Help with shooting food while eating out

[big_apple_ken]

I love food...and I love to shoot food while I am eating out. The downside is generally I need to shoot with pretty high ISO since most places I eat at seem to be quite dimly lit. Although that being the case I seem to have gotten a decent grasp of shooting food in bowls and round/square plates but I have a bit of an issue framing/shooting food that is in long rectangular plates or food that is in small pieces (sushi, macarons etc).

- With the former (I like tight framing) I'm just not sure how exactly to frame the food since the plate is so long.

- With the latter I feel I probably should use a macro lens but I'm curious what you guys think since I don't own a macro lens. I've tried looking on Flickr for ideas but I haven't really found too many appealing shots of say sushi that are taken at a restaurant (most good looking sushi shots seemed to be styled in a studio).

Care to help me out?

Here are some shots I've accumulated while eating out in the past few months:

Pork Belly Miso Ramen
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2720/4428688131_b98f43588d_o.jpg

3 Tomato Salad
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2739/4429479454_82786a6677_o.jpg

Deep Fried Beef Rolls
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2768/4428705077_52ce89262f_o.jpg

Bacon & Cheddar Burger
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4060/4287739952_d5d2aa3e46_o.jpg

Pork Neck Skewer
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4366042344_30759309b8_o.jpg

Sirloin Steak
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2639/4129170106_c3b701a6ca.jpg



This is more of a fun shot I found while traveling in Japan:

Ramen, Ramen, Ramen!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/4428688299_3ed54589eb_o.jpg

[Wilt]

Composition wise, I'm really disliking the 2/3 or 3/4 plate shots! The deep fried beef rolls or pork neck skewer shots are not so objectionable.

[big_apple_ken]

Composition wise, I'm really disliking the 2/3 or 3/4 plate shots! The deep fried beef rolls or pork neck skewer shots are not so objectionable.

Totally understand everyone has their likes and dislikes. My thing is I've taken a lot of shots that are wider than 1/2 or 2/3 plate shots and my major gripe about those shots is the photo becomes less about the food. In most restaurants there is a ton of clutter on the table and in the background...so at least to me I favor tighter framed shots (like the 1/2 or 2/3 plate shots) cause it means I can fill more of my frame with the food and eliminate more of the background clutter. Clearly if the food was styled in a studio I could shoot a lot wider and feel comfortable about it. With that said totally understand that is not your favored style.

Maybe if I had a macro lens things might be different...

[Wilt]

Well, since you're not doing set up shots with the luxury of clean sets without distracting elements in the frame, I understand your approach, even though they aren't all most pleasing to me. What you can do as a diner is very different than what you do as a hired professional to make food shots!

[juxtagirl]

That last one is the money shot. Love it!

[bobbyz]

Ken, I like these. The food looks yummy. When you eat out choose a bigger table if possible. Move around the things where your partner is sitting. That and with the shooting angle you can manage. I was just checking my food magazine and for the first time started noticing how they were lighting them. Now this food is making me hungry. Got to cook up something.

[yogestee]

I also love shooting food.. We have a housekeeper who is also a fabulous cook and I often grab a shot or two of her creations.. She sometimes thinks I'm Pi Baa (Lao for crazy)..

We eat out three or four times a week but I rarely have my camera with me.. I might start doing the same as you Ken..

[Wilt]

BTW, impressive placement of lighting to provide the appearance of the gloss to the liquids on the food!

[big_apple_ken]

When you eat out choose a bigger table if possible. Move around the things where your partner is sitting. That and with the shooting angle you can manage.

Bobbyz, I do sometimes move stuff around on the table but with time (1-2 minutes to setup and shoot) and physical constraints (dining tables here in Hong Kong are smaller than ones in the US) it's not always the easiest.

