One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻
When you really really really want to be best frie When you really really really want to be best friends. 💛
When a stressful week with deadlines ends with Nat When a stressful week with deadlines ends with National Cheese Lovers Day, how could I not partake? Tbh, I wasn’t especially hungry, and the appetizers are always the best section of any menu, so the queso blanco from El Mejicano in town wasn’t too hard a choice. It’s smoky and cheesy and I could have licked the bowl clean, but a girl’s gotta have some boundaries. Happy weekend, friends! ✨
A friend saw this placard and said it reminded her A friend saw this placard and said it reminded her of me and dropped it off in our mailbox, which really touched me. 💛 Life is too freaking short not to make conscious decisions to do more of what makes you happy, and to cut out the things that don’t. Rainbow Rowell said it best, “So, what if, instead of thinking about solving you whole life, you just think about adding additional good things. One at a time. Just let your pile of good things grow.”
The face and the daily hiccups… 😍 The face and the daily hiccups… 😍
I mean, I might have a slight obsession but also m I mean, I might have a slight obsession but also my lips are never chapped, so there’s that. 😂 And this is only one of my refill stashes. When I was in middle school, I had literally THE WORST chapped lips ever. Like a complete red ring around my top and bottom lips. I don’t think that’s where my lip balm obsession started, but it certainly didn’t help. Jersey winters are no joke (or our hot summers), so don’t mind me while I just add to my collection. What’s your fave?
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Press
  • Writing
  • Contact

Sweetnicks

Food and Life

Photography Tips: Change Your Angles

February 8, 2011 · Narrative, Photography

When it comes to food photography, I think food bloggers have heaps more challenges than the food stylists that set up the shots for magazines, cookbooks and the like.  For one, the pictures you see here (and most other food blogs/web sites) are of edible food.  It goes from that plate to our mouths. The ones you see in print ads, commercial, magazines et al largely are not.  They rely on many tricks of the trade to make the food look mouth watering, but also rendering it inedible.  They also don’t have a hungry family or dinner guests waiting for you to “just get one more shot” before they can dig in.  It’s a completely different perspective and process for food bloggers, for sure, but we all develop our own method of doing it along the way.

Today my tip for you is to change your angles and your set-up to make sure you get your m-o-n-e-y shot.

Stand on a chair and take an overhead shot.

Take your picture from the left and then the right, giving your plate different lighting each time.

Turn the plate around and take pictures along the circumference.

Change the background.

And the lighting.

And, of course, do this all before your family gets mad that their dinner is getting cold.

For the one or two shots you see here with each post, there are usually a minimum of 10 (but admittedly sometimes 100+, depending on the topic) that were discarded and didn’t make the cut for whatever reason.  Since it’s not as easy to have a redo, I try to take as many configurations as possible to ensure that I get the m-o-n-e-y shot,  because it totally sucks to download pictures and realize too late that nothing works.

Last week’s picture of my sea bass from our Foodily launch outing is a perfect example of how changing my angle and turning the plate around worked.  The first three pictures never would have seen the light of day had they not been excellent examples of bad shots and why angles are important.  The lighting in our private room was low, the plate was white, the fish was white, the salad was pale.  It was a challenge.  But for the last shot, I turned the plate around and caught the purple of the radicchio, and deemed it perfect.  While it doesn’t necessarily capture the sea bass (white fish on white plate, really?), it made for a colorful picture.

Shot 3

Shot 2

Shot 1

Sea BassDing, ding, ding. The one. The first three pictures would have been discarded for other reasons too, but for now, we’re just focusing on angles.  It’s something so simple (and completely free!), but makes a world of difference in your photographs.

Project 365
February 8, 2011

I regret to inform you that I took zero pictures today.  I can’t remember the last time that happened.  Definitely over a year ago.  Bummer.

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPRINT

Posted In: Narrative, Photography · Tagged: photography tips

Comments

  1. leslie says

    February 8, 2011 at 10:08 pm

    Great tips. I struggle with photography..I need all the tips I can find! :)

    Reply
  2. Joanne says

    February 9, 2011 at 7:17 am

    Oh if only you could see how many pictures it takes to get to the 4-6 pictures I use in each post…at least 60 if not more. It’s insane. Definitely have to take as many angles as possible in hopes of finally getting the money shot!

