighting The lighting was simple, one light bouncing into a couple of pieces of foamcore and another light bouncing off the back wall of our studio for general fill light.

This is the image that was seen by the waffle-maker’s girlfriend on our website, which ultimately lead to the macaroons assignment for the same company. ISO 50, 1/1/25 sec, f/10, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jean-Francois Flechet

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Here is the lighting arrangement for the macaroons. Power settings (watts per second): A=700, B=1720

wall 8”

bent foam core

A

8”

B

2x4 table bent foam core

bent foam core

camera

2x2 foam core

The lights were almost at equal power, but the light bouncing into the foamcore was closer to the subject and became the main light.

Final Thoughts on Sweets As Forest Gump would say, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” So next time you’re thinking about dessert, go ahead and make your selection, but also grab your camera (while you’re still hungry) and see if you can’t capture a mouthwatering and memory-provoking image. Just remember to keep it simple and let your sweet tooth be your guide. Who knows, it might be a great promo piece or land you a new client.

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Burgers and Fries Assignment Seven: an American Classic My biggest break, although I didn’t realize it at the time, was the call I received from the ad agency for Wendy’s Hamburgers. They were looking for a new photographer to shoot their “Ops tests.” An Ops test, or operations test, is one of many stages that a new product goes through on its way to becoming a national menu item.

The low viewing angle makes this burger look heroic, but creates a challenge for the food stylist because it makes the holes between the ingredients more visible. ISO 100, 1/100 sec, f/29, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Lisa Marie DeVille

The provided shot list was ambitious, but I was still very early in my career and I didn’t want to second-guess an international ad agency, and I certainly didn’t want to turn the job down. So I accepted what was supposed to be a 1-day assignment but turned into a 21-hour marathon. Maybe it was too many shots, or maybe it was my inexperience that slowed things down. But either way, the work was well received and my relationship with Wendy’s continued for substantially more than a decade—and by the end of that time I was shooting all of their national photography.

How a Product Rollout Works For most national restaurant chains, an Ops test usually takes place in only a few stores. It is done for two reasons—one is to evaluate marketing materials and customer reactions, and the other is to determine if there are any challenges faced operationally—for instance, if the new sauce is similar to and often confused with other sauces in the kitchen. Once new items are produced on a larger scale, problems that were unanticipated in the creation stage can quickly rise to the surface.

One of the hundreds of hamburgers I have shot for Wendy’s over the years. ISO 50, 1/160 sec, f/22, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Laura Goble

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8”

bent foam core

Here is the lighting arrangement for the Wendy’s hamburger. The black card, just to the right of the hamburger, is there to shade the bun top. I want as much light as I can get on the dark meat, but I have to make sure the side of the bun doesn’t completely wash out.

C

2x4 table

Power settings (watts per second): A=63, B=400, C=325. B

small black card to shade bun top

8”

4x4 diffusion screen LightRight A

8”

camera

After a successful Ops test, the product moves on to a test market, usually involving hundreds of stores in a geographical area. The product is supported with TV advertising and more marketing materials. This is the company’s last chance to confirm consumer interest and adjust its marketing message before deciding whether to roll the product out nationally or pull the plug. At the end of each stage the product and promotional materials are reevaluated and adjusted based on what was learned. This can mean that new images are needed for each stage of the process. A national rollout requires the best images the ad agency is capable of producing and is usually only shot by the A-list photographer. Many companies have a photographer that they use at each level and only that level. Others use the same photographer for all of the stages to maintain continuity.

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The client wanted this image to feel like summertime. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/10, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Lisa Marie DeVille

Summer Daze I remember the day we shot the hamburger shown here—about 23 degrees outside and the client wanted the shot to feel like it had been taken on a nice summer day. That’s one of the problems with working in advertising—we are always having to work six months ahead of when our images will actually be seen. That’s also why it is sometimes difficult to find certain foods in season when we need to shoot them. The intended uses for this image were a recipe card and the company’s website, so the only requirement was that it be horizontal. Other than following the recipe and making it look like summer, we could do whatever we wanted.

Technique It’s funny how some of the props that I use the most are ones that I agonized about buying in the first place. This whitewashed table is one of those props. When I bought it at a local antique store, I wasn’t even sure it would work for the project I was working on, but now I use it all the time. For this image I chose to show the edge of the table as a way to add interest and communicate that it’s not just a surface, but a real table.

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Hamburgers 101 Throughout this book I have refrained from giving too much direct advice about food styling, since I am not the expert in that field. But there are some things I can share with you after years of shooting hamburgers that may help if you have to work with a chef or an inexperienced stylist on a hamburger assignment. CC

Get more buns than you could possibly need. We generally ask for 200 buns for every sandwich.

CC

Have them delivered flat and not stacked. If they come in a box, the only ones that might “work” are the ones on top.

CC

Use a guide to cut the buns. Place a bun between two parallel sticks of equal thickness. Slice horizontally, resting the knife blade on the sticks so that it cuts straight and even.

CC

Use only the center slices of tomatoes and onions. If you use one of the end slices, the beveled edge can cause unwanted reflections.

CC

Cut the back of a tomato slice and spread it out and make it appear wider. Not too much or the tomato will start to wrinkle in front.

CC

Cook the meat around the edges first. You can hold the patty by its side as you roll the edges in the pan.

CC

Don’t cook the meat all the way through. Leaving the meat undercooked in the center helps it last on set.

CC

Soak cooked burgers in oil. If the burger is exposed to air it will begin to turn dark.

CC

Melt cheese by dipping it in a bowl of hot water. Really hot water. Then lay over burger.

CC

Cook bacon on an uneven surface to get wavy bacon. A cooling rack works nicely, or crumpled-up aluminum foil.

CC

Use petroleum jelly to glue on sesame seeds. Just don’t make them too perfect.

CC

Hold lettuce in place with lard or pins. Using lard allows you to reposition, but pins keep if from moving when you don’t want it to.

CC

Apply condiments with a squeeze bottle. Some stylists like to use a syringe, too.

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The white-washed table was found at a local antique store.

Light virtually wraps the set.

To create depth, I chose a variety of nondescript props to fill the background, nondescript, that is, except for the classic green Coke glass. I specifically chose the glass to add to that summertime feeling. I considered filling it with coke, at least part of the way, but then decided that keeping the background void of any dark areas would help the burger stand out more. Ever heard of the saying, “The devil is in the details”? Well for me, the devil is in the napkin. I don’t know what it is, but it seems like I have to pick it up and put it down 20 times before I get something I like. Sometimes it works better when I don’t even think about it and just throw it down.

Lighting For this image, I wanted viewers to feel that they were sitting outside on a covered porch or in a brightly lit kitchen with a window facing them. To do that, I set up two large pieces of foamcore to the right of the set and bounced a light into them. I bounced another light off our studio wall, which was directly behind the set. This backlight created the reflections in the table and the highlights on the plate. Two fill cards on either side of the camera bounced light back into shadow areas. Because I wanted the image to have strong contrast, but I didn’t want the shadows to get too dark, I overexposed the shot, washing out some of the highlights in the process. I could have brought that detail back in post, but I felt it made the image more real.

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wall

A

bent foam core

8” antique table

8”

B

Here is the lighting arrangement for the summertime burger on the whitewashed table. I allowed some of the highlights to blow out and lose detail to create a more authentic image. Power settings (watts per second): A=610, B=750

bent foam core

bent foam core

2x2 foam core camera

The Big Burger It sounds like a great idea—what if we are actually looking up at the burger? It sounds good until you try it. Using a low camera angle is a food stylist’s worst nightmare. Trying to arrange the tomatoes, pickles, and onions so that you don’t see large gaping holes can really test your patience. That’s when it’s nice to know there is a digital artist only a few feet away who can back you up.

Lighting The dramatic viewpoint of this shot reminded me of some portraits I had recently seen of athletes. They were edge lit from behind, with lights on both sides. There was another light aimed right at their face from slightly above the camera. That was the lighting model I decided to use with this burger. I placed two lights behind the set and bounced them into 4' x 8' pieces of bent foamcore to create the edge light and then I placed another light, this one without any diffusion,

This image was originally shot on a gray background. The color and glow were added in post. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/29, 90mm lens on Sinar P3

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Here is the lighting arrangement for the big burger. Power settings (watts per second): A=800, B=1140, C=62

8” bent foam core

B

A

8”

bent foam core

2x4 table

black sawtooth card

2x3 foam core C

8”

camera

to the left and slightly above my camera. On the right side of the camera, I added a fill card. The two lights in back lit up the edges of the burger nicely and helped it to feel more dimensional. The specular light source in front aiming down at the burger created great texture and saturation. I knew from the beginning that the burger was going to be outlined (stripped out of the background) for the final piece so I shot it on a light gray surface. I always do that to make sure no color from the surface reflects onto the subject. But in this case, the light from the light source that was right next to my camera was spilling over onto the surface, and then bouncing back onto the burger, washing out detail and filling in the shadows. To remedy the situation, I used a black card to block the majority of the light from hitting the surface in front of the burger. The top of the card was cut in a sawtooth pattern to make the edge harder to define.

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Background Choices If an image is going to be outlined for an ad or other piece, shoot it on a neutral background to avoid any unwanted color being reflected onto your subject. A gray background is better than white because it will reflect less light into the shadows. A subject shot on gray can be outlined and will look good on almost any surface, while a subject shot on a white background will only work when placed on light backgrounds.

Image Post-Production Because of the camera angle, I expected that I would need to fill in, or lighten, holes between the produce, but other than a small break in the lettuce there wasn’t much that needed to be fixed in post. In our hero image, the cheese was barely melted and there was some discussion between the clients as to how melted it should be, so we captured additional images with varying degrees of melt that could then be combined with our hero image in post. The reason we don’t use all the shots in total is that the steam used to melt the cheese often wilts the lettuce, or compresses the burger. So by combining

TOP  Original image before any post-production was complete.

separate images we can utilize the freshest burger overall, along with the best melt. There was one other problem—although it was really an illusion. The unusual shape of the patty, which was intentional, made the cheese appear as if it was not

BOTTOM In post, we added melted cheese, filled a hole in the lettuce, cloned meat over a shadow, and added a background.

Specular Light Source A specular light source will create more texture than a diffused light source if placed the same distance from the subject. This will also make the colors in an image appear more saturated, because the light source is so much smaller and creates a smaller reflection. A large diffusion screen creates a large reflection, and that reflection is what washes out the color of the subject.

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in contact with the meat and instead was casting a shadow. In reality the meat shape caused the shadow, but to make sure the cheese looked melted, we cloned over the shadow area with more meat and eliminated the illusion. During the process of outlining the image for the client, we were able to adjust the profile of the bun and clean up a few of the edges along the bottom. Then we added the background and the shadow.

Waffle Fries The container holding the fries was purchased for another project, but when the art director mentioned needing something to hold the fries, I thought it would work perfectly. It took quite a bit of time for the food stylist to arrange the fries and the wax paper, and when we finally had something everyone liked, she returned to the kitchen to work on the next shot while I tweaked a few more things on set. One of those things was adding a few wrinkles to the fabric. Up until that point, the fabric was lying rather flat and the art director wanted just a little movement down by the base of the container. Looking through the lens, I pushed the fabric using my left hand, but as I lifted my hand the wrinkles would fall out. I needed something to put where my hand was, to keep the wrinkles in place. I looked around the set and saw a glass that I thought would work. I reached for it with my right hand and began to move it toward my left hand. As I did, I looked back through the lens just in time to see the glass hit the fries and knock them completely out of my frame. It was like one of those TV-show moments at the end of the show, when the cake decorators have to move the finished cake from the kitchen table to another table 5 feet away and they drop it! That is how I felt.

Had we not eaten these waffle fries during the shoot, we would not have discovered that they had a crunch to them. To help the consumer understand this characteristic, we included some broken pieces on the table surface to indicate these were not your typical waffle fries. FAR LEFT  The prop selection and overall cool tone of the image was designed to contrast with the waffle fries. ISO 100, 1/160 sec, f/8, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

I had to go to the kitchen and explain to the food stylist what I had done, but because I know Jackie so well, I was able to just make a joke about it and tell her, “I’m going to give you the opportunity to do it even better.” And she did, and the new arrangement was better than the first.

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Here is the lighting arrangement for the Waffle fries. Arranging the waffle fries on set allows the food stylist to see how they are interacting with the light.

wall bent foam core

Power settings (watts per second): A=100, B=100

8” 8”

B

A

blue fabric tablecloth

bent foam core

2x3 foam core

18”x30” foam core camera

Lighting Although I try to approach each shot individually, we all fall into some patterns, and this lighting setup is one of mine. On the left are two 4' x 8' pieces of foamcore with one light bouncing off of them, and toward the back of the set is another light aimed at the wall. A couple of fill cards (18" x 30" and 2' x 3' foam core) near the front complete the lighting setup. There are glasses and glass bottles, on the table but out of the frame, breaking up some of the light raking across the table. I dropped a few acrylic ice cubes in the blue glass on the edge of the frame to create some additional highlights, which the glass alone would not have produced.

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After capturing this image, I removed the container of fries and began to break down the set, when the art director asked me to shoot a few broken pieces to convey the crunch factor.

Broken pieces added to original image (not yet masked, but in position) in post-production.

