Help!: Standard Time's Ruining my Food Photos
I just started a blog ( http://www.threepotato.blogspot.com ). Food blogs need pictures.
When I take daylight photos on my Casio Exilim 7.2 (your basic digital point and shoot), my photos look decent. Not professionally styled, but decent.
Problem: thanks to the time change, I now cook and eat dinner after dark every day. Indoors, and using indoor light, my photos look washed out, gloppy, and extra shiny from the flash.
Anybody else use a basic camera? Any advice?
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10 Comments:
Yeah try not to use a flash unless you can diffuse the it.
Find some different sorts of lights and light balance your camera to tungstun light (usually represented by an indoor lightbulb icon).
Diffuse light is the best, most pro shooters use diffusion light boxes (strobes or fixed lights) and most of all you're just going to have to play around until you get results you're happy with.
Face it there are photogs that make whole careers out of this sort of snapping.
Stiv61 at 9:23AM on 11/08/07
I agree with Stiv61 about the flash. I just turn mine off.
One thing that helped me on interior shots, even near windows, is that I replaced the bulbs in the kitchen and dining area with those Reveal bulbs. Even the flourescent under the upper cabinet has a daylight bulb on it now.
Finally, software helps. I use Adobe Photoshop CS2, which has a lot of good functions to punch up the exposure, contrast and color. But even the $100 Paint Shop Pro has enough decent features to help out in getting things looking even better than they did in the viewfinder.
LunaPierCook at 9:36AM on 11/08/07
Definitely get light bulbs that have a more balanced light spectrum that mimic daylight better. A regular incandescent bulb is mostly yellow light (which as #1 said, if you set your white balance correctly, your camera will compensate for), these bulbs have elements that burn with more blues as well, giving off a richer light that will bring out more colors. Not only will they make your photos better, they make life a wee bit better just because the light is more comfortable. While they dont replicate the real spectrum of sunlight, they are a bit better than regular bulbs, and cheaper than buying a whole professional photo lighting rig. The brands I've used are GE Reveal and Verilux "sunshine in a box". Equipment aside though, the most basic and important thing is, again, white balance.
seyo at 10:10AM on 11/08/07
Like everyone else said - no flash! My kitchen has - get this - fluorescent lighting. I avoid shooting in there. (But sometimes I do...more on that later.) All my other lamps have the GE Reveal bulbs in them and I use the light from those.
The camera really makes a difference - my digital macro setting lets me choose from a variety of light sources (daylight, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, fluorescent H, and assess white balance) and they really do make a difference when shooting. I have to say that when I use the fluorescent setting, my photos in the kitchen come out quite good.
I use Picasa to fix up my photos - it's free and works very well.
On
charm city cupcake at 11:11AM on 11/08/07
At least you have an excuse... I just ruin my photos all by myself. :-)
Ann Fisher at 3:46PM on 11/08/07
If you can find a way to make your own diffusion panel it'll help you. I made mine with a peice of foam core, some vellum paper and a clip lamp. It takes some experimenting to get the look you want, but if you're like me and can't always make it home before sunset, you need as many options as you can find.
kitchenbea at 3:54PM on 11/08/07
Get a mini-tripod. Food usually doesn't move, so you can take longer exposures with the available light in your kitchen, or dining room or whatever and it will look pretty fantastic. If you need to fix the white balance afterwards it's pretty easy in Picassa.
laura dot at 5:20PM on 11/08/07
Stupid question - how to you turn off the flash? I can adjust the white balance and reduce the flash's intensity - but the camera still flashes. The darn thing came with a manual - but the manual said nothing about taking pictures! Ugh!
I have a full-spectrum desktop light from school. Might that help? Changing all of the light bulbs in my house just isn't an option.
KarynMC at 7:24PM on 11/08/07
You could also build a light box. Mine gives pretty good results -- certainly much better than a flash or the lights in my kitchen.
Here is a set of instructions for the foam-core lightbox. And here's one of a different design.
Marc at 1:39AM on 11/10/07
When you get time, play around with different ways to diffuse the flash. I usually tape a piece of paper napkin or some other thin, translucent object over it. In a pinch, I'll even hold my pinky over the middle of the flash to reduce washout on the closest object to the lens.
When my son was painting his jack-o-lantern this year I got ticked off at my flash, so I held a piece of clear, red plastic over half of the flash and got very warm (not red, or even flashy looking) results.
ajeys at 4:30PM on 11/16/07