[big_apple_ken]

I do appreciate all the different comments I am getting about my photos. I really enjoy eating & reviewing restaurants so my passion for photography was a natural compliment to this other hobby of mine. Although I do have quite of bit of studio experience my experience 'styling' food is a little green in comparison. The way I look at my restaurant food photography is similar to shooting candid street photos. There are definitely lots of limitations such as:

Time - Got to finish shooting before your food gets cold
Physical - Dining tables are only so big and sometimes backgrounds aren't that perfect
Lighting - Generally speaking restaurant lighting is pretty dim and since you can't bring a softbox/tripod into a restaurant you are forced to shoot with higher ISO

Anyway, I still love it but lets try not to get too far off track with my original questions which is:

1) How would you creatively frame food that presented on long rectangular plates?

2) How about creatively shooting bite sized food (such as sushi, small baked items etc)? I don't have a macro lens btw.

Any descriptions or photography examples would be greatly appreciated!

[blueM]

At the risk of sounding like an idiot, perhaps you should stand up to shoot. The angle on most of the shots above (except the last) indicate that you were sitting.

With your gear list you have plenty of speed & width, so I'm not seeing a problem here. :confused:

[Wilt]

I do appreciate all the different comments I am getting about my photos...

Anyway, I still love it but lets try not to get too far off track with my original questions which is:

1) How would you creatively frame food that presented on long rectangular plates?

2) How about creatively shooting bite sized food (such as sushi, small baked items etc)? I don't have a macro lens btw.


Well I did provide my comment about framing, and you replied with a 'you have your likes and dislikes', as if you didn't agree with my comment. You did provide a rationale (a valid one!) for why you did it that way. So why ask for comments if that is your response?! :) You could have made others reluctant to provide critical commentary. Be prepared for critical comment, because you asked for that input!

[gkarris]

rabbit, or deer... ;)

[big_apple_ken]

At the risk of sounding like an idiot, perhaps you should stand up to shoot. The angle on most of the shots above (except the last) indicate that you were sitting.

With your gear list you have plenty of speed & width, so I'm not seeing a problem here. :confused:

This suggestion of standing up is for food shots in general or specifically my queries in regards to long plates or bite sized food? Standing up or getting down 'lower' will definitely yield a different perspective from how I am currently shooting most of my restaurant food shots.

[big_apple_ken]

Well I did provide my comment about framing, and you replied with a 'you have your likes and dislikes', as if you didn't agree with my comment. You did provide a rationale (a valid one!) for why you did it that way. So why ask for comments if that is your response?! :) You could have made others reluctant to provide critical commentary. Be prepared for critical comment, because you asked for that input!

Hmm...maybe I did sound a little defensive with my response. For that I apologize. The reason being the nature of this post isn't necessarily aimed to critique the shots I posted up (they are more for reference) but more so me asking for help to creatively shoot certain foods I have trouble with shooting. I think my initial reaction when you were critiqing the shots was that maybe you missed the point of the post but I may be at fault as well since the post might have been misleading from the get-go...

[SkipD]

Ken, I totally agree with Wilt's initial comments about the composition and I have a suggestion.

Back away from the plated dishes to get the whole thing into the image. Then, crop the image to some other aspect ratio. There's absolutely no rule that you have to show the camera's full frame or even use the same 3:2 aspect ratio as the camera's original image. Taking things to the extreme, you could make your final image square or even hexagonal if you find that it makes the presentation of the subject better.

[samlee860407]

hm....good, i am in the same position with you big_apple_ken

i also love to take the food i ate in restaurant, and yes 90% of the time i need to use IS0800 or higher, which is bad

mind to share which lens you use mostly at restaurant?

btw, these days i had try to use a table top mini tripod, such as the joby gorilla pad, which is good as i can use way longer shutter speed to increase light. and not annoying other customer by using flash (even if its bounce)

my comments for the pictures are

1) looks unappetizing to me :(
2) quite ok imo
3) maybe u shud focus nearer so that the ingredients can be shown more clearly
4) DOF too shallow imo, bottom part of the burger is too blur
5) again, i prefer higher DOF
6) not bad
7) awesome pics!

IMO, you dont need to show the whole plate of food all the time. But same goes to, never always show 1/2 of the plate only. Try to balance up more such as some show full plate, some show 1/2 and so on.