Image Post-Production Just after I had captured the final image and removed the container of fries from the set, the food stylist’s assistant brought out a basket of the waffle fries for everyone to eat. When the art director tried one, he noticed that it had a crunchy texture, kind of like a cross between a potato chip and a French fry, not soft like we had all assumed. So at the last moment we added a few broken pieces on the tablecloth surface and I captured a few additional exposures that we could combine in post. I had to position the broken pieces without the benefit of having the container in place, so it took a little trial and error, but I knew as long as I got them close we could make it work. Most of the time, photographs of food look better when the color balance is warmer, but for these images we wanted a decidedly cool tone to the final shots. So we started with a blue cloth and then adjusted the global color balance toward the cool side in post. We also made the top left corner brighter by adding a little bit of lens flare. We used the Photoshop plug-in Knoll Light Factory to create this effect.

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In this image we wanted to feature the texture of the bread, so we used a grid spot on the light that was skimming the face of the sandwich. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/18, 90mm lens on Sinar P3

Chicken, Not a Burger E NOTE

Okay, so it’s a chicken sandwich and not a burger, but a lot of the same principles

A grid spot is a light

apply. This chicken sandwich with portobello mushrooms, Swiss cheese, and spin-

modifier that looks like a

ach was a new menu item for our client that featured ciabatta bread. We needed

honeycomb. It can help

to make sure the texture of the bread was hero. It should be noted that although

to direct the light and

we do style the cut end of a sandwich sometimes, this sandwich is assembled

keep it from spilling all

after the bread is cut, so it was not necessary to make it look as if a knife had

over your set.

gone through the ingredients. Just in case you were wondering, the cheese was melted on set using a clothes steamer, but great care was taken to prevent the steam from hitting the spinach because it would quickly wilt or turn black. A card held over the spinach sufficed, but also you could add the spinach after you steamed the cheese.

Lighting In order to bring out the texture of the bread, I was going to need a very directional light source shining across the cut edge of the sandwich, but I also needed some overall light. So I began with two large pieces of foamcore on the left of the set and directed a light at them. On the opposite side of the set, I placed another

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Here is the lighting arrangement for the chicken sandwich. Power settings (watts per second): A=860, B=1220, C=124

8” A

bent foam core

bent foam core

8” B 2x4 table bent foam core

8” C 2x3 foam core camera

4' x 8' piece of bent foamcore with a light aimed at it. These two lights create highlights on both sides of the sandwich, but they also show the transparency of the bread near the edge. A fill card to the right of the camera helps to fill in the shadows, but it does nothing to bring out the texture of the bread and the ingredients. That was done by using a very directional light source (light C in diagram) placed several feet away from the sandwich and almost even with the face of it.

Take Out Look through any food photographer’s portfolio and you will probably find a burger somewhere within the pages. It’s one of those items that unites us all as a common thread or a threshold that we all must pass, defining who we are and why we are different through the image of a hamburger and fries.

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Shooting Food for Packaging Assignment Eight: IN the Supermarket Aisles By the time the clients call us, they already know what they want. That’s the way it is with food packaging. Photography can be a big part of the design, but the package is not designed around the photography. There are lots of other elements that have to be on a package first—the company name, the brand name, the tag line, the product name, and even the flavor name.

Who knew you could buy Pringles from a vending machine? I saw this one at an ice hockey rink. The red one is the only one that is real. My digital artist created the other two by duplicating the image and doing some color adjustments. ISO 100, 1/60 sec, f/8, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR

Add to that the regulatory requirements like net weight, ingredients, nutrition, recipes, and UPC codes, and things start to get pretty crowded. If I am shooting a bowl of cereal for a menu, I probably have a lot of flexibility in terms of how my image needs to interact with text, logos, and other information. The art director might even adjust the graphic elements based on my image. But when I am shooting for a package, the area available for my photograph is usually very limited and very specific. And it needs to be a good photo! According to a recent study released by Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI), 76 percent of purchasing decisions are made in-store. That means that promotion, packaging, and shelf position play a huge role in the sales of any particular brand, and that’s why the image on your package has to be the best it can be.

Pringles Potato Crisps We had to shoot the Pringles potato crisps in identical positions for each flavor. ISO 100, 1/180 sec, f/11, 50mm on Canon DSLR

When a branding and design firm we work with regularly was chosen by Procter & Gamble to redesign one of their billion-dollar brands, Pringles Potato Crisps, they asked us to help by doing some exploratory photography. It is a common practice for an art director who is developing concepts for a new package to use stock photography as a placeholder until the design is approved and a photographer is commissioned to create the final image for the package. One of the downsides to that approach is that the art director is limited to only the photography that is available, and in the case of Pringles, there is not much

E NOTE A comp, or comprehen-

available. So the design firm asked us to shoot a variety of images that could be used to create comp packages for them to share with their client. The photography didn’t need to be perfect, only good enough to express the concept.

sive, is a preliminary layout showing all the elements planned for

Technique

an advertisement or

One of those concepts involved some Pringles Potato Crisps at various angles

package, usually for

wrapping around the package. To determine which angles work best, we placed

presentation to a client.

about 20 of the crisps on the end of skewers, using a ball of clay to make them

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stick. The other end of the skewer was shoved into a foam block, the same kind a florist uses to arrange flowers. Shooting straight down on five potato crisps at a time, we captured them in a wide variety of positions. There were shadows cast by the clay underneath onto the potato crisps, and individual pieces that lacked texture, but all we really wanted to see was shape. The designer worked with our images and created a design that incorporated five different views of the potato crisps. Once the client approved the project, we began by trying to find a way to re-create the same outlines, but without the same issues as before—such as undesirable shadows and a lack of texture. Placing them on a stick was no longer an option, not only because of the difficulty with lighting, but also because we needed to be able to repeat the process again and again. Pringles potato crisps are offered in a variety of flavors around the world and we needed to shoot all of them. We ultimately landed on the concept of shooting across at the product on a table, instead of down on it. The biggest challenge was finding props that could support the product but not cast a shadow. One of my favorite tools was a paperclip stretched out to form a single wire. I taped it to a short arm that was attached to a weighted base. By applying more or less downward pressure on the arm, I could make the potato crisp “roll” and show more of its underside or its topside.

During the concept stage, I used clay and skewers to hold the crisps in various angles. The foam block was covered with a paper towel to make outlining the image in post easier.

To get the crisps into the correct position, we would rest them on props. The white cards you see on the props are there to make it easier to define the edge of the crisps. The black cards were used to create shadows. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/20, 90mm lens on Sinar P3

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3x3 diffusion screen

By placing this layer on top of the new image, I could confirm the correct placement for the client’s layout. Some camera software, when shooting tethered, will even allow you to bring in a file that can be viewed (transparently) when you are in the Live View mode.

8”

small LightRight

camera

Here is the lighting arrangement for the Pringles potato crisps shot. Power setting (watts per second): A=320

Taking good notes was an important part of the process so that I could repeat exactly what I had done each time a new flavor was introduced. I even made a tracing of the crisps on a separate layer in Photoshop that I could then use to confirm each crisp matched the layout exactly.

Lighting I used a very simple setup—a single light with a diffusion screen and a fill card. Because the potato crisps were small, even a little change in the position of the light would have a large impact. I found myself studying the shadows as I twisted, pulled, or pushed the light around. The small fill card on the left side was constantly being pushed in and pulled back based on how dark the shadows needed to be. It felt as if I were trying to re-create a crime scene each time I had a new crisp flavor to shoot.

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Bush’s Beans This assignment for a new line of baked beans from Bush Brothers was relatively complex and required multiple images along with a considerable amount of post-production work to complete. Not only did they need an appetizing shot of their new beans, the beans had to be in a cast-iron bowl with flames in front and back. The top of the can would feature what looks like an illustration of charcoal briquettes under a grill, but is actually a photograph. And all of it would be placed on top of a gradated background, which wrapped the entire can. We didn’t use the fill card or the additional light on the floor when we captured the cooking grid alone.

Grill Technique We started with the charcoal grill. Just like with the gradated background, this image needed to wrap the entire can, and because we didn’t have a grill that was 5 feet wide, we knew we would have to duplicate the image to make it work. We began by setting up a cooking grid hovering over a black card filled with fake charcoal briquettes. We considered capturing the image as one shot, and then quickly realized that because the lighting required for each shot was too different, and we would need capture each one individually.

To keep all of the elements the same on each package, we created a master image file for the bowl, fire, gradation, and grill. Only the beans change each time.

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Here is the lighting arrangement for the grill shot. Camera is directly over the grill shooting down. Power settings (watts per second): A=1220, B=62

2x3 foamcore

black card

18” reflector & defusion

7” with diffusion screen

Grill Lighting The art director had indicated that she wanted the grill shot to be very dark and desaturated, almost like a black-and-white illustration. In our initial setup with both the cooking grid and the charcoal, we added a fill card on the left side of the set to fill in some of the shadows on the briquettes; however, this created an additional highlight on the left side of the cooking grid that we did not like. There was also another, more directional light illuminating the briquettes (to help create texture), and it too was adding highlights to the cooking grid. So we chose to shoot the briquettes without the grid and then shoot the grid without the fill card and additional light.

Grill Post-Production Our digital artist first worked to created a very wide image by duplicating the briquettes image layer three times in Photoshop. He used a mask to form an edge on the left side that could be placed on top of another layer to create the illusion of a continuous pile of charcoal. He also used an adjustment layer in Photoshop to darken the charcoal.

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You can see how the mask redefines the left edge of the charcoal so it can be placed on top of the next image.

Final composite of duplicated layers.

We used an adjustment layer to darken the charcoal. Very dark briquettes.

To add the cooking grid layer on top of this image, we could have masked out the space in between the grids, but that would have resulted in a very sharp line at the edge of the highlight on the cooking grid. So instead we used the Screen Blend mode in Photoshop to allow the highlights to burn through the image below (the charcoal) and still maintain the glow on the edge of the silver bars. Because the Screen Blend mode affects only highlights, you could see through the dark areas of the silver bars directly into the charcoal below. To fix that problem, we created a layer of black bars that matched up with the cooking grid to not only block the coals from showing through the dark areas, but also to create a solid black area on the silver bars for more graphic contrast.

The completed composite.

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Next, the Beans Several years ago, while I was on vacation, I purchased a small cast-iron bowl with a wire handle. When this project came up, I knew I had just the right prop for the job. The wire handle was very useful for hanging the bowl above a fire, but when it came to shooting the beans in the bowl, it only got in the way. Fortunately it was easy to remove, but the sides of the bowl where the wire connected needed a little Photoshop magic to get rid of. To help our digital artist with the job of removing this awkward profile, I shot the bowl two ways, one with the handles pointed east–west, and one with the handles pointed north–south. That way, he could combine the two images and create a perfectly round bowl.

How Many Onions? When shooting an image to be used on packaging, the first step is to make sure that the image is representative of what’s inside the package. Don’t show 12 sausage patties on a plate when there are only 10 in the box. And if there are five pieces of onion in the entire can of beans, don’t show four of them on Combining these two images in post allowed us to create a round pot without the knockouts for the handle.

top. Although we want to make it clear to the consumer that there are onions in the product, we have to show them in accurate proportions. For products that contain multiple ingredients, clients will often provide us with a list that includes percentages for each ingredient. If they do not provide us with a list (and sometimes even when they do), the food stylist will sort several cans and calculate the average amount of onions, peppers, or other inclusions per package so we have an accurate representation. This project was further complicated because part of the image would be blocked by the product description, but the client wanted us to style the entire bowl so the image could be used in other applications as well. That meant that if there were seven onions in the can, and we had decided to show two to three, we might place two in the area that would be visible on the package and place the last onion in the area that would be blocked by the product description. So if the image were ever used full frame, it would still be okay.

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Bean Lighting The thing that makes baked beans so difficult to shoot is the sauce. The way it reflects every light on the set. Using a diffusion screen to create a soft reflection is one way to deal with it, but those same reflections can also mask the color of the beans. That is why I chose to light this set using both reflected light and direct light. The diffused light, bouncing off pieces of foamcore, created soft, gradated highlights in the sauce, while the hard directional light pierced through the sauce and smooth highlights to reveal the beans’ true color. On the shadow side to the left, I placed another large piece of foamcore to fill the shadows. If I had used a small card close to the set, the entire outline of the card would have been reflected in the beans. By using a large board several feet away, I made the light fade out toward the edges and not create rectangular highlights.

The beans on the edge will look like they are in the bowl after we outline them and place them in the “master file” bowl. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/12, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Lynne Morris

bent foam core

black velvet (for fire shot only)

bent foam core

8” A

bent foam core

black card camera

8”

B

Here is the lighting arrangement for the baked beans in the pot. Power settings (watts per second): A=570, B=142

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The black board in front prevented the front of the pot from becoming too bright. We used a piece of black velvet behind the set to create a solid black background for the fire.

Add the Fire! Everyone has his or her own technique for creating fire. This one is pretty simple. We smash up charcoal briquettes and place them on a metal surface (a small shovel works well), and light them on fire. Keep your lens open while you wave the shovel under your food (or cauldron). It may take a little experimentation to Several of the images we captured and combined in post to create the fire underneath the pot of beans.

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get the f-stop right, and you might want to combine a few of your best images in post to get the perfect flames—but in the end, who doesn’t love playing with fire? Another option is to hire a special-effects rigger to create a more controlled fire.

