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July 1, 2011

How to Take Better Food Pictures: Part 2

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Hey guys!

Today I’ll be sharing part 2 in the “How to Take Better Food Pictures” series my friend Ben is writing for me. He’s starting basic and working up towards more advanced!

In case you missed part 1, check that out first: How to Take Better Food Pictures. Enjoy!

041

–

How to Take Better Pictures of Your Food

Part 2: Stabilize Your Shot!

by: Ben Powell

–

Hey everyone, I’m back with another food photography tip! We’re still starting with some real basic concepts but I’m sure this is something even you DSLR users either forget about, or don’t go through the trouble to do. But it’s super important! So without any further delay, here is food photo tip #2: Stabilize Your Shot!

Last time we talked about how you should get rid of the flash so your food doesn’t look so washed out and how natural light is really the best thing for your food to look good. But what happens when it’s night time? Or you just don’t have a good source of natural light? You may notice that when you take pictures of your food without flash sometimes, the colors may look better but the picture comes out so blurry! Check out these shots:


Canon Powershot


iPhone4
Ewww. Blurry! What are we even looking at? Doesn’t make it look very appetizing. The reason our cameras are doing this is because it’s too dim in the room, so the shutter of the camera (the thing that goes “click”) stays open longer to let more light in. But, if your hand is shaking even a tiny bit, the camera is going to record it and it will show up in your photo as motion-blur. No matter how still you think you can hold your hand, we all shake and we can’t do anything about it. A lot of point and shoot cameras will give you a warning if it’s too dark to keep the image sharp.


Taking it handheld?

Better Read the Signs!

Fortunately in the case of food photography, your subject doesn’t move at all (unless you’re being extremely adventurous) so we can simply use a tripod to stabilize our shots! You probably aren’t going to want to lug a big ol’ tripod everywhere you go (although it’s good to have one) but there is a really elegant solution that can be found with GorillaPod. I have a GorillaPod that fits onto my iPhone4 (it comes with a special bumper to secure your iPhone to it) but you can get them to fit any size camera including DSLRs. AND they’re small enough to fit in your bag or purse so you can take it everywhere you might take your camera anyway!


Mini Tripod and GorillaPod
Simple enough, right? Actually, there’s one more precautionary step we’ll need to take, and that’s to make sure we put our cameras on a 2 second timer. That’s because the actual action of pushing the button will cause the camera shake enough to make your picture blurry! Some of you may have already figured out how to put your camera on a timer and thought to yourself: “Why the heck would I ever need a 2 second timer?” Well, mystery solved. You’re welcome.

Timers are always signified by the little clock symbol. They’re in different places on each camera, but here they are on my cameras:


Timer Button on my Canon Powershot


Timer Button on a Canon Rebel t2i
The iPhone is a little different. There are tons of apps out there, but I use one called “ProCamera” which has an anti-shake button (it waits to take the picture until it detects there’s no shake).


Anti-Shake Button on the ProCamera app
If you combine the use of a tripod with this 2-second-timer technique, your pictures should come out quite nicely. Here are the final results:


Canon Powershot


iPhone4

Much better, huh?
Stay tuned for next month’s tip!

Ben is a freelance photographer and musician in the DC Metro area. Need a portrait, wedding, or engagement photographer? Click here for more details.

————-

Thanks for the great guest post, Ben! I actually just purchased a tripod the other day — even though I do almost all my food photography outdoors (and therefore don’t need to worry much about motion-blur), I found that even if I’m outside, if I’m using my macro lens to take REALLY close shots (like the one at the top of the post) it’s hard to keep still enough without a tripod. I love the 2-second timer tip — I’ll try that next time!

Do you guys have a tripod? Have you ever used the 2-second timer option?

———-

Oh, and while we’re talking about Ben — remember that fun photo shoot I did with him a couple months ago in DC? He sent me the rest of the photos! Here are a few of my favorites 🙂

Me jumping 2 with laptop2

with camera

Fun, huh? 🙂 Thanks again, Ben!