[Wilt]

To the question of framing on a long plate...you are a bit of a disadvantage in having the food positioned on the plate for eating, rather than having specificed in advance how it should be positioned for photographing! So you end up shooting a hamburger at one side of the place, and cropping half the plate away, which is my main objection...Trimming the edges way merely leaves out detail (plate edge) which the mind easily supplies from seeing the other edges, but trimming off half the plate puts my mind in an awkward "What food is over there, and how does it look in its arrangement?" puzzlement. It is disturbing for that reason! It might have been better if the hamburger was in the middle (horiontally) of the photo and plate, by rotating the plate on the table. Even if the plate was rectangular, the oblique lines of a plate lend visual interest and cause the eye to move around more within the frame! The pork skewer shot follows that concept. The hamburger plate could simply have been rotated a bit to have the corner of the plate centered in the frame, and the corners at 3 and 9 o'clock could have been clipped off by the frame edges as unnecessary detail.

[big_apple_ken]

Ken, I totally agree with Wilt's initial comments about the composition and I have a suggestion.

Back away from the plated dishes to get the whole thing into the image. Then, crop the image to some other aspect ratio. There's absolutely no rule that you have to show the camera's full frame or even use the same 3:2 aspect ratio as the camera's original image. Taking things to the extreme, you could make your final image square or even hexagonal if you find that it makes the presentation of the subject better.

I totally agree there are no rules about sticking to certain aspect ratios but I personally kind of prefer them to be 3:2. I do see some of my friends with with square photos (hexagonal I don't see very often) but in my mind I would probably prefer use square photos when I am presenting a 'collage' of photos as opposed to a single photo.

As for pulling back and shooting wider I actually do that a lot (but didn't post them earlier) but I find on many occasions that more junk seems to creep into my backgrounds this way. When I am eating multiple dishes I want there to be multiple perspectives so my photos don't look so repetitive. Just for reference sake (not trying to bombard my thread with photos) here's a few wider photos I took recently:

Vietnamese Spring Rolls
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs092.snc3/15953_204916967466_631282466_3248081_4727078_n.jpg

Salt and Pepper Mantis Shrimp
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs300.ash1/22747_242675142466_631282466_3433018_8359005_n.jpg

Sea Bass with Tomato Relish
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs300.ash1/22747_242675177466_631282466_3433021_6846920_n.jpg

Japanese Rice Cake Pizza
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs259.ash1/18647_281150137466_631282466_3573432_4376248_n.jpg

[Wilt]

This last batch of shots is MUCH nicer!

You might want to find a nice tabletop tripod, so that you can use a smaller aperture for increased DOF, and use the self timer to minimize vibration.

The mantis shrimp shot could be improved simply by moving the glass and soda can out of the frame immediately before shooting.

[big_apple_ken]

hm....good, i am in the same position with you big_apple_ken

i also love to take the food i ate in restaurant, and yes 90% of the time i need to use IS0800 or higher, which is bad

mind to share which lens you use mostly at restaurant?

btw, these days i had try to use a table top mini tripod, such as the joby gorilla pad, which is good as i can use way longer shutter speed to increase light. and not annoying other customer by using flash (even if its bounce)

my comments for the pictures are

1) looks unappetizing to me :(
2) quite ok imo
3) maybe u shud focus nearer so that the ingredients can be shown more clearly
4) DOF too shallow imo, bottom part of the burger is too blur
5) again, i prefer higher DOF
6) not bad
7) awesome pics!

IMO, you dont need to show the whole plate of food all the time. But same goes to, never always show 1/2 of the plate only. Try to balance up more such as some show full plate, some show 1/2 and so on.

I think maybe I just choose the wrong selection of photos since I rarely only shot 1/2 and 2/3 plates when eating out. As stated above I just want a decent mix of photos for my reviews so the photos don't look so repetitive.

I mainly shoot with my 24-70L but since I've gotten the 35L I've played around with that too in restaurants.