F o o d P h o t o graphy & Lighting

Final Image Post-Production Beyond the work that was done to create the grill mentioned above, a lot more work was needed to create the perfect fire and pot. Several different fire images were combined to create the fire below the pot, and the cauldron itself was a combination of shots both in the fire and on the table.

Because the entire can, top to bottom and all the way around, was a photograph, the final file had to be this big. The agency added type and logos before going to press.

Even though the beans were shot in the same pot, they were outlined and placed in the composited cauldron image. That is why it wasn’t necessary for us to make sure the sauce stayed within the pot when we were shooting the beans. We just had to make sure that everything fit. Sometimes it was necessary to clean up edges or make sure a pepper stood out, and sometimes the beans themselves required a little attention to detail to make sure they looked their best, but overall things worked pretty well. The gradated background was created using Photoshop’s Gradient tool.

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Shooting for packaging is a lot different than shooting for an advertisement or a menu.

Chocolate Chip Cookies E NOTE

The layout provided was pretty tight for this next assignment. The client knew

A color code is used

exactly what they wanted, but what they needed was someone who could take

on packaging to

their layout and make it real and make it appetizing in the process. The image

differentiate similar

was going to be used on bags of Hershey’s baking chips, and not just one vari-

products. Regular

ety but several, so whatever we did had to be repeatable across the entire line.

mashed potatoes might

Because of the tight layout and because the photographic elements interacted

have a blue banner

with some of the graphic elements, we needed to have parts of the image

across the package,

“locked down,” meaning they didn’t move between varieties.

while the sour cream and chives version of the same mashed potatoes

Technique

brand would have a

We worked from the ground up, starting with the napkin. We needed something

green banner.

that was playful yet felt like it could be either cloth or paper. Size didn’t matter since we wouldn’t be shooting anything directly on it. Although the napkin we chose was white, in reality, on the package its color changed like a chameleon to reflect the color code of each variety of baking chip.

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Cookies Next came the cookies. Jackie, our food stylist, did an amazing job of creating what I would consider classic chocolate chip cookies. We shot them on a neutral background so we could outline them and place them on the napkin in post. The art director’s layout showed individual pieces and groups of four or five chips scattered around the napkin. But rather that try to position the chips perfectly in camera, we chose to shoot individual pieces and a few groupings, all on a gray background. That gave us more flexibility later to place them where we wanted. And besides, by doing it this way, if the client changed their mind, we could change too.

Nearly perfect chocolate chip cookies. ISO 100, 1/125, f/36, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

We Want This Image for Our Website, Too In today’s digital environment, clients are constantly evaluating alternative uses for the images they commission. That means that although the main purpose of this image might be for packaging, the image may also be used on websites, promotional material, magazine ads, press releases, or in a multitude of other situations. For that reason clients may ask that even areas of the image that don’t show on the final package be styled or captured in such a way that they can be used in other applications later.

One problem with this approach is that it can compromise my ability to

create the best image possible for the package. If we pull back far enough to get the entire plate in the shot, we might lose some of the intimacy we had achieved and wanted for the package. Likewise, if we remove the piece of bacon that extends beyond the edge of the plate, we also lose the way it was lying so perfectly when cropped for the final package.

I try explaining to clients that making an image that will work for every

situation means that it will not work perfectly for any of them! I try to convince my clients to make sure we are creating the best image we can for the package, and if it happens to work in other situations, that’s great. But don’t force it; we can always capture an additional image for that alternative use.

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To make the chocolate chips more appealing we heated them slightly until they started to shine.

Using clay under the chocolate chips made it easier to position them to look like they are falling.

The Chips In addition to the chips lying on the napkin, we also needed to shoot the chips falling from the top of the package and behind the cookies. If I used the same shot of the chocolate chips that I used for the napkin, it wouldn’t look believable. Not all of the chips that were lying on the surface were sitting upright, but they were still balanced on a horizontal surface, and even outlined, they would not look like they were falling. If you rotated them, they might look better, but then the lighting would be coming from the wrong direction. Suspending them didn’t sound like a good idea either, so we decided to reposition our camera. Shooting down on them would make the chips look like they were falling. We adjusted the light some, but it was still coming from the side as it had in the main image. We put clay underneath the chips to give them the action look that we needed without them rolling away.

FAR RIGHT Here is the final composited image.

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This is the lighting arrangement for the cookies and chips. Power settings (watts per second): A=1400, B=1400 6”x10” black card

2x4 table w/ light grey formica

black sawtooth card

8”

8”x24” black card on c-stand 11”x14” black card

B 20”x30” foamcore

small chimera A

5x5 diffusion screen

camera

Lighting Just to look at these images, you would think the lighting setup was fairly simple, but you would be wrong! I started with a diffusion screen to keep the highlights soft and used a piece of foamcore to fill in the shadows. And although that worked great for the chips, it didn’t do much to help the shape of the cookies. In fact, it made them appear flat and lacking texture. To bring back the texture, we needed to subtract some light. I started by placing a 6" x 10" black card in the top-left corned of the image. This helped to darken the top of the cookies. Another black card just outside of the frame shaded the edge of the cookie on the left side. To make the shadows and specifically the edges of the cookie darker, I also placed a black card to the right of the set, in front of the bottom half of the foamcore. And finally, we added a long thin black card across the top that completed the shadow begun by the large card in the top left corner.

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Image Post-Production For a project like this, the bulk of the time in post-production is taken up outlining images, adding shadows, and sizing everything to fit in the correct proportions for the package layout. It takes a lot of time and skill to make something as complicated as this look like it was captured all in one shot. To adjust the color of the napkin we used Hue/Saturation and Curves adjustment layers in Photoshop. When creating composites, it’s important to organize your layers and not do anything you can’t undo, should the client change their mind—because, believe me, they will. You don’t have to deliver the file layered, but you want to make sure you have a copy, so that any changes they want later won’t send you back to the starting line.

Self-Checkout One day while I was preparing to visit a new client, I realized I didn’t have many images in my portfolio of the packaging work I had done. Then it occurred to me, why not just stop by the store on the way there and pick up some packages that showcased my work? After all, I’ve shot over a thousand packages. I should be able to find something at the supermarket. It worked. The potential client loved looking at finished packaging instead of just my photos of packaging. The point is, even I wasn’t thinking about all of the images we see at the grocery store everyday. So the next time you are in the supermarket, look around. What packages catch your eye? What do you like or dislike about them?  What makes you, your spouse, or your child pick a certain brand? Chances are, the photography plays a larger role in your decisions than you ever thought.

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Courting Fried Chicken and Potato Wedges Assignment Nine: With Colonel Sanders Imagine courting someone for six years before even getting a date! That was the situation I found myself in with Kentucky Fried Chicken’s lead ad agency. I sent them postcards, fruitcakes, and emails. I brought them exquisite bakery cakes when I visited their office (two hours away) to share my portfolio and newest work. I even offered to shoot for free (one day only) just to get them to give me a try. They always seemed impressed

One of my favorite KFC shots, featuring a new photography look for the brand. ISO 100, 1/160 sec, f/10, 50mm lens on DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

Here is the lighting diagram for the opening image of this section.

wall

Power settings (watts per second): A=750, B=87, C=87 8”

bent foam core

C 8”

B

8”

A

2x4 table bent foam core

3x3 diffusion screen

bent foam core

camera

with my work; that didn’t appear to be the problem. But I couldn’t crack the case, no matter what I did. Just like with love, sometimes you have to wait until the moment is right. One day out of the blue, I got a call from the agency about doing some test photography to help develop a new look for KFC. Since the cost for this test was going to be paid for by the agency, they of course wanted to do it as inexpensively as possible, but they were willing to cover some of the hard cost. And I was willing to do what I could to help them because I knew what it could mean for me.

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A New Look The ad agency was very interested in our ideas and vision for the direction their new photography should take, so we started by calling a food stylist we knew would work with us on our limited budget, and we bought some chicken at our local KFC just to play with. We worked through several concepts before narrowing it down to just a few. We went to their offices a couple of weeks later to present our ideas. Their style of photography at the time was very clean, everything in focus, brightly lit images—and that’s okay. But we saw an opportunity to make the brand more approachable and more real. This was KFC, after all! So we left crumbs on the table, we broke biscuits in half, we styled the food to look like home and not a store. We allowed the gravy to drip over the side of the bowl. We got away from having everything in focus and instead used selective focus to lead the viewers or consumers to the items we wanted them to see. We added more backgrounds and we didn’t outline anything. The agency liked what they saw, and began the process of convincing the client that changing photographers and creating a whole new look for the brand was going to pay off. The effort took a few weeks, but they convinced KFC to give us a try. At that first official shoot when we were all together for the first time, it was like family you haven’t seen in years—it just felt right.

The Beginning This was one of our first test shots for KFC, trying to work out a new look for the ad agency. You can see that we focused on the chicken and allowed everything else to drop out of focus or to be cropped. We have the iconic bucket in the shot, but it’s not turned straight toward the camera. We added some windows in the back to create depth and take it out of the store and into the home. We broke the biscuits and left crumbs on the plate and on the table for a more natural look.

Technique One of the unique things about shooting and styling for KFC is the way their product is prepared and how much that process affects the look of the final

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A more natural look for KFC.

product. I always knew that they used a pressure fryer to fry their chicken, but

ISO 100, 1/160 sec, f/11, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

I didn’t know that if we didn’t use one and follow the rest of their procedures exactly, that our results would not match theirs. I don’t have to cook a Wendy’s hamburger on the same grill they use in the restaurant to get the same look. But for KFC, if you don’t follow the same process and use the same tools, you will not get the same result. That is why we now have a pressure fryer at our studio.

Lighting Nearly all of the light in this first image comes from behind, and all of it is diffused. There is one light bouncing into two large pieces of bent foamcore, which are positioned to the left side of the set. Another light is shining through a 3' x 3' diffusion screen, and a third light is behind a 5' x 5' diffusion screen that is itself behind the windows. For fill light, I placed a large piece of foamcore on the right side. On the left side, behind the camera, is a 4' x 8' piece of foamcore

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bent foam core

8” 8”

C

B

8”

fabric & windows

bent foam core

5x5 diffusion screen

A

3x3 diffusion screen

Virtually all of the light for this image was coming from behind the set. 2x3 table

2x3 foam core

blue fabric

Here is the lighting arrangement for the family meal, shot with the yellow window. Power settings (watts per second): A=230, B=530, C=87

camera

bent foam core

that is at least 6–8 feet back from the set. The front of the set is virtually wide open, making it easy for the stylist to work on the food, and for me to adjust my camera position.

Image Post-Production We did a variation of this first shot where we changed out the macaroni and cheese for another side item, but when we took the bowl out, I noticed that the additional light on the chicken looked nice, so we shot it with and without the macaroni-and-cheese bowl. That way we could use the shot that had more light on the chicken as the main image and then outline the macaroni-and-cheese bowl and drop it in to include with the chicken in post.

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We also brightened the color of the windows and cloned out some of the hardware in Photoshop. Everything looked good. But the background, and especially the water glasses on the back of the set, were still too much in focus, so we used Gaussian Blur in Photoshop on the background and glasses to keep them from being a distraction.

Potato Wedges Combo meals are the norm at most quick-service restaurants these days, but it is easy for the drink and side item to pull attention away from what’s really important in your shot—the sandwich. I want to make sure the sandwich is the hero and the drink and side items are the supporting cast. In this case we pulled the potato wedges out onto the background to make them feel more casual and a little less important. We didn’t worry about making sure it was the full amount for an order, because we wanted to focus on the sandwich and only hint at what Potato wedges don’t have to be in a box.

comes with it. But because the potato wedges are a unique offering for KFC, we

ISO 100, 1/13, f/16, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

focus. The Pepsi glass is left to go slightly out of focus so as to not steal the show

did allow them to trickle out toward the front of the set, and thus become more in from the chicken sandwich.

Here is the lighting arrangement for the chicken sandwiches combo.

wall

Power settings (watts per second): A=860, B=400, C=215

8”

bent foam core

B

8”

8”

A

bent foam core

C

3x3 diffusion screen

4x4 bead board bent foam core

camera

small spanish light next to camera

Technique and Lighting Recently I had the opportunity to present a workshop at the FoodPhoto Festival

E NOTE

in Tarragona, Spain. During the expo portion of the conference I discovered a

Want one? You can find

small continuous light source that is powered by a USB connection. The LED light

out more about the

is only about two inches in diameter and is daylight balanced, meaning the color

small LED lights I used

of the light output is the same as my studio strobes. This meant that I could use it

on the chicken sandwich

as a supplemental light, or even as a main light for small items.

shot at balledpro.com.

Because it is a continuous light source and not nearly as powerful as my studio strobes, I have to slow down my shutter speed just a little bit to capture the light it produces—but that’s okay, because all I need it to do is give me a little bit of fill light.

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You probably wouldn’t even notice it if I didn’t point it out, but if you look closely, you can see a shadow cast onto the surface from the chicken sandwich in front, toward the sandwich in back. That is the shadow cast by this small light. Without it, the front of the sandwich would be a little darker and the shadows a little deeper. A fill card could have had the same effect to a degree, but by adjusting my shutter speed I was able to control the how bright the light was. I can’t do that with a fill card.

