I’m a bit late finding this, but if you haven’t seen it yet, and were curious about how the relatively inexpensive Lowel Ego Lights worked for food photos, check out Steamy Kitchen’s excellent post that shows how much difference they can make. Brilliant.

Fun camera… but not what I actually do my work with…

Wow. It seems like I just posted my Guide to Food Photography gear… but it’s been almost a year, and I have realized a good chunk of my equipment has changed during that time. Since the number one question I get from readers is what gear do you use, I thought I’d give you a new peak into the studio & camera bags.
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I have a problem. I have a little thing called a prop addiction. I’m constantly finding my next must-have props in vintage and thrift stores, at the grocery store, in sales bins at Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel, and most recently on ebay. Now, you might think that the problem is the fact that I am buying too much. Some might argue that. Not me. My problem is that I simply don’t have nearly enough room, and the stacks are growing ever more precarious. It’s not too much stuff, it’s simply a lack of storage space. At least, that’s what I tell myself. I’m hoping one day I’ll get to be like this shop in Chicago. My family may not be able to move in our house any more, but man, we’ll have some nice props. The photo above features two of my new ones… the palest-yellow oval dish, on sale at Whole Foods and the shabby chic breakfast tray was from ebay.
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If you are interested in improving your off-camera flash lighting skills, Strobist is kicking off a new round of lighting assignments geared toward teaching people the basics. Lighting 102 kicks off on June 4th, and I’m thinking about playing along this time. Most of what I do is natural and continuous light, and my flash skills are sorely lacking. First step is the gear… and Midwest Photo has put together several great low-cost options of the Strobist lighting kits. If you are thinking about going through Lighting 102 (or looking back at the Lighting 101 archive), you might check out the kits soon, before they start to run out.

It must be the holidays! I’m getting tons of requests for lighting and camera recommendations, so I thought perhaps I should do a little post on my gear and photo-centric wish list. (plus, I just updated my Amazon Shop, which includes most of this stuff… I’ll keep it updated with my latest finds.)

Camera

I’m still shooting with a Canon EOS 20D for most of my shots. I love this camera… it’s a great size and produces beautiful shots. Of course, the Canon EOS 5D is on my wishlist… but I think it’s still many months off.

In the studio, I shoot with one of three lenses almost exclusively: the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro, the 50mm f1.4 and the 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift Before I got the tilt-shift, I used the 50mm quite frequently… but it’s so close to the 45mm, that I rarely use in the studio anymore. 75% of my shots are now with the 45 T/S. It is an amazing lens.

Outside of the studio is a different story. For shooting on location with minimal gear, the 50mm 1.4 is a must have. Nothing else handles low light like this lens (ok, the 1.2 version would, but can anyone afford it?). I also love to take the 24-105mm f/4L, which is a great lens for well-lit shots and gives a bit more flexibility for framing. Just the little bit of zoom handles most of the shots I want to take. If I’m up for bringing a 3rd lens with me, then it’s the 200mm f/2.8L , which is my favorite telephoto lens… cheaper than the 70-200 2.8 and a bit crisper.

I also have some accessories. My favorite is the Canon EP-EX15 Eyepiece Extender, which lets me look through the view finder without always smudging up the display on the camera. Such a simple little thing, yet it makes me so happy.

I also love my Remote Switch, which lets me take photos on slow shutter speed without having to mess around with the timer. Of course, I’m sure I’d also like the Wireless Radio Remote too.

Lighting

A good portion of my lighting is free, or nearly so. Big windows and french doors that face south and west. I’ve covered the southern windows with a frosted vellum that is available at art supply stores by the roll. That, and a few big sheets of styrofoam board are my lighting solution for about 75-80% of my photos.

When I don’t have enough light, I use the Lowel Tota system, which is a reasonably priced start into studio lighting. The Tota-Pak includes a 750W tungsten halogen lamp with bulb, a stand and an umbrella is regularly $280, but I just noticed that it is on sale for $194 on Amazon right now. The V-Light Pak, which is 500W is on sale as well for about $5 less. I haven’t used them yet, but I recently got the Tota-frame and Assorted Lighting Gel Set for the Tota-lamps as well.

I also have a very small fresnel light by Mole-Richardson that I use only for special cases that I need just a little bit of extra light in one spot. It’s fairly dramatic lighting, esp with all the accessories you can put on it.

Props & Accessories

My tripod is a set of Manfrotto legs and a Really Right Stuff ball head. This is a heavy duty studio tripod… the kind of thing you wouldn’t want to throw into a backpack and take with you, but excellent in the studio. I also have a great arm that clamps onto my tripod for holding onto miscellaneous gear like reflective discs.