Anyway, even though this thread wasn't aimed to critique my photos I think you bring up a really good point in regards to my photos having DOF that is too shallow. I actually struggle with this issue every time I shoot at a restaurant (especially for dinner). The main problem is I think I've kind of max-ed out my handheld settings. When going to a dimly lit restaurant a lot of times I am shooting (with my 5D) @ 1600 or 3200 ISO, 1/50-1/80 SS and anywhere from f/2.8-f/4. I would love to shoot above f/4 but looking at my current settings I really don't have much room to move. I guess technically speaking if I change my perspective I could make my DOF less shallow without actually tweaking any of my settings (probably should try that).

Can your Joby Gorilla Pad support a 5D with a 24-70L? If so I'm getting one :)

[big_apple_ken]

To the question of framing on a long plate...you are a bit of a disadvantage in having the food positioned on the plate for eating, rather than having specificed in advance how it should be positioned for photographing! So you end up shooting a hamburger at one side of the place, and cropping half the plate away, which is my main objection...Trimming the edges way merely leaves out detail (plate edge) which the mind easily supplies from seeing the other edges, but trimming off half the plate puts my mind in an awkward "What food is over there, and how does it look in its arrangement?" puzzlement. It is disturbing for that reason! It might have been better if the hamburger was in the middle (horiontally) of the photo and plate, by rotating the plate on the table. Even if the plate was rectangular, the oblique lines of a plate lend visual interest and cause the eye to move around more within the frame! The pork skewer shot follows that concept. The hamburger plate could simply have been rotated a bit to have the corner of the plate centered in the frame, and the corners at 3 and 9 o'clock could have been clipped off by the frame edges as unnecessary detail.


Ahh...I see what you are saying. That probably isn't a bad point about the viewer wondering what is on the other side of the plate. I actually try hard to when shooting 1/2 or 2/3 plate photos to frame it more 'symmetrically'. So even though the viewer doesn't know...the other side is actually very similar to the side I shot.

So basically you are saying you favor slightly cropped plates like this:

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs282.ash1/20947_211925862466_631282466_3273403_576053_n.jpg

Deep Fried Chicken Cartilage
http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs159.snc3/18647_281150147466_631282466_3573433_2971798_n.jpg

[big_apple_ken]

This last batch of shots is MUCH nicer!

You might want to find a nice tabletop tripod, so that you can use a smaller aperture for increased DOF, and use the self timer to minimize vibration.

The mantis shrimp shot could be improved simply by moving the glass and soda can out of the frame immediately before shooting.

Oh thanks man. Maybe I misrepresented myself earlier with my photo selection...

Hey Wilt...do you know if the tabletop tripod can support a 5D with a 24-70L? I actually have a shutter release cable for my 5D so no need for the timer :)

As for the mantis shrimp shot...totally agreed. The restaurant was crazy busy and as like most Chinese restaurants our table was packed the brim with food. Definitely would have helped moving the glass but I didn't really think too much about it since my friends were hungry and waiting patiently for me to squeeze off a few shots before they dug in...haha.

[samlee860407]

I think maybe I just choose the wrong selection of photos since I rarely only shot 1/2 and 2/3 plates when eating out. As stated above I just want a decent mix of photos for my reviews so the photos don't look so repetitive.

I mainly shoot with my 24-70L but since I've gotten the 35L I've played around with that too in restaurants.

Anyway, even though this thread wasn't aimed to critique my photos I think you bring up a really good point in regards to my photos having DOF that is too shallow. I actually struggle with this issue every time I shoot at a restaurant (especially for dinner). The main problem is I think I've kind of max-ed out my handheld settings. When going to a dimly lit restaurant a lot of times I am shooting (with my 5D) @ 1600 or 3200 ISO, 1/50-1/80 SS and anywhere from f/2.8-f/4. I would love to shoot above f/4 but looking at my current settings I really don't have much room to move. I guess technically speaking if I change my perspective I could make my DOF less shallow without actually tweaking any of my settings (probably should try that).

Can your Joby Gorilla Pad support a 5D with a 24-70L? If so I'm getting one :)


yea, i face the exact same problem as you. as i am using 50mm f1.8 only, my min shutter speed must be at least 1/60(since i using 1.6x crop body), and at most of the time, even if i bump my ISO up to 1600, i still cant get the correct exposure.

the only thing i can do is, take the picture thats underexposed (not too much) and then post edited using lightroom.

this is the main thing that lead me to using a tabletop tripod, until i bump into something like the joby gorillapod.