Image Post-Production The background for this image, although already a bit out of focus, was further blurred using the Gaussian Blur filter in Photoshop. We even allowed the blur to extend onto the top of the buns and the back of the wedges to help them blend into the background. The Pepsi glass was shot separately and added in post. With the glass placed on its own layer it can be repositioned as needed for various applications. Images like this often have to work in several situations—like on a vertical banner and again as a very wide horizontal image. It is nice for the agency TOP  This image shows the throw of the small LED light.

to be able to move the glass based on the layout or logos. It also helps to shoot the drink separately because of how difficult it can be to capture the perfect glass

BOTTOM The overall set, with the LED light positioned to the left and close to the lens.

By creating a mask that blocks the wedges and sandwich in front of the drink instead of masking off the drink, the art director can move the glass around as needed for different layouts without re-masking each time.

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of cola (see Assignment 3, “Would You Like a Drink with That?”). Dealing with the ice arrangement, the spritz, and the foam could easily distract you from what needed to be done with the sandwich, and that is really the focus of your shot.

The Famous Bowl Making someone hungry is only part of a food photographer’s job; the other part is to help the consumer make an informed decision. Are there onions on that chicken sandwich, and what if I don’t like onions? Making sure our images communicate what the ingredients in the product are is part of the photographer’s responsibility. In this next KFC assignment we needed to make sure the consumer

The main light in this image is the backlight. ISO 100, 1/200 sec, f/10, 40mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

Co ur t ing Fri ed Ch icken and P otat o We dges 

255

could see all of the ingredients that were in the bowl. So we went a little light on the cheese, to make sure you could see some of the ingredients through it, and the mashed potatoes defined the edge.

Props The bowl in this shot is from a chain store, but I like its rustic feel. Also, it communicates home and comfort, as does the rest of the set. The surface is a wood table, but the highlight makes it almost impossible to tell. The board directly underneath the bowl is actually a stone. It has a great rustic patina to the surface and it’s full of grooves that look like knife cuts, but it is actually a foot warmer

Here is the lighting diagram for the KFC bowl shot. Power settings (watts per second): A=230, B=860

wall 8” B

A

bent foam core

no reflector

bent foam core

2x3 foam core camera

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made of soapstone and probably was used for a buggy. What you don’t see is a handle that was used to hold it as it was lifted out of the fire and then placed under the passenger’s feet in the buggy. This just proves you don’t have to always look in the kitchen section to find a great prop.

Lighting I love the lighting in this image. It feels like I’m in someone’s cool loft apartment getting ready to eat some really good food. When we create an atmosphere that engages consumers, that connects with them, they become a part of the story. So the lighting is about texture and appetite, but it also about telling a story. The wood surface is washing out because of the light that is shining on the back wall and then reflecting into the table’s surface. Several bottles and glasses on the back of the table add to the highlights as well. To the right rear of the set are two 4' x 8' bent foamcore pieces that are illuminated by another light, which is without any reflector at all. A small white fill card to the left of the camera fills in some of the shadows.

Dessert, Anyone? For this shot of KFC parfaits, we wanted to evoke a summer feel, so we began with a whitewashed wood table and added a background that I shot when I was in Italy a few years ago—or was it Kentucky? It’s a little hard to tell from this image, but the point is, we needed something green in the background to sell the idea that we were outside. The napkins add a playful feel, and the strawberries and chocolate pieces add flavor and freshness cues. I especially liked the ceramic spoon.

Lighting To the right of the set, we place two 4' x 8' pieces of bent foamcore that form a wall of light. On the left side is a 3' x 3' fill card actually sitting on the table. Next to the back piece of foamcore and about 8 feet up is another light, which I am using to cast shadows on the set—as if there were sunlight coming through the

Co ur t ing Fri ed Ch icken and P otat o We dges 

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Here is the lighting arrangement for the shot of the parfaits.

wall

8”

B

C 8”

Power settings (watts per second): A=700, B=375, C=230

8” bent foam core

A

cookie

bent foam core

white table

3x3 foam core

camera

trees. Because this light is so far away, it can cast a strong shadow on anything in its path. This particular something was a cookie, a piece of wood about 2' x 3' (also know as a cucoloris) that has holes of various shapes cut out of it. By placing this cookie between the light source and the set, we were able to get random shadows and highlights cast onto the set. There is one more light shining on the back wall, providing some fill and backlight.

Image Post-Production There wasn’t a lot of post needed for this image beyond adding the background and a few sparkles. Our digital artist outlined the back edge of the table and glass with a soft mask so that they would blend nicely with the background. Our image was shot with some selective focus already, so blurring the back edge of the table just a little was all that was needed to make the transition believable.

FAR LEFT  Getting the loose strawberries and chocolate pieces in the right spot can take almost as long as styling the featured food. ISO 100, 1/160 sec, f/13, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

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259

Here is the lighting arrangement for the bucket of chicken shot.

wall

Power settings (watts per second): A=1500, B=175, C=175 8”

FAR RIGHT  Still the classic!

bent foam core

C

ISO 100, 1/200 sec, f/14, 24mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

8”

B

8”

A

2x4 table bent foam core

3x3 diffusion screen

bent foam core

camera

Our First Anniversary It’s been a little over a year now, and things are still going pretty good. I really enjoy working for the Colonel and I hope he feels the same about me. There are no guarantees in this business—heck there aren’t even contracts—just assignments. So you have to take it one day at a time, but so far, it has been an amazing ride.

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F o o d P h o t o graphy & Lighting

Index

A ABs (art buyers), 68, 76, 103 accessories. See equipment/supplies account executives, 69 acrylic ice, 156 action, freezing, 164–165 ad agencies, 10, 105, 247, 249 AdBase, 110 adjustment layers, 234–235 Adobe Bridge software, 136 Adobe Camera Raw images, 35, 135, 136 Adobe Illustrator, 51, 135 Adobe Labs Pixel Blender plug-in, 52 Adobe Photoshop. See Photoshop ADs. See art directors advertising, 108–111. See also marketing comps, 230 considerations, 108 direct mail, 110–111 directories, 108, 110 magazine ads, 108 mailing lists, 108 sourcebooks, 108 “Teri Shoots Food,” 108–109 via postcards, 110–111 word-of-mouth, 103 Workbook, 108, 110, 126 advertising agencies, 10, 105, 247, 249 Agency Access, 110 Air Display app, 40 Airheads bars, 208–209 aluminum foil, 27 ambient light, 134 American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), 79, 107 anthro.com, 38 aperture setting, 9–10 aphotofolio.com, 106 applications. See software approval, photo shoot, 93–94 art buyers (ABs), 68, 76, 103 art directors (ADs) considerations, 10 involving in shoots, 92–93 marketing to, 103 role of, 66–68 artist tape, 156, 157

26 2  

F o o d P h o t o graphy & Lighting

ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers), 79, 107 assets, digital, 95 assignments Airheads bars image, 208–209 approval process, 11 breakfast cereal image, 186–189 Bush’s Beans image, 233–239 candy/dessert images, 199–211 chicken sandwich image, 226–227 chocolate chip cookies image, 240–245 chocolate-covered cherries image, 202–206 considerations, 10–11 drink images, 155–167, 218, 254 edible arts/crafts images, 208–209 editorial, 170–171 famous bowl image, 255–257 hamburger images, 212, 213–221 ice cream images, 139–153 KFC fried chicken images, 246, 248–252, 261 KFC images, 247–261 KFC parfait image, 257–260 KFC potato wedges image, 252–255 Kit-Kat bar image, 200–202 macaroon image, 198, 210–211 natural light with flash, 185–197 New Orleans Tourism Board, 124, 125–137 pasta and clams image, 164, 194–197 pizza images, 168, 169–183 powdered donut image, 206–208 Pringles potato crisps image, 228, 229–232 process for. See process shooting food for packaging, 229–245 turkey burger image, 190–192 waffle fries image, 222, 223–225 waffles image, 210–211 wheat field image, 193–194 available light, 42, 43, 127, 129, 134

B backgrounds considerations, 9, 180, 221 determining need for, 79–80 gradated, 239

neutral color, 221 wood as, 127, 171, 257 backlighting, 194, 255 backups, 51, 96 baked beans image, 233–239 balledpro.com, 253 ballhead, 48 battery backup, 38 beans, baked, 233–239 billboards, 145 billing clients, 83, 90, 95, 97 black board, 238 black cards, 127, 152, 180, 182, 231 black flags, 178 black-and-white conversions, 52 blocking, 143 blogs, 10, 103, 106 blurring, 252, 254, 259 bonus chapters, xii, 166 bookings, 84, 85 boom stand, 14 bottles, glass, 46, 130, 131, 224 bounce card, 43 bowls, 256–257 brand identity, 9 brand image, 9 breakfast cereal image, 186–189 bubbles, 161, 165 budgets, 82 burger images hamburger, 213–221 turkey burger, 190–192 Bush’s Beans image, 233–239 business activities bookings, 84, 85 conferences, 107–108 copyright issues, 95, 97 determining rates, 76–77 estimating projects, 76–83 invoicing clients, 83, 90, 95, 97 legal issues, 95, 97, 146–148 licensing images, 79 organizations. See professional organizations reassessing business model, 31

C Café Du Monde, 132–136 calibration, 50 camera choosing, 34–36 DSLR, 34–36 features, 34–36

Hasselblad, 34 lenses. See lenses medium-format, 36 quality, 34 camera body, 37 camera shots. See also images challenges, 6 hand-held, 34 pour shots, 163, 164 shot list, 88, 90, 91 shot order, 88 test shots, 47, 86, 134, 249 when to press shutter, 6–7 candies, 199–211 canned air, 40 Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III DSLR, 34 Canon proprietary software, 136 cards black, 127, 152, 180, 182, 231 bounce, 43 fill, 42, 46, 127, 232, 257 foamcore, 46 gray, 41 white, 127, 231, 257 Carino’s Italian Restaurant, 179–182 carts, 37, 38 CDs (creative directors), 69 celebrity models, 90 celebrity stand-ins, 90 Central Parkway studio, 18–30 charcoal briquettes, 233–235, 238 cheese, 176–178, 183, 226 chefs. See also home economists advantages of using, 6 role of, 70–71 working with, 6 chicken sandwich image, 226–227 Chimera soft boxes, 43, 143 chocolate chip cookies image, 240–245 chocolate chips images, 242–243 chocolate images, 200–206 chocolate-covered cherries image, 202–206 Cibachromes, 15 Cincinnati Magazine, 170–171 clay/putty, 40 client office, 26 clients approving shots, 93–94 budget considerations, 82 confirming shoots with, 84–85 courting, 247–261 email access, 25 invoicing, 83, 90, 95, 97 involvement in project, 70

Ind ex  

263

clients (continued) presenting portfolio to, 102–103 recommendations, 99, 103 supplying products, 80–82 waiving creative fee for, 105 Clone Stamp tool, 205 Clone tool, 189 close-up photos, 37 Coca-Cola image, 154, 157, 158–161 Coke glass, 218 cold calls, 103 collaboration, 5–6. See also team color balance, 225 fringing, 136 saturation, 136–137, 175 color coding, 240 combo meals, 252 commercial photographers, 10–11 commission, 113 comp (comprehensive), 230 composited images, 235, 242–243 comprehensive (comp), 230 computer, 36, 38, 50, 51, 53 condensation, 151, 159 condiments, 27 conferences, 107–108 confirmation, 84–85 contests, 116–121 cookbook contest, 118–121 cookies, 240–245 cooking oil, 27 cooktop, 27 copyrights, 95, 97 copywriters, 69 cotton gloves, 204 craft services, 82 Craftsman toolbox, 38 Craigslist, 31 CrashPlan PRO, 96 creative directors (CDs), 69 creative fee, waiving, 105 c-stands, 48, 141–142 curtains, 14 customer management software, 48 customized promotions, 114–121

D dartboard, 29 database software programs, 48 Daylite software, 48 deadlines, 11, 76 Dean Foods, 161–167

26 4  

F o o d P h o t o graphy & Lighting

DeNoise plug-in, 52 depth of field, 140 dessert pizzas, 183 desserts, 199–211 Airheads bars, 208–209 chocolate, 200–206 chocolate chip cookies, 240–245 considerations, 199–200, 211 cookies, 240–245 dessert pizzas, 183 ice cream. See ice cream images KFC parfaits, 257–260 macaroons, 198, 210–211 peppermint pie, 138, 139 powdered donuts, 206–208 diffused light, 46, 140, 237 diffusers, 42, 44 diffusion screen, 42–43, 145, 164, 221 digital artists, 63 digital assets, 95 digital photography advantages of, 53 history, 53 tools for, 49–53 digital sensors, 53 dining room, 26 direct mail, 110–111 directional lighting, 175, 227 dishwasher, 27 distortion, 35, 36, 136 Dixon, Nanci, 94 Donatos Pizza, 171–175 donut image, 206–208 dots, 44, 45, 48 drafting tape, 156 drink images, 155–167, 218, 254 drives, 51, 53, 96 Dropbox, 49 droplets, 157, 161 DSLR cameras, 34–36