- anne
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41 comments
  • Molly @ RDexposed
    July 1, 2011 · 8:17AM:
    I feel the second one captures a dietetic intern!
    Reply
    • Anne P
      July 1, 2011 · 8:20AM:
      Lol!
      Reply
  • Matt @ The Athlete's Plate
    July 1, 2011 · 8:34AM:
    Thanks for the great tips Ben! I have a tripod, but it's still in the box ;) (I bought it three months ago)
    Reply
  • Gen
    July 1, 2011 · 8:35AM:
    Awesome tip!!!! I was actually just grumping about my pictures being too blurry!!!
    Reply
  • Gretchen @ Honey, I Shrunk the Gretchen!
    July 1, 2011 · 8:36AM:
    Looks like I'm gonna be borrowing Ben's gorilla pod now... hehe. He's my own brother but I didn't really believe him on the value of having a tripod until he guest posts on your blog about it! Go figure. Happy to see my (formerly un-busted) laptop make an appearance, too! And it makes total sense that you would need a mechanical pencil when working on a laptop... totally.... hahahahahaaa :D
    Reply
    • Anne P
      July 1, 2011 · 8:48AM:
      Haha, duh. ;)
      Reply
  • Maryea {Happy Healthy Mama}
    July 1, 2011 · 8:37AM:
    Great tips! Thanks. :-)
    Reply
  • Lauren @ What Lauren Likes
    July 1, 2011 · 8:38AM:
    This is really interesting! thanks ( i need all the help I can get :)
    Reply
  • Aine @ Something to Chew Over
    July 1, 2011 · 9:10AM:
    This is really helpful, I'm very interested in working on my photography. Thanks for the tips! Cute pics Anne :)
    Reply
  • Jordan @ food, sweat, and beers
    July 1, 2011 · 9:13AM:
    Ah, I love your jumping jeans in Ben's shot of you!! So cute! Great tips, Ben, and thanks for letting him share!!
    Reply
  • Gina @ Running to the Kitchen
    July 1, 2011 · 9:17AM:
    I think the second pic should've gone in your header :) Nice camera strap!
    Reply
  • Katie @ Nourishing Flourishing
    July 1, 2011 · 9:23AM:
    Those photos of you are a. dorable!
    Reply
  • Katy (The Singing Runner)
    July 1, 2011 · 9:34AM:
    Fantastic tips!!!! And I love those pictures of you at the end! Adorable!
    Reply
  • Jen Robinson July 1, 2011 · 9:35AM:
    Glad Ben's getting good use of the gorillapod Dan and I got him last Christmas :)
    Reply
  • Kris S July 1, 2011 · 9:40AM:
    Wow, love Ben's photos of you! Tell Ben to check this out if he hasn't seen it already, or any of your photographer readers too: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/technology/22camera.html. This guy made a company after working at Stanford to pioneer this technology, and we collaborated with their lab so we even have one built in our lab too (although for biological imaging, not for photos). Pretty cool, eh?
    Reply
    • Anne P
      July 2, 2011 · 9:29AM:
      Whoa! That is the coolest thing EVER! I want one!!
      Reply
  • Mrs. Fish
    July 1, 2011 · 9:51AM:
    We have a tripod for our camera, and I've never used it! Now I can't wait to pull it out of hiding! I also love the two second timer trick.
    Reply
  • Andrea @ Onion in My Hair
    July 1, 2011 · 10:03AM:
    Thanks for the guest post — very informative! I have to buy that tripod the SECOND I reward myself with a point-and-shoot.
    Reply
  • Lindsey
    July 1, 2011 · 10:12AM:
    This is a great series! I am still learning my DSLR and love any new tips! Thanks!
    Reply
  • Nancy~The Wife of a Dairyman
    July 1, 2011 · 11:14AM:
    I just bought a remote for my Rebel, they're around $20 dollars and it has both a 15 second and 2 second timer on it...thanks for the great tips!
    Reply
    • Ben @ StarvingArtistry
      July 2, 2011 · 12:30AM:
      Yeah, remotes are a great way to go! You don't even need to use the timer if you shoot with the remote. I use the 2 second timer when taking self portraits, 'cause it gives me *just* enough time to hide the remote from the camera and strike a pose.