White dishes are my most frequently used, but I have quite a few solid color things as well. And some dishes with Asian prints. But, if you are just starting out, make sure you have a good variety of white plates and bowls, and some simple flatware. Forks appear most frequently in my shots, quickly followed by spoons. I tend to use the smaller flatware more frequently, but I also have a couple of interesting serving tools, like a copper ladle and coffee scoop.

For backdrops, head to your local fabric store. You can get some good deals on cloth paying by the yard. Who cares if the edges aren’t finished when they don’t show up in the photo. Also, hand-made paper found at arts supply stores or card stores makes for some really nice backdrops, esp when you have a working sweep.

For a more finished look, I also have a fairly wide selection of towels and linen napkins that can be folded and placed under or around dishes. I prefer simple patterns and solids, in fairly light colors for these… but I do have the occasional piece that is quite bright and playful. I find most of my linens in the sales racks.

For styling your food, a good set of tools to have on hand are a pair of chopsticks (for pushing, poking or picking things up), tweezers, a pair of manicure scissors, some cotton swabs, a spray bottle (with water) and plenty of paper towels. Joe Glo wipes are also really good for little clean-ups.

Software

I reference Photoshop CS2 for most of the articles on Still Life With. It’s really, really expensive but it’s also just about the only tool that you can use to do advanced editing. If you don’t need advanced editing, just go with Photoshop Elements. If you outgrow it, Adobe is generally pretty good with giving upgrade discounts. Or, if you are really just getting started, you can always go with iPhoto on the Mac or Picasa on the PC without any outlay of cash.

My newest software necessity is Phase One’s Capture One Pro. It’s a raw workflow tool that lets me shoot tethered to my Mac. I have a long USB cable that connects my camera to my Mac, and as soon as I take the photo, it’s on my laptop and I can see it full res to make sure that I’m getting what I wanted. It’s completely changed the way that I shoot and edit, and I couldn’t be happier about it. But, it was a serious expense. Unless you are going pro, there is no reason to pay that kind of money. That said, I’ll have more info on shooting tethered in an upcoming post.

BTW - I’ve been thrilled to get so many mails asking me my opinion on this stuff. I’m very happy to help… so if you have other questions, do feel free to shoot them my way!

Technorati Tags: camera gear, Food, Food Styling, Photography, shopping

One common technique for still life and product photography is floating the subject on a background, usually a single color and often white or black. These images are then easily placed in catalogs or websites without having a whole square photo look. They seem to simply float on the page. (Somewhat ironically, my floating photo here doesn’t float, since my background isn’t white!)
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20 pieces. $4.

And six of the silver plated forks even match! (They just took a bit of elbow grease to clean up).

I got a ton of other stuff too, like a mini pizza peal, several “silver” trays, a cool wooden bowl, a new milk steamer pitcher, a vintage chinois, and a crochet table cloth… all in just $24.

Thrift stores have got to be the best place for props, ever.

Technorati Tags: Food, Food Styling, Photography, shopping

A few weeks ago, I posted about a new rental lens service called Ziplens. Unlike Rentglass, Ziplens had the two lenses in stock that I was hoping to try, so I placed an order to rent them for a couple of weeks. The lenses have come and gone back, and I must say, the whole process was amazingly simple and effortless.

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Have you seen Moo.com yet? They are making little business cards with the flickr photos of your choice printed on the back. And, for Pro Flickr members, you get a sample pack of 10 for free. The best part about the whole service is that you aren’t stuck with a ton of business cards with just one photo… I chose 10 different photos for my 10 cards. It’s a great way to share your cool Flickr photos and in particular a great intro if you are thinking about going pro. My plan is to keep a stash with me, and leave them on the tables (or give them to my server) at new chef-owned restaurants or cafes.

For now, I just ordered the freebies to see how good the print quality is. I’ll let you know once I get them.

Technorati Tags: Photography

A new online mail delivery lens site has entered the arena, which is great news for those of us who were on the lookout for some of the specialty lenses that always seemed to be out of stock at RentGlass.com. Ziplens offers almost exactly the same service as RentGlass… but at least at the moment, has most of their lenses in stock. Plus, and added bonus, you can reserve out of stock lenses that will be shipped to you upon return. I like that system much better than Rentglasses notification system, since the few times I’ve been around when the In Stock email alert came in, the lens was back out again by the time I added it to my basket.

I’ve got a couple lenses on their way to me now, so I’ll let you know how it goes.

[via PhotoDoto]

Technorati Tags: Photography