E edible arts/crafts, 208–209 editorial assignments, 170–171 electric cooktop, 27 Elinchrom lights, 41 Elinchrom power packs, 41 email clients checking, 25 confirming bookings via, 84 linking to FTP site, 96 Enable Lens Profile Corrections option, 136 entertainment equipment, 29

equipment/supplies. See also tools aluminum foil, 27 artist tape, 156, 157 ballhead, 48 battery backup, 38 black board, 238 boom stand, 14 canned air, 40 carts, 37, 38 clay/putty, 40 computer, 36, 38, 50, 51, 53 cooking staples, 27 cotton gloves, 204 c-stands, 48, 141–142 dots, 44, 45, 48 drafting tape, 156 fingernail polish remover, 40 fingers, 44, 45 flags, 44–45, 178 generators, 172 glue, 188 glycerin, 156 grill lighter, 41, 201 heating element, 201 kitchen basics, 26–27 lacquer, 156, 157 laser pointer, 41 lighting. See lighting equipment metal weights, 40 scrims, 44–45 shims, 40–41 skewers, 231 spray bottle, 156 storing, 24 studio stands, 9, 47–48 stylus, 51 Styrofoam blocks, 193 super glue, 40 tape measure, 40, 156, 157 toolbox, 38 Wildroot Hair Tonic, 188 work station, 37–41 estimating projects, 76–83

F fabric, black velvet, 47, 48, 238 Facebook, 106, 118 Facebook fan base, 118 famous bowl image, 255–257 feathering light, 202 file delivery, 53 file folders, 35, 92, 95 file servers, 51, 95, 96

file sharing software, 49 file transfer services, 53 FileMaker Pro, 48 files backups, 96 delivery of, 96 final, 88, 95, 96 layered, 88, 96 processed, 95 raw, 35, 135, 136 RGB, 96 storage of, 96 tiffs, 96 working, 95 fill cards, 42, 46, 127, 232, 257 fill light, 253 final art, 88, 96 final files, 95, 96 fingernail polish remover, 40 fingers, 44, 45 fire, 238–239 fitness equipment, 29 fitness room, 29 flags, 44–45, 178 flash handheld, 133, 134 natural light with, 185–197 remote, 134 FlexTT5 unit, 134 floating ice, 156 foam blocks, 231 foamcore, 40, 46, 145, 186 foamcore fill card, 46 focal length, 36 focus plane of, 35 soft, 9–10, 11 focus groups, 173 folders on computer, 35, 92, 95 manilla, 49, 91 project, 95 food baked beans, 233–239 brand identity, 9 breakfast cereal, 186–189 bringing to client interview, 105 cheese, 176–178, 183, 226 chicken sandwich, 226–227 chocolate, 200–206 chocolate-covered cherries, 202–206 “cold” appearance of, 156 desserts. See desserts drinks, 155–167, 218, 254

Ind ex  

265

food (continued) edible arts/crafts, 208–209 fried chicken, 246, 248–252, 261 hamburgers, 213–221 handling leftovers, 28 ice cream. See ice cream images liquids, 155–167 milk, 161–167, 188, 189 milk shakes, 151–153 mushrooms, 190 natural vs. “perfect,” 134–136 onions, 190–192, 236 pasta and clams, 164, 194–197 pizza, 168, 169–183 potato crisps, 229–232 potato wedges, 252–255 powdered donuts, 206–208 stand-ins, 89–90 stromboli, 174–175 turkey burgers, 190–192 waffle fries, 222, 223–225 waffles, 210–211 wheat, 193–194 food blogs. See blogs food gifts, 116–118 food packaging. See packaging food photography. See also photography approval process, 11 challenges, 3–11 as commercial endeavor, 10–11 considerations, 4–9 current state of, 10–11 deadlines, 11, 76 editorial, 186–189 handling leftovers, 28 process. See process props, 9 studio. See studio team. See team time considerations, 6–7, 11 tools. See tools food props. See props food shoots. See photo shoots food stylist assistants, 58 food stylists choosing, 86 considerations, 5 described, 5 role of, 58 FoodPhoto Festival, 107, 253 foos-ball table, 18 freezer, 27, 28 Fresnel spotlight, 41

26 6  

F o o d P h o t o graphy & Lighting

fries, waffle, 222, 223–225 fringing, 136 Fruitcake Photography Contest, 116–118 fruitcakecontest.com, 118 FTP site, 96

G garnishes, 80 gas cooktop, 27 gator board, 25 Gaussian Blur filter, 252, 254 General Mills, 94 generators, 172 gifts, 116–118 glass, 159 glass bottles, 224 glasses, 218, 254 gloves, cotton, 204 glue, 188 glycerin, 156 “gobo” (goes between), 130 gradated background, 239 Gradient tool, 239 gray card, 41 gray color, 43 The Green Project, 127 grid spot, 226 grill lighter, 41, 201 grill lighting, 234 grill technique, 233

H hamburger images, 212, 213–221 hand models, 64, 65 handheld flash, 133, 134 hard drives, 51, 53, 96 hardware, 50–51 computer, 36, 38, 50, 51, 53 file servers, 51, 95, 96 hard drives, 51, 53, 96 iPads, 40, 49, 102 monitors. See monitors printers, 71 thumb drives, 53, 96 Hasselblad camera, 34 Hasselblad Phocus software, 35 HDR (High Dynamic Range) images, 52 Healing Brush tool, 205 heating element, 201 heroes, 89–90, 92, 143 Hershey’s Chocolate Chips image, 240–245 High Dynamic Range (HDR) images, 52 highlights, 237

home economists, 70–71. See also chefs honeycomb grid, 43 house accounts, 113

I IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals), 107, 126 ice, 156, 157 ice cream images challenges, 6, 139–140, 153 fake ice cream, 142–143 lighting, 142–143, 145, 148 milk shakes, 151–153 peppermint pie image, 138, 139 post-production, 146 scoops, 140–149 Sundaes, 151 UDF campaign, 140–149 ice cubes, 157 Illustrator, 51, 135 image plane, 35 images. See also camera shots backups, 96 camera raw, 35, 135, 136 close-up, 37 composited, 235, 242–243 delivery of, 96 estimating number of, 76–79 final art, 88, 95, 96 fixing problems, 95 HDR, 52 intended use, 79 licensing, 79 mock-ups, 89–90 post-production. See post-production repurposing for websites, 241 retouching, 95 rights to, 97 stock, 11 storage of, 96 when to press shutter, 6–7 International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP), 107, 126 International Conference on Food Styling and Photography, 107 Internet. See also websites file delivery via, 53 off-site backups to, 96 interns, 69 interviews, 105 invoicing clients, 83, 90, 95, 97 iPads, 40, 49, 102 iPhoto, 102

J job sheet, 90–91

K Kentucky Fried Chicken. See KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), 247–261 KFC fried chicken image, 246, 248–252, 261 KFC parfait image, 257–260 KFC potato wedges image, 252–255 kitchens basic equipment, 26–27 Central Parkway studio, 26–28 Longworth Hall, 16–17 Kit-Kat bar image, 200–202 Knoll Light Factory plug-in, 52, 193, 194

L lacquer, 156, 157 laser pointer, 41 Lastolite TriGrip diffuser, 42, 46, 171 lawyers, 71 layered files, 88, 96 layers, adjustment, 234–235 layouts considerations, 86–88 described, 76 mood boards, 87, 88 Photoshopped, 77 purpose of, 76 LED lights, 253, 254 leftovers, 28 legal issues copyrights, 95, 97 fake products and, 146–148 lemonade, 157 lens flare, 52, 225 lens plane, 35 lenses choosing, 9, 36–37 considerations, 9 distortion and, 35, 36, 136 features, 36–37 macro, 37 normal, 9, 36 quality, 37 telephoto, 9, 36 tilt/shift, 35 wide-angle, 9, 36 zoom, 37 license, 97 licensing resources, 79 light diffusion, 46, 140

Ind ex  

267

light modifers, 43–47 lighting Airheads bars image, 209 ambient light, 134 available light, 42, 43, 127, 129, 134 backlighting, 194, 255 baked beans image, 237–238 bottles and, 46, 130, 131 bouncing light, 42, 44 Café Du Monde shoot, 133–134 cards. See cards cereal image, 188–189 chicken sandwich image, 226–227 chocolate chip cookies image, 244 chocolate-covered cherries image, 204–205 Coca-Cola image, 158, 159 considerations, 7–9 diffused light, 46, 140, 237 directional, 175, 227 examples, 5 fading, 237 famous bowl image, 257 feathering light, 44, 202 fill light, 253 flash. See flash “gobo,” 130 grid spot, 226 grill, 234 hamburger images, 215, 218–220 highlights, 237 ice cream images, 142–143, 145, 148 importance of, 7, 9 KFC fried chicken image, 248, 250–251 KFC parfait image, 257–259 KFC potato wedges image, 253–254 Kit-Kat bar image, 201, 202 macaroons, 210–211 milk shake image, 152 natural light, 134, 185–197 pasta and clams image, 194, 196, 197 pizza images, 170, 172–174, 180–183 pizza pulls, 178–179 placement of, 7 powdered donut image, 206–208 Pringles potato crisps image, 232 red onion image, 191–192 rim lit, 145 shadows, 46, 47, 237, 259 Silk Milk images, 162–164 specular light source, 140, 221 spotlight, 43 stand-ins and, 7 stromboli image, 174–175 TTL metering, 134

26 8  

F o o d P h o t o graphy & Lighting

turkey burger image, 192 waffle fries image, 224 waffles image, 210–211 wheat field image, 193, 194 lighting equipment diffusers, 42, 44 LED lights, 253, 254 light modifiers, 41–43 reflectors, 42, 43–44 scrims/flags/dots/fingers, 44–45, 48, 178 soft boxes, 14, 15, 43, 143 Speedotrons, 14, 41 strobes, 14, 41–42 USB light, 253 Lightrights, 46 LinkedIn, 106 LinkedIn pages, 103 liquid images, 155–167 liquids bubbles, 161, 165 Coca-Cola image, 154, 157, 158–161 “cold” appearance of, 156 condensation, 151, 159 droplets, 157, 161 glass, 159 ice in, 156, 157 lemonade, 157 milk, 161–167, 188, 189 pouring, 163, 164 soft drinks, 154, 156–161, 218, 254 splash effects, 163, 164–165 spritz, 156, 157, 159, 161 stopping action, 164–165 water, 151 living room, 26 logos, 151, 152

M macaroon image, 198, 210–211 macro lens, 37 magazine ads, 108 mail, direct, 110–111 mailing lists, 108 manbehindthecurtain.net, 67 marble surface, 203 markers, 143 market research, 173 marketing, 99–121. See also advertising blogs and, 103, 106 bringing food to interview, 105 client recommendations, 99, 103 cold calls, 103 conferences, 107–108

contests, 116–121 customized promotions, 114–121 Facebook fan base, 118 food gifts, 116–118 hiring representation, 112–113 house accounts, 113 portfolio, 101, 102–103, 106 professional organizations, 31, 107 social media and, 106 studio map, 115 studio parties, 114–115 testimonials, 103 waiving creative fee, 105 web presence, 106 word of mouth, 103 masks, 234–235, 254 medium-format camera, 36 metal weights, 40 Microsoft PowerPoint, 51 Microsoft Word, 51 milk images, 161–167, 188, 189 milk shake image, 151–153 mirrors, 46, 180, 182 mock-ups, 89–90 model makers, 66 models celebrities as, 90 hand, 64, 65 Modern Postcard, 110–111 monitor arms, 38 monitors, 38–40 calibration, 50 considerations, 38–40, 50 iPad as, 40, 49 in kitchen, 49 multiple, 38–40 workstation setup, 38–40 mood boards, 87, 88 movies, 29 mushroom image, 190–191

N nail polish remover, 40 National Association of Photoshop Professionals, 107 national product rollout, 214–216 natural light, 134, 185–197 networks, wireless, 25 New Orleans Tourism Board assignment, 124, 125–137 Nik Silver Efex Pro plug-in, 52 noise, removing, 52 normal lenses, 9, 36

O off-site backups, 96 onions, 190–192, 236 operations (Ops) test, 213, 214, 215 organizations. See professional organizations oven, 27

P packaging Bush’s Beans, 233–239 changes to, 147 color coding, 240 finished examples, 245 Hershey’s Chocolate Chips, 240–245 logos on, 151, 152 Pringles potato crisps, 228, 229–232 shooting food for, 229–245 painting effects, 52 Palace Café, 126–129 paper towels, 27 parfait image, 257–260 Parkway Bakery, 129–131 parties, studio, 114–115 pasta and clams image, 164, 194–197 patio, 26 payment terms, 97 peppermint pie image, 138, 139 Pepsi glass, 252 Perfetti Van Melle project, 208–209 personnel. See team Phocus software, 35 phone book, 108 photo assignments. See assignments photo book, 102 photo shoots. See also process art director involvement, 92–93 client approval, 93–94 confirming, 84–85 day of, 88–94 delivery/storage of images, 96 heroes, 89–90, 92 holding vs. booking, 85 job sheet, 90–91 mock-ups, 89–90 models. See models preliminary shots, 92 retouching images, 95 shot list, 88, 90, 91 shot order, 88 stand-ins. See stand-ins staying organized during, 90–91 photo studio. See studio