      Reply
  • Jill K July 1, 2011 · 12:11PM:
    Great tips, Thx! I always take pix of my food so my sister can drool from afar! ;-) I have an iPhone-4, but never use the camera, unless needed, because of the terrible resolution! (I like the droid's "camera" better!) And totally cute "jumping photos" of you ;-) Thanks for sharing!
    Reply
  • Renie July 1, 2011 · 12:49PM:
    Very informative Anne. Just to show you how much I love your blog, I fell and broke my nose in 2 places and broke my elbow last night at home by tripping over my shoelaces. I just had to hobble over to the computer today. Have fun this weekend and Happy Independence Day on Monday. Love ya.
    Reply
    • Anne P
      July 1, 2011 · 10:42PM:
      Oh my gosh, you poor thing! :( So glad you are okay - I hope your recovery is speedy!
      Reply
      • Renie July 2, 2011 · 7:23AM:
        Thanks Anne. Everyone including the medical team questioned my husband because this left me with 2 black eyes. I assured them it was an accident. Hahaha
        Reply
  • Errign
    July 1, 2011 · 1:35PM:
    I heart the photo of you with your computer. Great photo-takin' tips! :)
    Reply
  • Heather @ Dietitian on the Run
    July 1, 2011 · 3:42PM:
    I've only ever thought to put the camera on a counter or other surface above the Food....heh, tripod. DUH. Ben, solving the 2-second self-timer issue?! Brilliant. Who knew it was there for purposes other than irritating people who *meant* to put it on the 10-second option, and end up with a picture Fail. ;)
    Reply
    • Anne P
      July 2, 2011 · 9:30AM:
      Lol so true.
      Reply
  • Jen
    July 1, 2011 · 3:59PM:
    Great tips! Guess it's time to get the tripod out of the box ;)
    Reply
  • Salah (My Healthiest Lifestyle)
    July 1, 2011 · 4:05PM:
    This really makes me wish I had a camera! lol I usually just take pictures with my mac :-) lol
    Reply
  • Sarah@The Flying ONION
    July 1, 2011 · 6:59PM:
    These are some great tips! And I love those little mini tripods! How handy! :D
    Reply
  • Emily@RunningPerspective
    July 1, 2011 · 7:47PM:
    such great tips! thankss!!!!
    Reply
  • Sana
    July 2, 2011 · 12:10AM:
    I loveee the pic of you jumping int he air!!
    Reply
  • Lee
    July 2, 2011 · 10:33AM:
    I took a photography class a month ago and we had a field trip for our final assignment and I brought my tripod and wouldn't you know, it broke before I could use it for the assignment. Ugh.
    Reply
    • Anne P
      July 2, 2011 · 6:42PM:
      Aw man! That sucks!
      Reply
  • DHP July 2, 2011 · 11:47AM:
    These are great tips, Anne, thanks so much!
    Reply
  • KaraHadley
    July 3, 2011 · 9:42AM:
    I've been thinking about getting a gorillapod for a while. They're so crazy cheap, it's great. And I never would have thought about the 2second timer. Thanks Ben!
    Reply
  • Sarah July 29, 2011 · 8:58AM:
    Just wanted to say thanks for all the tips! I can't wait to try these out (especially the 2 second timer!) I can't believe I never thought of that. So simple, yet so useful.
    Reply
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anne mauney fannetastic food
Hi, I’m Anne! I'm a Washington D.C. based Registered Dietitian, mother, runner, and lover of travel, adventure, and the great outdoors. I've been blogging since 2009, sharing a mix of lifestyle content, recipes, and fitness tips. Come for the recipes – stay for the fun!
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I’m Anne, a Registered Dietitian and mother. I've been blogging since 2009 and love showing others that eating nutritious foods and staying active can actually be fun rather than overwhelming!

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