Announcements!
Everything Food Conference 2019
I am so excited to speak on dark food photography at Everything Food Conference 2019! If you’re attending, come join me Friday morning, May 3rd, for “The Art of Darkness.” Or stop me any time at the conference and say hi!
The Art of Darkness eBook – Coming Soon!
When I started teaching myself dark and moody food photography, I struggled to find helpful resources that would teach me how to set up a photo shoot, master a dark background, and keep my food looking bright and tasty! Now that I have learned so much along the way, I am working on an eBook, which will cover camera basics, dark and moody photography styles, style analysis, photo shoot set-up, and Lightroom editing. Sign up to stay in the loop and receive special updates for the pre-release!
Food Photography Resources
I get a lot of questions about my gear, my set-up, and tips for dark food photography! Here are some helpful links, as well as some frequently asked questions!
Helpful Links
- A tutorial for my wood food photography background board.
- A tutorial for my painted food photography background board.
FAQs
What camera set-up do you use?
I currently shoot with a Canon 6D mark ii, which is a full-frame camera, and I most frequently use my Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM lens. Up until about a year ago, I shot all my photos on a Canon EOS Rebel T6i, which is a crop-frame camera and which I still think is an incredible camera. When shooting on the Rebel, I used a Canon EF 50 mm f/1.4 USM lens, which I still often use, today.
I also have two different tripods–one that is a little more sturdy that I use at home and another that is more compact for travel. I’ve found that any tripod will do – you don’t need anything fancy. I also have a Manfrotto 131D Side Arm for shooting overhead food video.
Where did you learn photography?
Mostly practice! I took an old-school photography class when I was a teenager, learning to dodge and burn in the dark room. (Dating myself a little here.) And in college, I took a digital photography class that taught me the basics, like shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. But most everything I learned about food photography came from practice and learning from other food photographers!
I’m new to food photography – what gear do you recommend?
Any camera that has even semi-manual functioning. You can get pretty far if your camera has “Aperture Priority” mode or “Shutter Speed Priority” mode, but you will quickly want the extra control that a manual camera provides. The Canon Rebel series is very inexpensive and was a great camera to use while learning. It was intuitive and easy. The only reason I upgraded to full-frame was more for personal travel photos than because I needed it for my food photography.