Ind ex  

269

photographers commercial, 10–11 as part of team, 5–6 rates, 76–77 role of, 56 photographer’s assistant, 56–57 photography. See also food photography digital, 49–53 stock, 11 Photomatrix Pro program, 52 PhotoPlus Expo, 107 photos. See camera shots; images Photoshop, 51, 52, 77, 88 Photoshop plug-ins, 52 Photoshop World, 107 Photoshopped layouts, 77 Pixel Blender plug-in, 52 pizza images, 168, 169–183 pizza pulls, 176–178 plane of focus, 35 plug-ins, 52, 193, 194 PocketWizard MiniTT1 unit, 134 pool table, 16, 18, 29 portfolio, 101, 102–103, 106 postcards, advertising via, 110–111 post-production, 95–96 Bush’s Beans image, 239 cereal image, 189 chocolate chip cookies image, 245 chocolate-covered cherries image, 205–206 considerations, 6 grill, 234–235 hamburger image, 221–223 KFC fried chicken image, 251–252 KFC parfait image, 259–260 KFC potato wedges, 254–255 milk shake image, 152–153 New Orleans Tourism Board assignment, 124, 136–137 pizza images, 174 project folders, 95 retouching photos, 95 Silk Milk images, 166 UDF ice cream campaign, 146 waffle fries, 225 wheat field image, 194 potato crisps, 229–232 potato wedges image, 252–255 pour shots, 163, 164 powdered donut image, 206–208 PowerPoint, 51

27 0  

F o o d P h o t o graphy & Lighting

pre-production considerations, 86 information sheet, 86 meetings, 85 planning for, 85–88 pre-production notes, 86 Pringles potato crisps image, 228, 229–232 printed photo book, 102 printer cart, 38 printers, 71 process, 75–97. See also photo shoots budgets, 82 confirming shoots, 84–85 day of the shoot, 88–94 deadlines, 11, 76 estimating projects, 76–83 final art, 88, 95, 96 invoicing clients, 83, 90, 95, 97 job sheet, 90–91 layouts, 96 overview, 75–76 post-production, 95–96 pre-production planning, 85–88 processed files, 95 Procter & Gamble, 100 producers, 61 product description, 236 product rollout, 214–216 products containing multiple ingredients, 236 focus groups for, 173 leftovers, 28 obtaining, 80–82 supplied vs. purchased, 80–82 professional organizations American Society of Media Photographers, 79, 107 considerations, 31, 107 National Association of Photoshop Professionals, 107 International Association of Culinary Professionals, 107, 126 programs. See software project folders, 95 projects deadlines, 11, 76 estimating, 76–83 invoicing for, 83, 90, 95, 97 promotions, 114–121 prop room, 13, 21–23 prop stylist, 23, 59–61

props acrylic ice, 156 bowls, 256–257 considerations, 9 determining need for, 79–80 fake ice cream, 142–143 floating ice, 156 food, 80 garnishes, 80 organizing, 23 renting vs. purchasing, 22 resources, 66 storing, 21–23 variety, 22 publications considerations, 126 Workbook, 108, 110, 126 putty, 40

R RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks), 51, 96 rates, 76–77 raw files, 35, 135, 136 recommendations, 99, 103 red onion image, 190–192 Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), 51, 96 reflections, 221, 237 reflectors, 42, 43–44 refrigerator, 27 remote flash, 134 representation, hiring, 112–113 resolution billboards, 145 lens quality and, 37 resources licensing, 79 organizations. See professional organizations publications. See publications restrooms, 26 retouching, 95 RGB files, 96 rim lit lighting, 145 roles. See team rubber ice, 156

S sales force, 112–113 saturation, 136–137, 175 Scheimpflug principle, 35

Screen Blend mode, 235 scrims, 44–45 servers, file, 51, 95, 96 setshop.com, 66 shadows, 46, 47, 237, 259 shims, 40–41 shoots. See photo shoots shot list, 88, 90, 91 shot order, 88 shots. See camera shots shower, 29 shutter speed, 164 Silk Milk images, 161–167 Sinar P3 view camera, 34 sink, 27 skewers, 231 “slice” technique, 141–142 Small Fries Kid’s Cookbook, 118–121 Small Fries project, 139 smallfriescookbook.com, 120 smoke, 64 social media, 106 soft boxes, 14, 15, 43, 143 soft drink images, 154, 156–161, 218, 254 software Adobe Bridge, 136 Air Display, 40 camera’s proprietary software, 35, 136 customer management, 49 database, 48 Daylite, 48 digital photography tools, 49–53 Dropbox, 49 file sharing, 49 FileMaker Pro, 48 Illustrator, 51, 135 iPhoto, 102 keeping up-do-date, 51 Phocus, 35 Photomatrix Pro, 52 Photoshop, 51, 52, 77, 88 PowerPoint, 51 versions, 51 Word, 51 sourcebooks, 108 soy milk, 161–167 special effects designer/rigger, 64 specular light source, 140, 221 Speedotron strobes, 14, 41 spices, 27 splash effects, 163, 164–165 spotlight, 43

Ind ex  

271

spray bottle, 156 spritz, 156, 157, 159, 161 stand-ins, 89–90 for celebrities, 90 exchanging for heroes, 143 for food, 89–90 light placement and, 7 steam, 64 stock photography, 11 storage bags, 27 storytelling, 196 strobes, 14, 41–42 stromboli image, 174–175 studio, 13–31 Central Parkway, 18–30 client office, 26 curtains, 14 dining room, 26 entertainment equipment, 29 eqiupment storage, 24 fitness equipment, 29 foos-ball table, 18 kitchen space. See kitchens living room, 26 Longworth Hall, 15–18 outdoor patio, 26 pool table, 16, 18, 29 prop room. See prop room reassessing needs, 31 restrooms, 26 shower, 29 starting out, 31 studio manager, 62–63 studio map, 115 studio parties, 114–115 studio stands, 9, 47–48 studio strobes, 41–42 stylists. See food stylists stylus, 51 Styrofoam blocks, 193 Sundaes, 151 super glue, 40 supplies. See equipment/supplies sweets, 199–211

T tape, artist, 156, 157 tape, drafting, 156 tape measure, 40 team, 55–73 account executives, 69 art buyers, 68, 76, 103 art directors. See art directors

27 2  

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chefs, 6, 70–71 client, 70 collaboration, 5–6 considerations, 5–6, 56, 72 copywriters, 69 creative directors, 69 digital artists, 63 food stylist assistants, 58 food stylists. See food stylists home economist, 70–71 “home team,” 56–66 importance of, 5 interns, 69 lawyers, 71 model makers, 66 models. See models “observers,” 71–72 photographers. See photographers photographer’s assistant, 56–57 printers, 71 producers, 61 prop stylist, 23, 59–61 special effects designer/rigger, 64 studio manager, 62–63 “visiting team,” 66–72 working as, 5–6 telephoto lenses, 9, 36 television, 29 templates, website, 106 “Teri Shoots Food,” 108–109 Teri Studios, 108 test shots, 47, 86, 134, 249 testimonials, 103 texture, 244 theater, 29 through-the-lens (TTL) metering, 134 thumb drives, 53, 96 tiffs, 96 tilt/shift lenses, 35 time constraints, 11 toolbox, Craftsman, 38 tools, 33–53. See also equipment/supplies ballhead, 48 camera. See camera c-stands, 48, 141–142 for digital artists, 49–53 dots, 44, 45, 48 file delivery tools, 53 fingers, 44, 45 flags, 44–45, 178 hardware. See hardware overview, 33–34 software. See software

studio stands, 47–48 tripods, 9, 47–48 tweezers, 40 work station, 37–41 X-Acto blade, 203, 204 Topaz Labs plug-ins, 52 trengovestudios.com, 156 tripod ballhead, 48 tripods, 9, 47–48 TTL (through-the-lens) metering, 134 turkey burger image, 190–192 Turner, Tim, 46 tweezers, 40 Twitter, 106

U UDF ice cream campaign, 140–149 United States Copyright Office, 97 USB connections, 253

V velvet, black, 47, 48, 238 Via Vite Ristorante, 170–171

W Wacom tablet, 51 waffle fries image, 222, 223–225 waffle image, 210–211 water, 151 water droplets, 157, 161 weather conditions, 216 web presence, 106 websites. See also Internet anthro.com, 38 aphotofolio.com, 106 ASMP, 79 balledpro.com, 253 fruitcakecontest.com, 118 iPad version of, 102 manbehindthecurtain.net, 67

as marketing tool, 106 portfolio on, 101, 102–103, 106 repurposing images for, 241 setshop.com, 66 smallfriescookbook.com, 120 storing files on web, 96 templates for, 106 trengovestudios.com, 156 weights, 40, 143 Wendy’s Hamburgers, 213–215 wheat field image, 193–194 white board, 186 white cards, 127, 231, 257 wide-angle lenses, 9, 36 Wildroot Hair Tonic, 188 window coverings, 25 wireless networks, 25 wobble wedges, 40 Wonderful Machine, 113 wood surface, 127, 171, 257 Word, 51 word of mouth, 103 Workbook, 108, 110, 126 working files, 95 workspace. See studio workstation, 37–41 carts, 37 details, 38–40 example of, 39 items stored in drawers, 40–41 monitors, 38–40

X X-Acto blade, 203, 204

Y YouTube, 106

Z zoom lens, 37

Ind ex  

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Honey, Tea, and Bourbon Assignment Ten: More Pours and Splashes Thirsty to learn more about pours and splashes? Then read on to explore the challenges of shooting liquids. As with food, the goal is to emphasize whatever makes the subject the most appealing. The honey’s thickness, the iced tea’s splash, or the bourbon’s color—each liquid has its own unique way of connecting with the consumer. And as commercial photographers we are constantly searching for ways to help make that connection as strong as possible. A sense of movement was what I wanted to capture with this image. ISO 100, 1/160 sec, f/20, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

Getting the honey cold was the secret to capturing this image. ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/16, 90mm lens on Sinar P3

Honey For this assignment, which was going to be used on a package of cough suppressant, the art director wanted the honey to fold over itself as it was being poured out. But we weren’t exactly sure how to achieve that, because in reality honey being poured out of a bottle collapses into a puddle rather quickly instead of neatly folding on cue. This was not the first time an art director had “just assumed” we could do something that defies nature. Art directors do this on a daily basis. And somehow we keep making their vision a reality. Of course, all that does is encourage them.

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Technique and Lighting We started by purchasing several different brands of honey, looking for variations in thickness and color. After some trial and error, a food stylist suggested cooling the honey in the refrigerator to thicken it. This worked, but we still needed a vessel to pour from. Then I remembered the foil mini-loaf pans we had in our pantry. They had a large flat edge to pour from, and could be manipulated as needed to adjust their shape. Trying to eliminate as many air bubbles as possible from being trapped in the honey, I filled several of the foil pans the night before and allowed them to sit overnight in the refrigerator.

Here is the setup for the folding honey shot. Power settings (watts per second): A=750, B=990

12’ white seamless

B

8”

8”

A

plate w/ honey bent foam core

black flag

4x5 camera

1x2 board on 4 milk crates

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Because honey reflects everything around it, I chose to use a 12-foot-wide roll of seamless paper as my background, essentially creating a 12' x 10' wall that became my light source. By bouncing a light into the seamless, I was able to create the soft reflection you see on the top of the subject, and provide a backlight to give the honey its glow. To make sure the light directed at the seamless didn’t spill over onto the honey itself, I placed a black card between the honey and the light, being careful to make sure it did not affect the light that was hitting the seamless. On the left side and toward the front of the set, I placed a 4' x 8' piece of foamcore and bounced a light into it. No additional fill light was needed.

Here are the Photoshop layers used for the honey image. Notice the gradient layer mask on the reflection layer.

Image Post-Production Although we were able to capture the basic elements of this shot in-camera, the image still needed some work in post-production. The first thing was to outline the honey pour and eliminate the background. Our digital artist, Scott, used the Liquefy filter in Photoshop to bend and thin the top portion of the pour so it appeared to be spreading out as it settled, making it more believable. Next he created the reflection by copying the image to a new layer, flipping the canvas vertically, and transforming it to fit. He then dialed down the opacity of the Reflection layer to 60 percent, so it looked less like a mirror and more like a soft reflection. He also added a gradient mask so that the image would fade out toward the bottom of the frame.

FAR RIGHT  This photograph was created from six different images that were composited using Photoshop. The background image of a mint plant and the lens flare were also added in post-production. ISO 100, 1/160 sec, f/20, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner

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Iced Tea Obviously, this isn’t the first time anyone has shot a pitcher of iced tea being poured into a glass. When I find myself in these types of situations, I try to think about what I can do to improve upon the usual concept. How can I make mine different or better? In this case I decided to focus on the movement of the tea as it was being poured and to create a sense of action.

F o o d P h o t o gr aphy & Lighting

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The lighting setup for iced tea. Power settings (watts per second): A=650, B=530, C=1220.

wall

C

8”

Tea poured into clear casserole dish to create bubbly turbulence in the liquid.

3x3 diffusion screen

2x4 table w/ light grey formica

A

8”

bent foam core

B

8”

camera

Technique and Lighting It began as it usually does, arranging the ice. I knew that I had to leave room at the top of the glass for the pour, and I wanted the ice to look as if the liquid rushing in was moving it around. So I placed an ice cube on the left side, up against the glass, and that helped to create an irregular liquid level. Because I wanted the liquid in the glass to appear lower where the tea was coming in and higher on the sides, I shot the liquid at two different levels and combined them in post. To capture the pour itself, I used a variety of pitchers and a clear casserole dish to pour into. The casserole dish served a couple of purposes. First of all, it made the

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cleanup a little easier, but it also allowed us to capture what was happening as the tea struck the bottom of the pan or splashed into the liquid that was already there. One of these captures was used to create the “turbulence” in the area where the pour hits the tea in the glass, helping to emphasize the movement. The pitcher was yet another capture. It would be very difficult to get the pitcher at just the right angle and fullness while at the same time pouring the perfect pour. Doing another capture was also advantageous because it allowed me to shoot the pitcher with a lower f-stop, which created less depth of field. And less depth of field meant that in the final image, the attention was on the glass and the pour, not the vessel being poured from.

