Berry Nice Parfait

I did say I would start doing some serious food photography.  So, I decided to start, without much ado.  We have been having incessant rain and bad weather for the last 4 days, and it doesn't show any signs of letting up.  I was going to do a team photo shoot at work, but had to cancel because of the rains.  It's almost summer, but where are the summer temperatures?

So enter the summer fruits!  A parfait, made with fresh berries, yogurt and granola is by far my favourite breakfast cereal or even late-night snack.  I sometimes add sweetened coconut or some honey to the parfait, but for this shoot, I didn't want to mess with the honey and get my camera sticky like the last time.

I bought a ton of berries over the weekend, and therefore, you're going to possibly see some pictures of those over the next few days till they finally get consumed.

The issue I'm having with photographing food is that my kitchen is the only spot where I get a really good quality of natural light, but unfortunately the work area is so small, it's becoming a great challenge for me.  And I should have chosen my furniture wisely - I have a tall bar table and chairs, which raises the height so much, that unless I'm standing on a ladder, I can't get a proper bird's eye shot of anything.  And I don't even have a ladder!  So, I have to stand on a chair, and then stand up on my toes to gain some extra height.  I could put the food down on the floor, but I wouldn't dare do it for fear of spiders and other bugs getting into it. 

I used my 90 mm lens through the entire shoot with a varying aperture of f/2.8 or f/4.0, but mostly used it at 2.8.  

I have challenged myself to now take shots that I will touch up only minimally, including cropping.  I will definitely have to crop my images of birds, because unless I invest in a $8000 lens of 800 - 1000 mm, I don't think I have the faintest chance of getting a shot that doesn't need chopping up.

I took all these shots from different angles, and by varying the set-up and I think I'm pleased with the outcome.  I've taken a load of food pictures in the past, but they were mostly hurried and done in a specific way for my cooking classes.  But it doesn't have to be that anymore.  

I'm only warming up, right now.  Wait till I start posting some real food shots with real recipes! ;-)

Day 361 - Studying a Dahlia

Quick post

Day 352 - Utterly Exhausted

I am frequently overpowered by these waves of exhaustion where I feel totally out of it all.  This was one of those instances where I didn't know or couldn't care what the subject for the day would be, so I picked up the first thing I could find - chocolatines.

Day 335 - Not So Fresh Strawberries

Quick post

Day 334 - Bok Choy Flowers

Tiny yellow flowers that grew out of my bok choy!

Day 328 - Sugar-Crusted Pannettone

I think I am addicted to this!  I love pannetone, and when it's sugar-crusted.. I can't stop eating it!

Day 301 - Butterflies Go Free!

At the butterfly exhibition -

Day 293 - Oil Droplets

I took these shots the day before yesterday but had too much on my plate to post.  I tried this from my "to-do" list, and I am NOT satisfied by the way they turned out.  I was hoping for a sharper focus, but I had very little time to spend on perfecting this.  Therefore, this idea remains on my to-do list to retry in the future.

The first shot turned out OK, but the second one almost got there, but missed! :(





Once I've perfected this, I will post a how-to.  I plan to do this again soon, so stay tuned.

Day 281 -Upside Down Flower

I did this yesterday and almost broke my back trying to get the timing right.  I had seen this done before, where an object is dunked into water and the splash is caught underwater.  I have to try this again as I didn't get the result I was after.

Day 267 - Relearning the Alphabet - The Letter "K"

Ok!  This is it - the last one of the lot!  I've relearned my alphabet and I hope I've been able to jog your memory as well in the process! :o)

"K" for Kiwi

I'm afraid I wasn't able to avoid doing something quite as obvious as this, but those who have been following my blog know that right now I'm really hard-pressed for time, and ideas!  I'm consumed by my cooking classes, and although I don't have a class this weekend, I have friends coming from out of town.  Therefore, it's going to be a really busy weekend, preceded by a very hectic week.

Without rambling too much (I have to take care of the routine chores of cleaning right about now), let me tell you how I set this up.

I set up both my flashes on either side of the fruit, and had my son assist me with holding up the fruit (God bless him for his kindness! ;-)).  I set the zoom on the flash to 85 mm, and powered the flash down to 1/32.  I picked a fast shutter at 1/180s because I didn't want the clutter in the background to show up as I'd set the aperture to f/22.  Normally, the smaller the aperture, the larger the DoF.  But in this case, both a small aperture and fast shutter worked in my favour and darkened the background completely.  And just for the record, I used my 90 mm macro lens for this, although this wasn't a macro shot, but I wanted it to have a shallow DoF despite a small aperture.