Since i am only using 500D with 50mm f1.8II, i cant answer your question about that. However, from their website, their best one can support up to 5kg, which means it definitely can support your lens :)

you can look at http://joby.com/store/gorillapod/focus/ for more information. I think i might upgrade into their Gorillapod Focus soon too....

PS: i notice food picture need at least around f4 to f5.6 most of the time to give enough DOF, thats just me of course

[Wilt]

Yes, much less disturbing than most of the photos of the first batch of shots you posted!

[Wilt]

As for 'table top', I have yet to see one of those short little 15cm tabletop units which are strong enough to support a dSLR with the brick mounted! In fact, even lighter zoom lenses can be a challenge. The friction locks of the short tabletops are simply too weak to deal with the load, and the proportionally large front heavy weight of dSLR with zoom overwhelms them.

[big_apple_ken]

yea, i face the exact same problem as you. as i am using 50mm f1.8 only, my min shutter speed must be at least 1/60(since i using 1.6x crop body), and at most of the time, even if i bump my ISO up to 1600, i still cant get the correct exposure.

the only thing i can do is, take the picture thats underexposed (not too much) and then post edited using lightroom.

this is the main thing that lead me to using a tabletop tripod, until i bump into something like the joby gorillapod.

Since i am only using 500D with 50mm f1.8II, i cant answer your question about that. However, from their website, their best one can support up to 5kg, which means it definitely can support your lens :)

you can look at http://joby.com/store/gorillapod/focus/ for more information. I think i might upgrade into their Gorillapod Focus soon too....

PS: i notice food picture need at least around f4 to f5.6 most of the time to give enough DOF, thats just me of course

Very informative! Yes, so it looks like I should be ok with the gorilla SLR-zoom or potentially the gorilla focus. Will pop down to the store to check them out. Will help me out immensely if I can place the tripod on the table or chair.

Yes, I totally agree most restaurant food photos ideally should be f/4-f/8. I see a lot of restaurant reviewers/food bloggers actually just shoot with a P&S (using a mini tripod I would assume) then in post add DOF using the blur tool to make their photos seem more 'SLR-like'. Hopefully with this gorilla pod thing I'll have the best of both worlds.

On a side note...I totally do the same thing you do (shot underexposed shots then bump up the exposure in LR afterwards) :)

[big_apple_ken]

As for 'table top', I have yet to see one of those short little 15cm tabletop units which are strong enough to support a dSLR with the brick mounted! In fact, even lighter zoom lenses can be a challenge. The friction locks of the short tabletops are simply too weak to deal with the load, and the proportionally large front heavy weight of dSLR with zoom overwhelms them.

Yeah, I was little worried about that (since the brick is heavy) but from the link samlee posted...it looks like it might be possible!

[samlee860407]

Very informative! Yes, so it looks like I should be ok with the gorilla SLR-zoom or potentially the gorilla focus. Will pop down to the store to check them out. Will help me out immensely if I can place the tripod on the table or chair.

Yes, I totally agree most restaurant food photos ideally should be f/4-f/8. I see a lot of restaurant reviewers/food bloggers actually just shoot with a P&S (using a mini tripod I would assume) then in post add DOF using the blur tool. Hopefully with this gorilla pod thing I'll have the best of both worlds.

On a side note...I totally do the same thing you do (shot underexposed shots then bump up the exposure in LR afterwards) :)

once you had tried it out please post your review here :D

as i will be upgrading my lens very very soon, i doubt my current one can support it. so am looking for upgrade soon too :p

i do saw some food blogger here dint use any tripod, but use bounce flash. However, i always found that using flash in restaurant is too rude, hence i dint get it yet :p

[samlee860407]

did some search here, and seems not much thread about this Joby.

however, did found 1 thread about it....seems ok, but wonder why so little review of it...hmm

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=670598&highlight=joby

[big_apple_ken]

once you had tried it out please post your review here :D

as i will be upgrading my lens very very soon, i doubt my current one can support it. so am looking for upgrade soon too :p

i do saw some food blogger here dint use any tripod, but use bounce flash. However, i always found that using flash in restaurant is too rude, hence i dint get it yet :p

I'll post up some photos once I get it. My main concern is how big the gorilla pod will be since if it is too big to place on a table (which it will likely be) the only other place I can naturally put it in on a chair. Let me check it out in the store but I gather it will be quite obtrusive visually to set up in a restaurant. Not a major deal but definitely you will attract unwanted attention.