Image Post-Production This image file is made up of many layers. The background alone is four layers— the mint leaves, a shadow layer that helps to separate the iced tea, lens flare near the top of the glass, and an additional layer with the yellow glow. The glass also includes several layers. First we selected waves from the casserole dish image and combined them with other layers from other images—like the pour, the pitcher, and a less-full glass so we could create the dip in the liquid.

We could have stopped here and not added the motion to the drink itself.

The motion in the glass makes the image feel more real.

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You can see in the images above, that, although we could have stopped after combining the pour with the glass, it is those extra details after that step that make this shot so refreshing.

Bourbon It was about 11 a.m. as we sat in the oldest bar in New Orleans, Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar, drinking a beer. We had just finished shooting a two-day project for the New Orleans Tourism Board that morning (see Assignment One), and we were going to spend the rest of the day walking around the French Quarter. As we sat in the bar, I began to notice the cool windows and brick walls. I couldn’t help myself, I had to shoot it. Nothing too serious, it just seemed cool. Several months later, back at the studio, I was working on a personal project of shooting a bottle of Maker’s 46 and I thought about that image. Maybe it could work as a background for this shot. We wanted the image to feel like Dad’s workshop, a place where things were fixed and stories were told. And merging images together is nothing new for us; we do it all the time. It is a quick way to create a

Drinking at 11a.m.? Hey, it’s New Orleans! ISO 100, 1/40 sec, f/4.5, 35mm on Canon DSLR

FAR RIGHT  The final piece was composited from an image I shot while on location in New Orleans and a studio shot taken months later. ISO 100, 1/160 sec., f/22, 24–70mm Zoom Lens (set at 35mm) on Canon DSLR

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kitchen behind the food, or just add some out–of-focus environment to the rest of a shot. This one was trickier than most, though.

Technique and Lighting Anytime you plan to merge images, it’s important to make an effort to match the lighting between the shots. In this case the background image had a strong backlight (the window), but there was also light coming in from windows to the left of the camera. So we set up our studio lights to mimic that situation. Using the wall behind the set to bounce a light (all of the walls in our studio are painted a light gray for this purpose), I created the bright yet diffused window

Here is the lighting setup for the Bourbon shot. Power setting (watts per second): A=530, B=200, C=1220

'

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”

&

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light. Another light coming through a 5' x 5' diffusion screen on the left side of the set mimicked the soft light that came in from the other windows on the front of the building. It also created a nice highlight down the side of the bottle and glass. Placing the light source close to the diffusion screen allows the light to fall off quickly and not create a hard edge where the diffusion screen ends. Notice how the reflection fades out on the bottle as it wraps around. We also used one additional light for our studio shot, one that did not exist in the bar. This was a Fresnel spotlight (like what you might see in a theater). This very directional light source was used to illuminate the foreground and saturate the colors in the image. Behind the bottle I placed a piece of frosted acetate cut into the shape of the bottle. This helped to even out and soften the light passing through the bottle. The props were from a toolbox at the studio, and a few of the items came from my workshop at home. The final selection was not easily achieved; we shot many other options with various props, including a radio, more nails, and a pipe wrench. But in the end, it’s all about finding the right mix. Don’t be afraid to experiment. For me, I know it when I see it. I’m not the kind of photographer who “has a vision” and then executes it perfectly. I am always adjusting and changing based on what I see.

Image Post-Production It was because of those prop selections that we stumbled upon a lighting option that became part of the final image. When I tried placing an old radio in the background of the shot, it was in too much shadow to be visible. So I turned the

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The main hero image.

Placing a radio in the background didn’t work, but redirecting the main light source to illuminate it caused the foreground to become much more dramatic. We eventually used this more dramatic foreground in combination with the other shots to create the final image. Here you can also see the words on the back of the bottle, which had to be removed in post.

Notice the gray areas of the mask where the glass is. This allowed the glass to look transparent against the background.

Background image, from a bar in New Orleans.

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Fresnel spotlight toward it, knowing that I already had the shot, and if we liked the radio we could outline it and drop it in. We ended up not liking the radio, but the absence of light in the foreground created some cool shadows in the wood and also some very dark shadows on the tools and nail box. We eventually used this shot in combination with the others to create the final image.

The lens flair filter was applied to a new layer (filled with black), and then the Blend mode was changed to Screen mode. This allowed the lens flair to be adjusted later.

The final composited bourbon image.

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Steak and Potatoes on the Grill Assignment Eleven: Playing with Fire Shooting food on a grill can be a challenging experience, especially in a studio environment, where starting a real fire is usually frowned upon. But fortunately there are many ways you can create the look of a real grill without risking a visit from the local fire department.

This image may look hot, but everything in the shot is actually cold. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/8, 50 mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: William Smith, Prop Stylist: Nora Fink, Special Effects: Geoff Binns-Galvey

The blue cast was created in Adobe Camera Raw and enhanced even more using Photoshop. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/8, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Jacqueline Buckner, Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

Even if the food is only supposed to look like it was cooked on a grill, it will need to have grill marks on the meat. How will you do that? Here’s another reason to have a gas cooktop instead of an electric one. Food stylists we work with often use metal skewers heated by the flame of a gas cooktop turned up high to sear the meat and give the impression that it just came off the grill. Here are a few assignments we completed for our clients involving fire or a grilled look.

Steak for the Traveler It’s very rare for a client to give you total creative freedom. Most come armed with a detailed shot list, a style guide, and years of ingrained business practices that can stifle a photographer’s ability to do something unique and different.

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Clients that allow you to express yourself creatively empower you to shoot using techniques that may not be a part of your usual repertoire. They encourage you to experiment and allow ample time for you to work through the details of each shot. They are unusual clients indeed, but exactly the type you need for a complex steak image. Weeks before the shoot I had asked the client to collect a few images that he felt represented their brand. They didn’t have to have food in them, but they did need to be inspirational. When we began looking at the images, there was one that both of us noticed and liked immediately. It was rather dark and had a blue cast over the entire image. That shot became the inspiration for our shoot. We also developed a narrative for this image to help us choose props and a lighting style. The story behind this one was “a weary traveler stopping to eat a delicious meal.” We started with a well-worn tin table and a suitcase. We looked at placing the suitcase on a chair near the table but decided that setting it on the table was not only unexpected but created mystery. I purposely allowed the front of the suitcase to fall into shadow to keep the hardware from distracting from the meal.

Lighting I wanted the light to fall off quickly and create strong shadows, so I placed a 3' x 3' diffusion screen in close to the set, with the bottom of it nearly touching the salad and the top leaned over the set another 2 feet. Behind it I placed a Fresnel

Camera Raw I prefer to process my images using Adobe Camera Raw, mostly because that is what I am used to. There are certainly other options available, but I would suggest capturing your image as a raw file rather than a jpeg. The reason is that a raw file allows you to adjust settings that are normally decided at the moment of exposure, things like white balance, exposure, and sharpness. Raw images provide maximum flexibility for editing your images and making changes later.

St eak a nd P otat oes on t he  G rill 

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3x3 diffusion screen

fresnel spot

mirror

A

B

8” light straight down

The Fresnel spot is the main illumination for the image, while the other light is used to light the chair.

camera

Here is the lighting diagram. Power settings (watts per second): A=188, B=163

spotlight to keep the light concentrated on the screen. The effect was almost like having a diffused light bulb about a foot in diameter right above the set. It reflected in the table and the knife, creating some very cool highlights. Because it was virtually above the knife, it threw a shadow to the right side of the salad and to the left side of the meat. The light fell off quickly, as planned, so that the drink to the left of the set was barely even noticeable. A small mirror on the left side of the set bounced just enough light back into the suitcase so that it would not be completely lost to the shadow. To light the chair that was pushed up against the table, I aimed another light directly at the ground. That way, none of that light spilled over onto the table.

Image Post-Production I processed the image using Adobe Camera Raw immediately after capture, adjusting the raw file to get the overall blue tone we wanted. I kept the Fill Light slider at zero, but I increased clarity and contrast to make the image “grittier.” Then I opened the file in Photoshop to enhance the blue color even more on everything but the food and the chair. I did this using an adjustment layer with a mask.

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Black, White, and Silver The most challenging aspect of the next assignment, to create a “real” grill shot for the manufacturer of the aluminum foil, wasn’t the flames or the food (in this case potatoes), but getting the right exposure for the foil. Trying to get detail in both extremes of your image (highlights and shadows) is difficult, and when they are black and silver and not just black and white, it’s virtually impossible. But with this client, it became a necessity.

The fire, the food, and the foil make for a very complicated exposure. ISO 100, 15 sec, f/11, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: Lisa Marie DeVille

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Propane gas travels through valves and copper tubing to specially designed gas burners. Close-up view of gas burners.

You can’t just let the highlight blow out and call it artistic, or explain to your client that it’s nearly impossible to get detail in something so bright. Because the aluminum foil reflects your lighting like a mirror, it is almost always overexposed when everything else looks right.

Flame Technique Flames under a grill can be done several different ways. One example is the metal shovel filled with charcoal briquettes under the food (see Assignment 9, “Shooting Food for Packaging”); another is to hire a special-effects rigger/designer to set up a highly controllable “flame bar” rig to create just the right amount of flames.

Lighting This image was going to be shot on a grill in the studio, so I needed to make sure that my camera was locked down tight and that I had the correct aperture for exposing the fire. Then I set up a 3' x 3' diffusion screen to the left side of the set as my main light, and to the right of the set I placed a large piece of foamcore to act as a fill light. On the left side of the camera, for additional fill light, was a 2' x 3' piece of foamcore.

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8”

A

Here is the lighting diagram for the foil image. Power settings (watts per second): A=530

3x3 diffusion screen

bent foam core

2x3 foam core

camera

Once I know the correct exposure for the fire (by reviewing the images on my computer monitor tethered to the camera), I will adjust the power on my pack up or down so that I can expose the food at the same f-stop as the fire. I then turn off the modeling lights on the strobes (to keep the room relatively dark) and begin my exposure by firing the flash and then exposing for the fire. I will do several captures to get variations of the flames.

Image Post-Production Once I have all the images ready to assemble, I look through the flames shots and decide which one to use (or which ones to combine). But chances are if the foil pouch is properly exposed, the food is too dark. To correct that problem we simply reprocess the raw file and increase the exposure. By placing the new, lighter file on its own layer, we are able to blend the two images so that the food looks great, the foil has detail, and the flames are dancing in all the right places.

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FAR RIGHT This is a very simple image, but it took a lot of individuals doing their jobs well to make the end result look so good. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/8, 50 mm lens on Canon DSLR Food Stylist: William Smith, Prop Stylist: Nora Fink Special Effects: Geoff Binns-Galvey

Shooting Fireworks Shooting fire is a lot like shooting fireworks. Your f-stop is the most important setting in obtaining a correct exposure, and your shutter speed just determines how long the tails are on the fireworks. Shoot at too small an f-stop and the fireworks will be too dark—shoot at too large an f-stop and you will wash out the color. One advantage of shooting fire is that you can keep the flame in one spot for a longer period of time to build up your exposure as needed, like when you have to shoot at a very small aperture. Just like fireworks, fire is generally best exposed between f/8 and f/11 in a dark room with the shutter left open.

Grilling Out Shooting meat on a charcoal grill is something that almost all food photographers will experience at some point during their career. And if your shot is looking down in such a way that you can see the coals underneath, you’ll be forced to consider how to make them look real. Actual hot coals are not practical unless you are shooting outside, and if the coals are not hot then they just look gray and lifeless. I guess you could shoot hot coals and then strip them into the shot, but that’s a lot of work, and you don’t get the benefit of any reflected light that might happen when everything is lit from below. Here’s an approach we used for a client.

Technique We had a special-effects rigger/designer working with us on this job, so he took care of the coals and made sure they were positioned correctly. He also created the smoke that you see wafting up from the bottom area of the grill. If you don’t have access to or the budget for a special-effects rigger/designer, you can rent the acrylic charcoal briquettes from www.trengove.com and do it yourself, but the smoke is much harder to do alone. The special-effects rigger placing briquettes in the grill.

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Lighting The first thing you discover about a Weber grill is that there is not enough room to fit a light into the bottom of it, so get out your reciprocal saw and start cutting. You’ll need a hole big enough to get at least the top of your light into. Next you’ll want to replace the lower rack that the charcoal goes on with a quarter-inch piece of frosted plastic and maybe a red or orange gel. On top of that you can place your acrylic charcoal briquettes—and at the very top, your cooking grid. Notice how the light underneath the grill illuminates the coals just enough to make them glow. On top we used one light aimed through a 3' x 3' diffusion screen. To create some sparkling highlights and get a little detail on the shadow side of the meat, we placed a couple of very small silver cards just below where the image ends. In this image you can see the light underneath the coals and the way the cooking grid is attached to the top.

3x3 diffusion screen

A

8”

B

Here is the lighting diagram for the grill shot.

silver cards

Power settings (watts per second): A=108, B=82

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light pointing up through grill camera

Using the Topaz Adjust 5 plug-in for Photoshop to create a grittier surface. We used a layer mask so the change wouldn’t affect the food—only the grill itself.

