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The Ten Most Recent Comments By Cadence

From Talk

Food Photography: Affordable Camera?

I have a Canon A630, which I use for food photography (and on vacations, etc.). It does really well. I usually use the "indoor" setting and no flash, and my pictures almost always turn out well. I also have a little tabletop tripod that I got free with the camera. I don't know what brand it is or anything, but it works well. The only thing I have against the A630 is that if you don't know a lot about cameras and you decide to use the Automatic setting, you will get bad pictures. Or at least the automatic never worked for me.

Cadence at 4:44PM on 04/14/08

Responses to Comments by Cadence

From Talk

Food Photography: Affordable Camera?

I bought my new camera today!

Canon PowerShot -- SD870IS Digital ELPH.

I'm playing around with it right now, and my first impressions are VERY GOOD.

I've already taken a couple shots that are better than anything I've ever taken before. Period. WOOHOO! :)

Keeping in mind I'm a photo-newbie, with no idea what I'm doing.

This sweet little point-and-shoot is only $300, but it packs a lot of features and quality for that price. Within my first hour, I've already taken some impressive shots of... my pizza I had for dinner tonight, my guitars, my cat, a plant that's growing on my next door neighbor's patio that may or may not be illegal, and lots of other stuff.

I am very happy with this purchase so far. Is there any way to upload a pic here in the forum?

FastFoodCritic at 3:25AM on 04/27/08

From Talk

Food Photography: Affordable Camera?

I should never go into electronic stores. And the thing, is I KNOW THIS. I went to buy a 32-inch LCD on sale not too long ago, and was sure it was the right model for me. I had researched it, and was confident in what I was going to get. My plan - IN and OUT of the store with my new TV.

Well... Instead of IN and OUT, I was there for 2 hours, and came home with a larger more expensive 42-inch, and instead of LCD it was Plasma.

Before that, I was going to buy a Nintendo Wii just for fun when there's a house full of people -- Today I'm the proud owner of BOTH the Sony Playstation-3 and Microsoft XBOX-360. And I didn't even get the damn Wii.

Don't you see? See why I shouldn't go into these stores?

Anyway, I went to get my new camera, and before I knew it, the excitement of all the bright and shiny technology got me again, and instead of just a camera, I had a $1,000 'hybrid' in my hands. It was a full blown digital camcorder, but also took high quality still-shots.

The wheels in mind are turning..... "Sure, I need this because I want to eventually do my own video segments on the site. Maybe even video reviews. Yeah man, I NEED this. BUY IT - BUY IT - BUY IT"....

Anyway, God Blessed me with a good friend, and that friend came with me this weekend, and reminded me that I was getting carry away... again. He reminded me that I just starting a brand news site, and this was no time to suddenly try to become Steven Spielberg. And that my previous electronic adventures created debt that took a long time to pay for.

So today my friends, I stand before you with the same old 1 megapixel clunker, and I've decided instead to purchase my new camera ONLINE, away from the lure of the hands-on world of the brick and mortar retail store.

I will provide an update, and hopefully a happy ending to this story, soon.

FastFoodCritic at 9:24PM on 04/21/08

From Talk

Food Photography: Affordable Camera?

I say if you have the money to burn, an SLR will probably get you the best results. However, I take all of my food pictures with a Kodak DX7630 and I think a lot of them are pretty presentable. And I don't use a tripod, but I know that it would help.

Good luck!

nevereverforever at 11:08AM on 04/19/08

From Talk

Food Photography: Affordable Camera?

@FFC remember, you have to let us know what you get. Samples are required as well! ;-)

LunaPierCook at 8:30AM on 04/19/08

From Talk

Food Photography: Affordable Camera?

I want to thank everyone again for taking the time to reply, and share your experience and advice. This is a great forum.

Well, this is the weekend I purchase. I'm going to spend Saturday and Sunday shopping around. I have all the major electronics store close to me, plus several camera stores.

I'm coming home with something! :)

FastFoodCritic at 6:23AM on 04/19/08

From Talk

Food Photography: Affordable Camera?

De-lurking to say...

- Re: New SLR... Unless you intend to really put some time into educating yourself, you may be just as well off with a high-end point/shoot, like that Powershot. If it has macro, a decent depth of focus, and the ability to set the white balance, you're in pretty good shape. I use an old Powershot G2 and it does fine. (Flickr food set here.) The most current generation, the G9, has had some brilliant reviews and retails for about $400.

- When you're dealing with the web, as much as 50% or more of your photo quality has nothing to do with your camera, skill, or lighting. It's all in how you optimize and compress for the web colorspace you're working in. I have seen incredible shots that look grainy and washed out on the web. I would concentrate on taking good photos but also realize that you need to learn how to present them for the web. Some of the photos you were disappointed with on your site could be easily cleaned and brightened up with Photoshop.

- Again, unless you want to go semi-pro and really have the time to learn it, don't go for the full version of Photoshop ($650). If you have it, great - spend some time studying out compression, levels, color balance, sharpening, and other optimizing fixes. But the $79 Photoshop Elements should do just fine for all these basics.

- Lots of resources on food photos on the web - you can practically get a college education for free! The site I read the most is Lara's Still Life With... She gives a great overview of colorspace.

- Also, I have a few really basic tips here: Food Photography Tips.

Have fun! So much of food photography really is in the learning, exploring, and experimenting. Do as much as you can with the camera you have before you upgrade; push against its limits and see how far it can take you before you spend a lot of money on a new tool.

mekuno at 12:34AM on 04/15/08

From Talk

Food Photography: Affordable Camera?

Here's the link to Ed's new post...

http://www.seriouseats.com/eating_out/2008/04/eating-out-in-fort-worth-texas-babes-chicken-dinner-house.html

Those pics look pretty good to me, and $299 looks awesome!

FastFoodCritic at 11:52PM on 04/14/08

From Talk

Food Photography: Affordable Camera?

I continue to read and educate myself, with all the great tips, advice and information. I appreciate everyone who's taken the time to reply. Thank you very much. I have a question for you guys...

I noticed Ed Levine (founder of Serious Eats) uses a Canon Powershot SD800 IS. Or at least he used it on his most recent serious eating tour. This is a $300 camera.

http://www.flickr.com/cameras/canon/powershot_sd800_is/

I found what appears the be the same camera, with a slightly different model at my local Best Buy tonight. I almost bought it -- but I wanted to get feedback from you guys first.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8469212&type=product&id=1184768166165

What do you think?

FastFoodCritic at 11:39PM on 04/14/08

From Talk

Food Photography: Affordable Camera?

I take it you're going to be using the pictures for the website, and not doing any kind of huge prints. If that's the case, the only range you really need is 4 to 6 megapixels. That said, there are a plethora of options out there that will probably seem overwhelming. And I think someone said it earlier, but alot of times, it's not the camera, it's the photographer. I've seen excellent food shots taken with the cheapest of digital cameras. The secret? Macro function, (which has been mentioned repeatedly already), and good lighting. Good lighting is alot easier than you realize. Alot of people say to use natural ambient lighting, but that's very hard to predict sometimes! Me personally, I use my incandescent desk lamp, and a white background, and that usually does the trick. Flash is usually too harsh, unless you have a speedlight where you can control the strength in addition to exposure compensation. But don't let that fool you. Speedlights are very expensive, and don't assure good photos.

Overall, a steady hand, a good macro function, and plenty of light (set to the right white balance) will make any food pictures as good as professional.

Julian at 5:46PM on 04/14/08