Day 245 - Not What I Had Intended

I finally got my new Strobist's kit with two speedlights yesterday, and I got myself familiar with how to set up the light stand, the umbrella and how to use the Cactus radio triggers.  I'm really proud of having figured out the entire setup all by myself without having to refer to the manual except to understand the difference between a receiver and a transmitter (patting myself on the back for that).  I really didn't think it would be quite that simple considering I got a pile of different things I'd never before used in my life.

I wanted to figure out how to use the coloured filters for the flash this evening, but that kinda bombed - I didn't get the results I was hoping for, so I won't post those shots here.

My son had condescended to sit down for exactly one and a half minutes last evening while I tried the umbrella and I got exactly two shots with it.  I also got myself the Gary Fong diffuser which I tried out and found fantastic. The kit has 2 diffusers, but I only used one of them and I'm not sure which one.  I'll have to explore these as well and I'll definitely let you know what I think, beyond the first positive impression.  On the face of it, it yielded very natural looking shots and the results were really pleasing.

I know I'm talking about all this without providing samples, but my son won't appreciate me posting pics of him in his jammies.  So once mister decides to have a haircut and dress better, or I find a willing victim (my friend suggested I do selfies), it's all talk!  But trust me, I will post something soon!

I'm telling myself that now I have to understand the basics of flash photography - and that's just the tip of the iceberg!   Please wish me luck as I embark upon this journey and I swear I will not spare any effort, or leave any stone unturned (read as I will not spare you the whining and the crying and the ranting that goes along with learning a difficult subject).

Since the gelled flash images didn't work, I got this shot instead.

If you're trying to guess what this is, well, these are the edges of lasagna noodles.  And you guessed right - I made lasagna with meat sauce for tonight's dinner!  

Day 237 - Relearning the Alphabet: The Letter "O"

"O" as in the drop of body lotion


Ok, that's a little far-fetched, but I had no plans of doing the shot of the day, or catching up. I'm suddenly exhausted and I just can't seem to be able to remain in a vertical position.  However, after chatting with a friend on the phone and admitting to him that I hadn't even worked on my photos from the trip, I kinda felt guilty and just got up and got at it.  I had no clue what I was going to shoot when I started playing with the bottle of body lotion.  Et voilà!  The shot just popped into my head.

I know it isn't top quality (even by my standards, which aren't that high to begin with), and then, it was handheld at 1/4s at ISO 1600, f/2.8.  And of course I had to fire the flash to freeze the camera shake.  The blurriness is part handholding and part high ISO.

I know, I know - I'm being lazy, but that's how I truly feel at this moment.

Day 235 - Relearning the Alphabet: The Letter "F"

"F" for Fabric

I wasn't sure what to shoot today - I am back to my uninspired state of mind after going ballistic over shooting anything I saw over the past week.  Now a state of laziness has overcome me once again.  I thought it might be a good idea to finish "F".  

However, there's something missing in this shot, and I don't know what it is.  Maybe the composition or the way I set it up?

Shot this with my 90 mm lens, f/8.0, 3.2s, ISO 400.

Day 232 - Happy New Year!

I'm back from my trip and back to the grind!  I had a fantastic time with my friend and her hubby - they went all out to give me and my son the vacation of the decade!  We have come back spoilt!  I can't thank them enough for it and I'm really looking forward to seeing them soon.

My friends and I brought in the new year with a great dinner (straight from the kitchen of Chef Swati), a drink and topped it off with a  photo shoot.  This was my second serious attempt at portraits and although this was a very casual affair, the results were pretty encouraging.  My friend has a great eye for portraiture, having done some modelling in the past, and I learned quite a bit from her about posing and make-up.  I will post some shots from the shoot after I've had the chance to process them.

But, more than anything else, here's wishing you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year!  May peace, accomplishments, rewards and joy be the cornerstones of 2011!  And may you be blessed with great  photo ops and the best light to keep shooting in! ;-)

Day 230 - Relearning the Alphabet: The Letter "R"

"R" for Ring

I finally went and got myself a small roll of seamless white paper and tried to do a product shot with that as the background.

I definitely found it easier to set up the subject without having to go through multiple iterations of having to produce a better background!  What a change!

However, as far as lighting the subject was concerned, I was unable to get the sparkle in the stones from the arrangement I used.  I bounced my external flash off the ceiling, and maybe that didn't really help matters.  What I will need to try for the next time is to flash the background so the background turns out white and maybe I won't have the blown highlights in the stones.

90 mm, f/10.0, 0.6s, ISO 400, Manual Mode, CWB

90 mm, f/3.5, 1/8 s, ISO 400, Manual Mode, CWB

Day 226 - Relearning the Alphabet: The Letter "C"

"C" for Crumpled


I don't have an armchair, so I couldn't get the "C" out of its curve.

Susmita, if you're reading this, please accept my thanks for the great ideas for the series!  I will definitely try the other subjects that you've suggested.