Alternatively...maybe I can get myself a nifty fifty (chances are I will be shooting f/4-f/8 anyway) so I can use a smaller tripod.

I used to shoot with a flash (my 580 EXII) in restaurants since my policy has always been "better to ask for forgiveness than permission"...haha. Never got in trouble but I just don't like flash lighting for food unless I am able to soften my flash lighting through a softbox/umbrella.

[samlee860407]

using bounce flash is all right for food photography, just bounce the light to the ceiling, but then u will be limited if the ceiling is uneven or wood material or blah blah blah :p

and yea, no matter how small ur tripod is, u will still attract unwanted attention, as for me, i was aksed a few times that am i a reporter......

[big_apple_ken]

using bounce flash is all right for food photography, just bounce the light to the ceiling, but then u will be limited if the ceiling is uneven or wood material or blah blah blah :p

and yea, no matter how small ur tripod is, u will still attract unwanted attention, as for me, i was aksed a few times that am i a reporter......

I bounce my flash off the ceiling for a lot of my event/club photography work. For restaurant food...I just like it shot with ambient light.

Yeah, I've definitely been asked many times but I think here in Hong Kong (and to a much greater degree in Japan) there is a very strong culture of taking photos when eating out at restaurants. When I was traveling in Japan, even though people were just using camera phones, it seemed like at times over 50% of the customers would take shots before they ate...haha.

[bobbyz]

Wouldn't something like this work as a small tripod

http://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-709B-Table-Tripod-Black/dp/B0000YD2JC

[big_apple_ken]

Wouldn't something like this work as a small tripod

http://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-709B-Table-Tripod-Black/dp/B0000YD2JC

Yes it is a small tripod alright but from the description on Amazon it only supports a point and shoot and not an SLR.

[samlee860407]

I bounce my flash off the ceiling for a lot of my event/club photography work. For restaurant food...I just like it shot with ambient light.

Yeah, I've definitely been asked many times but I think here in Hong Kong (and to a much greater degree in Japan) there is a very strong culture of taking photos when eating out at restaurants. When I was traveling in Japan, even though people were just using camera phones, it seemed like at times over 50% of the customers would take shots before they ate...haha.

I see....here at Malaysia, if i am at a bigger town then it's OK.

But at smaller places, using a DSLR always = professional or reporter :p

[Redaddiction]

Not sure if anyone has suggested it but a mono pod might be a good choice to either put between your legs or on the seat for added stability. As far as the gorilla pod I have one and wouldn't suggest it for shooting food on scene, you need quite a bit of space to stabilize the legs.

[big_apple_ken]

Not sure if anyone has suggested it but a mono pod might be a good choice to either put between your legs or on the seat for added stability. As far as the gorilla pod I have one and wouldn't suggest it for shooting food on scene, you need quite a bit of space to stabilize the legs.

You know what...I was just thinking about a monopod since I totally see the problem you raised with the legs issue. So my question is...how long can I get my shutter to open when using a monopod? I gather with a monopod there will still be slight vibration/movement which will mean I can't keep the shutter open for an extended period.

[SkipD]

You know what...I was just thinking about a monopod since I totally see the problem you raised with the legs issue. So my question is...how long can I get my shutter to open when using a monopod? I gather with a monopod there will still be slight vibration/movement which will mean I can't keep the shutter open for an extended period.A monopod is good for taking weight (of a heavy lens) off your arms when you need to hold it for hours. However, a monopod is a very lousy substitute for a tripod. A tripod's purpose is to hold a camera/lens steady, something that a monopod cannot do well at all.

A monopod will limit up/down movement of the camera to a degree, but will do very little to nothing for arresting side-to-side movement.

