At 12:34 PM 26/02/2004, Rob Harrison wrote:
>On Thursday, February 26, 2004, at 11:17 AM, James N. McBride wrote:
>
> > I have no idea what techniques are used but some photographers make the
> > foods look so good I get instantly hungry looking at the images.
>
>Years ago I dated a woman who worked for Joe Standart in New York City.
>Joe did a lot of studio shots of food. As I recall it was all sprayed
>with hairspray, glycerin, or something similar, ice was plastic,
>etc--very much a "created" image. Whatever the process, the food was
>completely inedible afterwards!
That's one end of the range of techniques of the so-called "food
stylists." My pro photog buddy does commercial photography, including a
long-standing gig for a national retail grocery chain in Canada, and does
thousands of food product shots per year, but doesn't do any food styling
at all, except in the old-fashioned sense of cooking and laying it out the
way you sometimes might for a family dinner or celebration. (It's actually
important to the client that the food not be "over-presented" to the point
that an average consumer would never be able to duplicate the
look/presentation.) He photographs and (if necessary) his wife helps with
cooking some of the items. He gets to keep (and eat!) the perishable stuff
-- everything else goes back to the retail location he got it from.
All his work is studio-based for the food -- he may not do "styling," but
having full control over the lighting and presentation is also crucial for
the client.
If I had to shoot food in a restaurant or teaching kitchen setting, I'd
take fast film (if flash weren't available), and use something like the
Zuiko 90/2.0 macro lens, or perhaps the Zuiko 100/2.0 w/close focus
capability, plus one fast wide-angle (the Zuiko 28/2.0 comes to mind here)
for cramped spaces or to take wide shots of a variety of dishes. Other
than that, can't say I have anything special to contribute here. (Try to
keep splashes of gravy off of the equipment, though... ;-) ).
Garth
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