Image Post-Production After doing some initial processing on the file in Adobe Camera Raw, we tried adding some special effects using a Photoshop plug-in called Topaz Adjust 5. Topaz Labs makes a series of plug-ins to control grain, mask images, and do lots of other things too, but we were interested in some of the “gritty” effects we could achieve using Topaz Adjust 5. After applying the effects to the entire image, we realized it didn’t look right on the meat, but we loved the grit it added to the grill and also the slight desaturation—so we just masked it off of the food and only allowed it to affect the grill at the top of the image.

Heat and Anticipation Shooting food on a grill implies preparation, heat, and anticipation of the finished meal. The grill itself implies that someone is present—no one would ever walk away from food on a grill. Capturing not only the food but also the means by which it is cooked gives the viewer more information to visually taste the photograph. These examples represent only a few ways of highlighting the grilling process, but there are many others, so it’s worth some experimentation to find out what works best for you.

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Airheads, Hush Puppies, and Coffee Assignment TWELVE: Post-Production Saves the Day I often tell people that I’m not sure if having a digital artist on my staff makes me a better photographer or a lazier one! There is no doubt that the quality of my work and the value I can offer to my clients has increased a hundred-fold because of my transition to digital. And not just because of the digital capture, but because of what can be achieved using Adobe Photoshop in post-production.

Airheads playing co-ed volleyball. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/22, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Prop Stylists: Teri Campbell, Scott Martin, and Sherry Wilson

FAR RIGHT This was the original layout for the Airheads ad campaign featuring two new flavors.

Not only can I fix that brown spot on the lettuce, I can adjust the perfect plate down to a size that fits the client’s product. I can brighten the color of a tomato, and I can merge a cool background I shot in New Orleans with an image I created in the studio. These things are not possible without Photoshop—from the mundane to the unbelievable, the options are endless. Here is a collection of assignments where post-production played a huge role in the final image and in some cases saved the project.

Fun In the Sun There we were, in the middle of Toys R Us looking for a beach chair fit for a candy bar—an Airheads bar to be exact. Perfetti Van Melle, the maker of Airheads, had asked us to do a few images for an upcoming ad campaign promoting two new flavors. The concept was to show the two Airheads having fun in the sun, just like everyone else—hanging out at the beach, playing volleyball, and swimming. But since Airheads aren’t very big, we thought maybe we could find some miniature furniture at the toy store that would accommodate their size. I could have hired a prop stylist to do the legwork, but we had a slow day and it sounded like fun, so I took my producer and my digital artist with me as I went from one toy store to another in search of the perfect props. Having a digital artist along turned out to be a good idea, because we were able to begin the process right there, discussing things like, if we need to change the color of the chair in post, what color chair should we buy? That is how I see most of the work I do today—as a process. The image is not done just because the shutter has been pressed. There is almost always more work to do, especially when you are shooting food, and good communication from the beginning is vital. Having a digital artist on staff helps us to talk about issues as they come up rather than realize later that in order to get the effect we are looking for we should have shot additional images while we had the time on set.

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Sunbathing Technique Once we had our props collected, we started by pouring out sand for the beach scene. We quickly realized that real sand was too coarse for a miniature set, so we searched our pantry for a suitable replacement—regular sugar was too white and brown sugar was too dark, but organic sugar was just right. For the umbrella, even though we had managed to find a few tiny ones at the toy store, they didn’t really fit the scene, so we ended up using an umbrella like you would find in a piña colada drink. The chairs worked perfectly, except for the color (see “Image Post-Production”). And the glasses gave our little candy bar guys a face. The shoes, drinks, and sunscreen were all from doll accessory sets, and even though some of them had to be resized later, they added to the environment we were trying to create. Originally the art director had wanted all of the shots to revolve entirely around the miniature sets without any backgrounds, but as we began working through

In the background you can see the strainer we used to sift the organic sugar (our prop sand).

The original image from my vacation in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. ISO 200, 1/1000 sec, f/8, 40mm lens on Canon DSLR

I could have eliminated the highlights on the bars in post or by moving the light, but I felt the highlights made them look as if they were really sunbathing. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/22, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Prop Stylists: Teri Campbell, Scott Martin, and Sherry Wilson

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the concepts, I couldn’t help but envision adding real photographs to create a fun juxtaposition. Once we had things roughly in place, I remembered an image from my vacation in St. Thomas and used it as a background at the top of the image. I loved the way it looked, and it turned out the art director did too.

Lighting Because these images needed to feel like they had been shot outdoors, I only used one light on the set. (There is only one sun, after all.) I took off the reflector, so the light would go in all directions, but more important, so it would be a pinpoint source. Using a reflector can create a directional light, but I find that the shadows aren’t as nice as those created by a pinpoint source of light. The light

blue sheet

white table TOP The blue sheet hanging on the left side of the set is creating the blue shadows. BOTTOM This was from another set in the series, but you can see the position of the light in this image.

A no reflector

camera

Here is the lighting arrangement for the sunbathing Airheads. Power settings (watts per second): A=920

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LEFT Adjustments used to change the color of the chair. RIGHT  Mask used on the Hue/ Saturation layer so that only the chair would be affected by the changes.

was placed up high and to the right of the camera, but behind it were two 4' x 8' pieces of foamcore that helped to soften the shadows just enough. On the left side of the set was a blue sheet (playing the part of the sky), filling in the shadows with a touch of blue.

Chair Image Post-Production Even though we searched all over town, we were unable to find chairs in just the right color. But rather than use paint, we chose to adjust the color in post. This allowed us to get the exact color the art director wanted without having to wait for paint to dry on the tiny chair. To do this, our digital artist began by creating a mask for the chair in Photoshop, and then he used a Hue/Saturation layer to adjust the color and brightness. The Airheads Pink Lemonade flavor also needed to be adjusted to match the actual product, so he used a Curves adjustment layer to add blue and darken the color overall.

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LEFT Adjustments used to change the color of the pink Airheads bar. RIGHT  Mask used on Curves layer so that only the candy bar would be affected by the changes.

The sandals we found were just a little too big in proportion to the bars, and placing them in the foreground of the shot didn’t help, so Scott created an outline of the shoes, along with their shadows, and just a bit of the sand around them. He then transformed the shoes to a more appropriate size, and placed them on their own layer. Content-Aware Fill was used to replace the area the sandals had once occupied. By using a soft-edged brush instead of a selection tool on a mask to create the outline, we were easily able to create a soft outline that encompassed not only the shoes, but the shadows too. The image of the ocean that we planned to use for the background was shot in focus, but in order to create a sense of depth in the image we softened it just a bit using Gaussian Blur. We also allowed some parts of the beach scene to go slightly out of focus, such as the umbrella and the part of the sand that blended with the photograph.

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I love how the sand on the bottom of the orange one adds to the sense of movement. ISO 100, 1/125 sec, f/22, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Prop Stylists: Teri Campbell, Scott Martin, and Sherry Wilson

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This is actually the base image for the final shot. You can see how much the net blocked the view of the Airheads in back.

This image was used for the bottoms of all three Airheads in back, and for the sunglasses on the ground.

Here is the image without the volleyball net.

Beach Volleyball Technique The most difficult part of shooting the beach volleyball scene was trying to keep the Airheads bars upright. In the previous image, they were just reclining on chairs, but for this one we needed them to appear much more active. So we leaned them against wood skewers, which helped hold them in place. It’s ironic that we had chosen to use the top of a Styrofoam cooler as our base when we set up the first shot—we were just trying to find a way to contain the sand. But if we hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t have been able to stick the wood skewers into the Styrofoam. We even used wood skewers to hold up the net. The net itself really didn’t work except to cast a nice shadow. Once we started shooting we realized that some of the Airheads bars were not visible through the net and that we would have to capture additional images without it. Of course, we had to shoot several variations anyway, swapping out new Airheads to replace the ones that could no longer stand. (It’s hot on the set and tough to play volleyball if you’re a candy bar.)

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Here is the lighting arrangement for the co-ed beach volleyball scene. The foamcore in back was not there for fill light. It was there to provide a clean white background. Power setting (watts per second): A=920

blue sheet

white table

2x2 foam core

A no reflector

camera

Final Image Post-Production E NOTE

Once we had captured all of the images, it was time to put them together and

Using a stylus pen and

add a background. You might have noticed that we didn’t shoot a beach ball.

a Wacom tablet can

That’s because we already had one—another vacation image. But before we

make life much easier

could combine it with the rest of the shots, we had to flip the image so that the

for anyone who does a

lighting on the beach ball matched the lighting on our set. We also added a

lot of Photoshop work.

palm-tree-and-blue-sky image in the background. But the biggest fix we did in

Especially if you have to

post was fixing the volleyball net.

draw a volleyball net.

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LEFT This is the net that our digital artist drew to replace the net we had originally shot. RIGHT  The shading adds a little bit of dimension to the net.

The net we had used just wasn’t working. It didn’t look real and it didn’t look like a toy. We needed to do something different, or we were going to have to reshoot it! So our digital artist created a completely new net by just drawing one in Photoshop using his Wacom tablet. He then added some shading to give it a little more shape and a little bit of blur to make it match the scene. Without that net, this shot doesn’t work at all! What’s left of the volleyball scene.

The sun is high in the sky, just like the light on our set, but it is on the left side of the camera and we need it on the right. So we used Image Rotation (under the Image menu in Photoshop) and flipped the canvas horizontally.

Background we added for the volleyball image.

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Not bad, but there is a crumb at the base of the hush puppy, the chicken on the left has a couple of unfortunate breaks along its profile, the line in the table is distracting, and the bottles are not out of focus enough.

The chicken separates better, and the background has been cleaned up as well. ISO 100, 1/100 sec, f/16, 50mm lens on Canon DSLR

Brown on Brown It happens a lot more often than you think—situations that have you shooting similar colors of food on the same plate. But rarely do you find ones like this— chicken strips, hush puppies and French fries—all on one plate, and touching! Your lighting and composition will obviously play a huge role in being able to separate these items from one another, but the skills of a talented digital artist can be a huge asset as well. The best way to separate the chicken strips from A shadow is virtually painted behind the chicken using a Curves adjustment layer and a mask.

each other is contrast—something light against something dark. So the placement of your light is very important, but sometimes it’s just not enough.

Image Post-Production For this image our digital artist created a shadow behind the front chicken strip to help separate it from the other two. He also darkened the hush puppies and added shadows on the French fries, along with general cleanup of the set.

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Cream and Sugar? This assignment was for a client who needed an image for a coffee creamer package. The client wanted the photography to not only show the product in use, but also to help to differentiate the three varieties. They asked us to use different props and fabrics for each flavor. Finding props that worked with each variety wasn’t too hard, but selecting three

It looks real, but it’s not.

different fabrics that were similar in texture and just the right color would have

ISO 50, 1/125 sec, f/18, 90mm lens on Sinar P3 Food Stylist: Barbara Coad, Prop Stylist: Nora Fink

been very challenging—not to mention the problem of trying to get the cup and saucer back into the correct position each time after changing the background.

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Keeping the fill cards in close kept the shadows bright. Power setting (watts per second): A=750

bent foam core

8”

B

bent foam core

double density large flag

2x3 foam core 2x2 foam core camera

Technique and Lighting Since this was a product that would be used with coffee, the art director had asked us to keep the image very bright. We set up two large pieces of bent foamcore just to the left of the set and in pretty close. We then set up two pieces of foamcore, one on the left side (2' x 2') and one on the right side (2' x 3') of the camera. Our one and only light was positioned near the back table that we were using as our set, and aimed at the two pieces of foamcore. Because the light was so close to the set, it was falling off rather quickly and causing the left side of the image to be much brighter than the right side. That was not a bad thing, but we wanted a more even light across the image, so I placed

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a double density flag near the left edge of the table to cut some of the light that was hitting the left side, which made it less bright and evened out the light across the set. You might notice there are no dark shadows in the image, and that is both because of the way the light wrapped the set and also the position of the fill cards.

Image Post-Production Although it is possible to capture a perfect swirl of coffee creamer in a cup of coffee—it is also possible for that to take a LONG time to accomplish. We decided to take the easy way out. After discussions with our digital artist and the art director, we decided to create the effect in post. All we needed to shoot was a cup full of light-brown coffee and a cup full of dark-brown coffee. Then we blended them together in post, creating the perfect swirl.

Image for light-brown coffee.

Image for dark-brown coffee.

The Layer mask that was used allowed the lighter coffee on the layer below to show through.

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There was no need to fill the cup with coffee; we would just strip it in later.

We adjusted the background on this image to be a little bit warmer, and we also stripped in the coffee swirl.

By having each color on its own layer in Photoshop, it is possible to draw a mask that allows the color of the image underneath to come through. In this case, painting with black on the layer mask of the darker coffee allowed the lighter coffee on the layer below to show through. One way to avoid changing the background for each different variety was to change the color of the fabric in post. Once everyone had agreed on a fabric that had just enough texture and looked great on the set, all we needed to do was shoot the cup and change out the props.

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We didn’t need to adjust the color of this background; the art director wanted it white.

For this last variety, the art director wanted a blue background.

Why I Love Photoshop Perhaps we could have completed these projects without Photoshop, but what a challenge it would have been, and I know they wouldn’t have looked this good. Photoshop makes it so much easier for us to do not only the work we need to do, but also the work we want to do. And having a digital artist on staff means I don’t have to spend all my time doing it. I am free to shoot more jobs, or take a load off and just be lazy!

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