[big_apple_ken]

A monopod is good for taking weight (of a heavy lens) off your arms when you need to hold it for hours. However, a monopod is a very lousy substitute for a tripod. A tripod's purpose is to hold a camera/lens steady, something that a monopod cannot do well at all.

A monopod will limit up/down movement of the camera to a degree, but will do very little to nothing for arresting side-to-side movement.

Ok, that is the conclusion I came to as well after doing some research into it. I guess I'll be testing out this Gorillapod tripod to see if it works on a table or chair...

[samlee860407]

Ok, that is the conclusion I came to as well after doing some research into it. I guess I'll be testing out this Gorillapod tripod to see if it works on a table or chair...


yea, someone once suggested me a monopod, but when i went to a local shop and asked, the salesman tell me the same thing what SkipD say, hence i skip it too....

good flexible stable tabletop is hard to find especially when your lens is getting heavier :(

oh besides, if your lens got too long MWD, then using a tabletop tripod is very challenging too......

[big_apple_ken]

yea, someone once suggested me a monopod, but when i went to a local shop and asked, the salesman tell me the same thing what SkipD say, hence i skip it too....

good flexible stable tabletop is hard to find especially when your lens is getting heavier :(

oh besides, if your lens got too long MWD, then using a tabletop tripod is very challenging too......

Hmm...I guess technically speaking I could always use the 16-35L instead at around 24-35mm so I would suffer minimal WA distortion. At least the 16-35L is a little lighter than the 24-70L.

Just from a theoretical standpoint I gather it will be extremely tough finding a table top tripod for my 5D since tables generally are on the small side here in Hong Kong. If I can rest the tripod on a chair comfortably I think that may be a more realistic approach. Need to go to the store to check out those Gorillapod options.

[SkipD]

Hmm...I guess technically speaking I could always use the 16-35L instead at around 24-35mm so I would suffer minimal WA distortion. At least the 16-35L is a little lighter than the 24-70L.

Just from a theoretical standpoint I gather it will be extremely tough finding a table top tripod for my 5D since tables generally are on the small side here in Hong Kong. If I can rest the tripod on a chair comfortably I think that may be a more realistic approach. Need to go to the store to check out those Gorillapod options.Why not consider something like the Manfrotto 055ProB tripod? You can set the tripod up with its feet on the ground and use the horizontally positioned center column to get the camera over the table if you really needed to. With the variable leg angles, you could even get the normally positioned center column roughly above the edge of a table without any trouble.

A "tabletop" tripod will be rather useless, in my opinion, as most that I have tried would need a pretty wide footprint to hold anything other than a point-n-shoot camera without trying to fall over.

The "wide-angle distortion" you refer to is NOT a function of focal length, but a function of how close to the subject you put the camera. If you want to do the best possible job with the lightest weight package, I would suggest a 50mm lens on your 5D. Use a support that lets you get it further from the subject than you would be with a 35mm lens and you'll have a nicer looking image.

[samlee860407]

any update on the tripod ? :p

[mitchman]

I like the photos. The only things I would suggest would be:

1) Some how use a soft-box or diffuser to soften the light. I'm not sure if you're using a flash or what. Most of the shots look great but in your original post, the hamburger had a lot of "specular highlights" which tend to make the food look greasier than it really is. A softer light source would help this. Of course food that's not so shiny (egg-rolls, bread, etc..) are much easy to shoot for this reason.

2) The DOF thing is tough. My only advice is that rumor has it Canon is coming out with a 24-70 with IS soon. (I'm currently waiting to buy one) Or maybe try a 50mm 1.4?

Maybe you could bring a full size tripod and just place the food at the edge of your table and take a few shots real quick without disturbing customers. dunno. :)

I'm doing a big food shoot on Tuesday so I've been "brushing up" on this topic myself. :)

[dche5390]

Om nom nom nom!

Despite this crappy work HP 4:3 display ... I just salivated all over my germ infested equally crappy HP keyboard.

I got all excited about photography due to my own gluttony. Strange, as I don't have many captures of food as I'm too eager to dig in!