I wanted to make up for the lazy shots I took yesterday - admittedly, I was exhausted and I'd had a really long day.  If I hadn't missed posting the day before, I would have refrained from posting yesterday.  But anyway, I will take comfort in the fact that I have made the effort of coming up with something today.

And the renewed energy sprung from the fact today was my last working day before the holidays!  Yay!  I will have two weeks off, although those two weeks are chock-a-block with activities!  The first week will be filled with chores, and the second week will be spent with a very dear friend in San Francisco.

@Swati:  I can't thank you enough for inviting us to spend time with you guys!  I can't wait to see you! :)

The images were shot with my 90 mm macro lens, most of them with the lights turned off and subject illuminated with my Lights App on the iPod.  The one with the white background was shot under fluorescent light.  They're all kinda similar shots, but I like the slight colour variations in each.  I would love to know which one you think turned out better than the rest.

f/7.1, EV - 2/3 stops, 30s, ISO 200, AWB, Aperture Priority

f/5.6, EV - 2/3 stops, 30s, ISO 200, AWB, Aperture Priority

f/6.3, EV - 1/3 stops, 0.3s, ISO 200, CWB, Aperture Priority

I changed the base of the subject to make it sit on a white cardboard, instead of having it sit on glass. 

f/6.3, EV - 1/3 stops, 30s, ISO 200, AWB, Aperture Priority

The background didn't turn out the way I had wanted it to - I will definitely need a white seamless background for this one.  However, I loved the spotlight effect in this image.  I changed the base of the subject to make it sit on a white cardboard, instead of having it sit on glass. 

Day 224 - Relearning the Alphabet - The Letter "I"

I for Icicle


Pretty obvious subject during the winter, huh!

Tiny icicles hanging down from the railings of my balcony.  Took these images with my 90 mm lens, fill-flash, f/9, 1/160s as I was hand holding the camera, high ISO (we're talking 800 here), WB set to Cloudy.

Day 223 - Relearning the Alphabet: The Letter "J"

Starts with J - J for Jujubes

Please don't blame me, if in the next few days you forget your alphabet and relearn it slightly .. ahem.. differently (read backwards).

Well, as I'm running out of inspiration again, and the weather isn't helping, I thought I'd start something I have been wanting to do for a while, but had put on the back burner.  So, while I still had a small supply of jujubes, I decided to start my alphabet with J.

These images were made with the 90mm lens, with the lights off, external flash fired at 1/8 power level, light bounced off the ceiling.  The ISO was jacked up to 1600.

90 mm, f/20.0, 1/8s, WB set to Flash 

90 mm, f/14.0, 1/8s, WB set to Flash 

90 mm, f/9.0, 1/8s, WB set to Flash 

The colour cast is a little disappointing in the last one, and I'm not quite sure why that happened.  I kept the post-processing to a minimum - removing colour cast, increasing exposure, contrast and a bit of sharpening.

Please help me out with ideas for the other letters of the alphabet!

Day 211 - Something Different

Ok, I won't bore you to tears with the smoke stuff today.  If I allow myself to be honest, I didn't get a chance to do any photography.  I actually had an appointment for a therapy session and spent much longer than I had planned.  Public transport is not always the most reliable, so obviously everything got delayed.

I took this opportunity to post a couple of old shots I had wanted to post a while ago, but never got around to it.  I was trying bokeh of my christmas tree and this is was what I got.

It's really very simple to get these types of light shots - you just have to turn the focussing ring on the lens till the lights are all out of focus and the shape/size you want your bokeh to be.  I took some pains to turn them into perfect circles.  These shots were made with the 90 mm lens I have.  

And if you're worried about the kind of therapy I'm undergoing (I can always pretend you're worried, of course), it's nothing serious - it's called retail therapy! :=p  I spent more than an hour looking for purses and silver cake decorations and returned with an armload of stuff that I semi-need, or don't need; including some jelly beans and fruit pearls!  Of course I didn't get what I went to get!  Go, figure!

Day 206 - Week of Lights - Rushing

I was rushing to post before midnight, so I did a few quick shots.  But I was still too late.  Ah, well!

Taken in a dark kitchen, light source is my iPod Lights App held in front of subject, at camera top.  I tried a couple of shots using aperture priority, but I was getting a far slower shutter speed than I wanted, causing overexposure.

So, I switched to Manual mode and set the shutter speed and aperture and got this shot.  This shot has minimal processing - I stepped up the vibrancy a bit, and that's all I did.  I wanted the lines to be brighter, but overexposing it a bit didn't yield the desired results.  I guess I will need to find another way to do this.  This goes on my list to try again in the future.

90 mm, f/4.5, 3.2s, ISO 400, AWB, Manual Mode