    Reply
  3. Sarah Caron says

    February 9, 2011 at 9:16 am

    Great tip! I’ve been working a lot on angles lately and have found that using a tripod can help a lot too — since the camera is steady and sometimes you find a shot you wouldn’t have otherwise.

    Reply
  4. Ramona says

    February 9, 2011 at 10:45 am

    Nice photos. I wish my camera did macros better.

    Reply
  5. paula says

    February 9, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    It really bothers me that I can’t get good pictures but that’s just how it is. I almost never have natural lighting unfortunately. But, as bad as my pictures are, they are usually better than most of those that were published in older cookbooks. Styles and photographic technology have changed a lot over the years.

    To be honest, I like the second to last picture best. It’s not as ‘artsy’ I suppose but it gives me the best look at what was put in front of you at that restaurant.

    Reply
  6. Sarah says

    February 9, 2011 at 4:34 pm

    Oh Photography. It is the source of my food blogging demise. Not to mention my husband in the background saying “seriously, I’m going to eat it now, you can take a picture of me eating it.” LOL, poor guy.
    Thanks for the tips. A fellow blogger of mine is a professional photographer and has been giving great tips on her blog lately. http://mommyknowslife.blogspot.com/2011/01/photography-tip-4-utilizing-proper.html
    this tip is one of my favorites, but all of them are SOOO helpful for those of us who are novice photographers

    Reply
  7. claire says

    February 10, 2011 at 9:27 am

    I thought of this post last night when I was taking pictures of a new recipe! Now, I must say I did NOT take hundreds of pictures (actually, less than 10) but Idid turn my plate and make different angles. Was pleased with what I saw on my camera…hopefully, I’m pleased when I upload them to the computer. :-)

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Storytelling…
Through photos.
Words. And recipes.

Archives

Categories

Instagram

One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻
When you really really really want to be best frie When you really really really want to be best friends. 💛

Pinterest

One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a One of us hops like a bunny down the steps, has a serious case of FOMO on the daily, gets hiccups more than anyone we know and has perpetual bed head. She’s quite the unique roommate but may be exactly what our home needed. 💛
I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw th I haven’t had a bagel in ages, but when I saw that @njdotcom had picked six bagel shops at the “best in the state,” and one was reasonably local, all the sudden I needed one. I was never one to fall prey to peer pressure, but I’m very definitely a marketer’s dream. 😂 Alfa Bagels is on Route 10 in Randolph and has a good assortment of bagels, including all the usual suspects, but with a few others like rainbow, Asiago and French Toast throw in for good measure. Their bagels always seem to have a nice chew, which I appreciate and I love their sesame one. My go-to order lately is a double toasted flagel with lox spread and tomato. Their lox spread is a little ho hum, but the bagel is delish. Check them out next time you’ve got a craving (or get motivated by a local news story 😝). What’s your bagel order?
✌🏻 ✌🏻
When you really really really want to be best frie When you really really really want to be best friends. 💛
When a stressful week with deadlines ends with Nat When a stressful week with deadlines ends with National Cheese Lovers Day, how could I not partake? Tbh, I wasn’t especially hungry, and the appetizers are always the best section of any menu, so the queso blanco from El Mejicano in town wasn’t too hard a choice. It’s smoky and cheesy and I could have licked the bowl clean, but a girl’s gotta have some boundaries. Happy weekend, friends! ✨
A friend saw this placard and said it reminded her A friend saw this placard and said it reminded her of me and dropped it off in our mailbox, which really touched me. 💛 Life is too freaking short not to make conscious decisions to do more of what makes you happy, and to cut out the things that don’t. Rainbow Rowell said it best, “So, what if, instead of thinking about solving you whole life, you just think about adding additional good things. One at a time. Just let your pile of good things grow.”
The face and the daily hiccups… 😍 The face and the daily hiccups… 😍
I mean, I might have a slight obsession but also m I mean, I might have a slight obsession but also my lips are never chapped, so there’s that. 😂 And this is only one of my refill stashes. When I was in middle school, I had literally THE WORST chapped lips ever. Like a complete red ring around my top and bottom lips. I don’t think that’s where my lip balm obsession started, but it certainly didn’t help. Jersey winters are no joke (or our hot summers), so don’t mind me while I just add to my collection. What’s your fave?

Copyright © 2023 Sweetnicks · Theme by Vicki Harrison Design