I think you all know how big of a fan of Capture One I am. I’ve been using it for a few years, and it makes tethered and remote capture super simple whether it’s batch applying settings or making it braindead simple to convert images from Raw to a whole set of other formats. I usually output TIFF, 2 versions of JPEGs and sometimes thumbnails. Click, click, click, it’s done and I almost never go into Photoshop for editing.

All that came to a screeching halt recently with the addition of a new iMac to my studio and the soon-to-be upgrade to Leopard. It turns out, Capture One Pro won’t work tethered with Canons (not sure about Nikons) on Leopard. I just want to note for the record, that Vista isn’t the only OS with problems on upgrading, even if they don’t have silly cool ads pointing fingers. Leopard is NOT all puppies and sunshine. But, anyway, that’s besides the point.

The real point is that between the lack of Leopard support along with the changes to Capture One 4, it seems I was going to need to be finding some new software. I had already been intent on trying a few new apps… something to manage my ever growing library of images. I’m starting to do some stock photography work with one (and maybe two) of the big rights managed agencies (Stockfood right now, and Jupiter Images’ FoodPix as soon as I can get my act together) and so having a great way to keep track of what I’ve submitted to who is going to be critical.

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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’ve been meaning to start a regular post series featuring some of the emails I get with questions about photography and styling, and what better way to kick it off with a question that I know comes up all the time with folks just getting started into some more advanced digital imaging. A reader writes:

Dear Lara,

I’m really confused about which image editing software to buy. I’m planning to go in for the Canon 40D. I heard you talk about the phase one capture pro on your site. Maybe I will look at it as an option in the future as I don’t want to suffer from information overload!

I need to edit images for publishing in websites and magazines/newspapers. Should I go in for the Photoshop CS3 or CS3 extended? What are your thoughts on the Adobe Lightroom?

I have heard that Mac is better for photographers so i’m switching over to Mac after years of PC use.

Thanks for being helpful.

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Most professional photographers out there put some sort of transparent-ish watermark on their images when posting them to the web. It’s one of the few, albeit not necessarily fool-proof, ways to keep your photos from being used without your authorization. For pros, this is important not only to protect the value of the work, but often because the photos are under exclusive use license… it’s bad for both the photographer and their clients if those photos are misused.

With services like Flickr making it so simple to “borrow” images from, unauthorized use is becoming more of a problem. I can name quite a few cases where Flickr photos with All Rights Reserved clearly indicated on the web page were taken and used in magazines or websites without permission. In fact, I just stumbled upon this post with an old image of mine that was used without my permission. As a result of this kind of issue, more and more people are tagging their images with a copyright notice, and sometimes even quite a big one.
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One of my early posts on Still Life With walked through my workflow of taking food shots in my studio (ie, my kitchen). Well, I recently realized how much a seemingly small change has made to my overall workflow. That change was starting to shoot tethered to my laptop, and it’s had numerous impacts on the steps I follow.

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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

If you are looking for a simple photo editor, and don’t mind the slowness of uploading your photos to a server for your quick fixes, you should give PXN8 (pronounced pix-en-ate) a try. It provides all the basic corrections like an auto-exposure (called Enhance), fill flash, rotation and even some manual control over saturation, brightness and hue. But what’s particularly cool about PXN8 are the fun tools, including the easiest way to round the corners of your image that I’ve seen yet, and a nice little lomo filter. PXN8 also integrates easily with Flickr, so once you’ve uploaded your photo, getting the edited image into your Flickr account is a simple button press.

PXN8 is for smaller images (under 1Mb)… uploading a jpeg image from my 20D (about a 6 Mb file) took a painfully long time, and then it resized the image down to a web size. But once my photo was uploaded, all of the corrections were very quick. For the image above, I applied the lomo effect (which would have worked better on a darker image) and rounded the corners, pushed the changes over the Flickr and was done in about a minute.

Or, for even an even more tightly integrated editor, check out Preloadr, which works on photos you’ve already uploaded to Flickr, but want to make quick changes to. Moving into the “editing” space was a bit slow for my large images, but unlike PXN8, Preloadr seems to keep my image size intact… so it’s not too surprising it’s not as zippy. Preloadr also offers more advanced tools, like layers, a histogram and even an exposure curve… but leaves off some of the cool quick fixes (like the lomo filter and rounding the corners.) Still, if you are working with 1Mb or smaller file sizes and just need to brighten up your whites or saturate your colors, Preloadr may be what you need.

Technorati Tags: Photography, Tips

Sometimes, I have a set image in my head when I’m stooting… I know exactly where I want the negative space, how I want the focus and blur to appear, and where the shadows and highlights should pop. Sometimes, I just shoot, and see what I get taking the same shot with a variety of exposure and depth of field settings. Most of the time, I end up with at least one photo that has that magical combination of crisp and soft, color and texture, light and dark. But, there are times, like last week, where the shot with the composition I like isn’t quite right. Maybe the subject isn’t quite in focus or the lighting isn’t there. Another photo, has the right focus, but has mistakenly has a lens cap sneaking in from the side (How did that happen?). Luckily, with a few simple Photoshop compositing techniques, it’s simple to get the photo you are looking for. Continue reading →

Maki, over at I was just really very hungry posted her tips for taking better photos in restaurants and indoor markets, including the golden rule (never use your built in flash!) as well as some neat ideas to use those white napkins for something other than wiping off your face. Even if you do everything right taking those photos, low light conditions usually mean extra work in Photoshop. You’ll likely end up with several typical problems:

• Photos that are just too dark
• Photos with a yellow/green cast
• Graininess, color loss or noise due to high ISO speeds (400+)
• Blurred photos due to your hands shaking while trying to hold a long exposure

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I spend a lot of time fine tuning my images for my blog to get them to achieve the right balance of color and light. While it’s certainly not the hours that some professionals spend, it’s still probably the most time consuming part of food blogging for me (with the exception of some of the actual cooking). I want colors that are vivid, life-like or sometimes very subtle, to fit the mood I’m trying to achieve and I’m willing to tweak and futz with them until they are, in my eyes, just perfect.

So, imagine my disappointment when I went to try out Firefox and pulled up my blog and found, instead of the beautiful rich colors I was expecting, photos that looked dull and dead.
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