Opinion Essay
Newcomers to the professional commercial photography field often wander around in their minds if they have the appropriate equipment for the job. This isn't a strange thought since it's a paid gig after all. A client pays good money and expects professional results that match the value they are paying. So what professional equipment do commercial photographers often use?
Different fields have a different niches and specialized types of equipment to serve the niche. A landscape photographer will prefer a high-megapixel count full-frame camera paired with a wide-angle lens. This combination is ideal as landscape photographers require a detailed frame with a wide angle to capture the most out of a particular landscape. If you throw this combination to say a portrait professional, it becomes harder to work (not to say impossible) as portraits are usually captured in the medium tele-primes.
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For the purpose of this article, we are going to explore our experience serving the food niche as professional photographers. Our results are often used in commercial spaces. Food photography, especially for a commercial purpose is unique as a photographer needs to understand the creative direction of the client and translates the direction into actionable photos.
Food photography on its own has many things to explore. When we first see a food item we visualize it with our eyes. Firstly, with the help of our eyes, we decide which food we should eat, and then secondly we finally decide what to eat. Likewise, in food photography, our eyes play an important role while shooting the subject. The colors of the food item attract our eyes first and then our minds. So the colors and definitely the taste of the food give us the answer that why food photography is one of the trending photography genres of all time. However, to get fascinating photographs of the food item, not only you require a good styled meal but also some excellent skills. You may think that food photography is simple that is why it is one of the favorite genres of all photographers. But it is wrong preparing the food, styling it, props, setting up the light and editing it, and much more is definitely hard work to do.
Search for ideas
Now in this fast-running world, no one was to make or create something of their own style through whatever they have learned. But will try to copy other people's ideas or what they have created. Try to create something of your own, no matter if it fails but you did make it on your own.
Start feeding your mind with inspiration from professional food photographers. Each and every day thousands of food photographs and videos are posted on social media. Look what type of creativity they are bringing into their photos. The simplest way to search is on Instagram with the help of food hashtags.
Camera & Lenses
For food photography, we need the resolution to give us the flexibility in cropping during the post-processing stage. To achieve this result, we often default ourselves to Canon 5D Mark IV or a Canon 5Ds. Any 35mm full-frame camera is going to achieve a decent result in any given food photography but if you want the flexibility to crop at a later stage, stick to any full-frame 35mm that offers 30 Megapixels or more.
From time to time, we get requests to shoot with a big budget. To deliver results similar to the budget provided, we rent ourselves medium to large format cameras to satisfy the image quality needs for our delivery to the client. Phase 1 or a Pentax 645D are both excellent cameras to work with, albeit they cost a kidney and an arm each.
My ideal selection of lenses for food photography would be 35mm, 50mm, and 80-100mm. Since I am using a Canon system, I would usually go with 'L' lenses for maximum optical performance.
In food photography, most subjects are static. Naturally, we use a tripod, prime lens, and artificial light to eliminate variables that can make our job harder. Once you got it set up, it all boils down to the photographer's creativity and photo composition to speak for the result.
Role of natural light
Natural light is the first preference for all photographers in terms of food photography. Most of the food photography is done indoors because outdoors there are chances where you may end up getting harsh lighting.
Food photography includes natural light because it gives the food real colors with the soft shiny light to it. For the best results, I would recommend placing the subject nearer to the wide opening window which can throw more light on the subject.
Role of tripod
I have seen many photographers who will purchase a ($1500) camera but will never purchase a ($3.32) tripod for themselves. After camera and lenses, a tripod is one of the most important photography accessories one should purchase.
A tripod helps you to capture very sharp and quality photographs. For food photography, if you have shaky hands then you should take the help of a tripod. With the help of a tripod sometimes out of the blue, you may get some creative angles or ideas which will make your photograph look more beautiful.
Role of food stylist
I would suggest if you want amazing results you need to work with amazing people. Food photography is not only about having the skills to capture a photograph. But also to seek help from professional food stylists. To build your career in photography to definitely need to learn to collaborate with professional people which will help you to elevate your photography to another level.
In every field of work some or the other way you will have to collaborate with people because everything cannot be handled by one person. Likewise, in food photography also you can seek help to cook, style the food item, set up the props, etc.
The advantage of assisting a good stylist is that they may end up giving you more creative ideas or adding more styling ideas to the subject. Rather than that the food stylists have their own years of experience in it. And it is always fun to collaborate with people.
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