The Art of Being A Phoodie
July 19, 2008
So what’s a Phoodie? If you’re someone who whips out the digital camera the minute the bread basket comes out, who takes photos of your meal from start to finish and who may even go as far as to use to your macro lens just to capture every crack and crevice of your gourmet burger, than welcome to the world of Phoodies. Simply, Photo + Foodie = Phoodie!
Everyone has the potential to be a Phoodie, but the road begins with your digital camera. Now if you don’t have one and are unsure what type to get, check out CNET.com. CNET is a great technical review website where you can get feedback from consumers as well as get CNET editor’s picks and reviews for everything from cell phones to computers and more importantly, all types of digital cameras. If you’re starting out, don’t feel that you have to get something flashy with all the bells and whistles. All the photos to the left were taken with a Canon Powershot SD850, so it is possible to take some lovely photos without having to spend the big bucks. All you need is some creativity and also a little bit of information. On that note, here are some guidelines that will hopefully start you on the right track.
1) Be Ready for Low Light. Daytime or night, ambiance is the name of the game for most restaurants, which equates to darkened rooms – not the best type of lighting to highlight your food pictures. To combat that, be sure to ask for a table by the window when making your reservations. Another trick is to arrange candles around or close to your dishes.
2) Shoot Handheld. Although you can purchase a digital camera tripod with flexible legs, try shooting primarily hand held. This will allow you flexibility when you’re trying to capture different angles of your dish.
3) Shoot From the Side. Shooting from the sides will add dimension and complexity to your photo. Shot from above, your food will simply look flat.
4) Highlighting Certain Aspects of Your Food. If the dish in front of you is bursting with colors of red, green, purple and more, it’s time to showcase them by shooting far enough away so that you capture the dish’s vibrancy. However, if the dish has a uniformity of color like fish or meat, use that macro setting to photograph the texture. For dishes that have an interesting shape like a plate of hot wings, angle your shot for a more unique perspective.
5) It Doesn’t Have to be Just About the Food. Vary your shots to add interest. Try shooting further away to include the dish on the table with a dining companion’s hand or elbow in the frame. If several dishes arrive simultaneously, take a closer shot of one of the dishes, while still capturing the rest of the dishes out-of-focus in the background.
6) Don’t Limit Yourselves to Just Restaurants. There is a whole food world out there. Farmer’s Markets pulsate with the vibrant colors of the rainbow from cherry red tomatoes to purple cauliflower to deep green avocados. Check out your local gourmet shop, whether it’s a cheese shop, a chocolate shop or bakery where there are lots of opportunities to photograph food in different settings. If you enjoy cooking, why not take pictures of your own creations?
Are you ready to be a Phoodie? As you can see, it’s not that hard, especially since you now have some guidelines to see you through. Now that you’ve taken all these fabulous food photos, what’s the next step? The answer is clear. Share them. Even better, share them with other Menuism members. After writing your review, upload the photos of your meal. If you’re more of a reader than a reviewer, there are still opportunities to add photos to any of the reviews on the site. In the end, it’s a win-win situation. By adding your photos, it gives you a chance to show off some of your newly-found skills, and at the same time, readers are able to get a better idea of what a restaurant is like, from both the written review and the added bonus of the food photos.
To end, I just want to encourage you to start taking photos. Food is a beautiful thing – the colors, the textures, the shapes. It’s the perfect subject. It doesn’t cry. It doesn’t move. It doesn’t walk away. It’s just there in all its glory, waiting for you and the click of your camera. So click away, Phoodies and we look forward to salivating over your tasty food pics all over Menuism.
By Abby C. Abanes
Menuism Community Manager
Entry Filed under: tips. Tags: food photography.
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6.
createmo | November 2, 2008 at 8:15 am
Thank you for your website
I made with photoshop backgrounds for myspace and youtube and more
my backgrounds:http://tinyurl.com/5b8ksl
Hope you had a good day and thank you again!
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16.
MeggoSexxx | July 12, 2009 at 12:07 pm
vrotmnenogi
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