OnSet Thursdays: Food Photography Will Make You Very Hungry

It’s Thursday again which means there are two things to look forward to this late in the week. One, you are only a day away from the weekend. So that’s something. Two, and probably most importantly, it’s time for another installment of Daniel Norton’s OnSet presentations at Adorama. This time he tackles one of my favorite subjects: food. The event not only offered the usual canny tips and tricks for the professional photographer but it instilled some serious hunger pains in my belly as well. Broken up into sessions, Daniel tackled the three meals of the day which we all know consist of breakfast, lunch and happy hour. Okay, apparently not happy hour.

The set up in Adorama’s studio resembled something you’d see on a Food Network cooking show. There was a sizable kitchen island in the center with various edibles – savory and sweet – collected in the back. And they waited patiently for their close up as a bag of donut holes was first up on deck. Since this was the “breakfast” portion of the demonstration, the delectable fried form of sustenance seemed to be an appropriate “product” to photograph if not overly caloric in content (and would undoubtably be on my “must eat every day” agenda had it not been for that fact). Turns out, the donut (or donut holes, rather) are awfully photogenic as well. Employing a lighting set up that would be utilized throughout the day (courtesy of anArri Lite 750 Plus Tungsten lamp), Daniel strongly advised to always back light your food. Direct light will risk over exposure so it’s best to use a filter or reflector in lieu of this. Images were captured on a Nikon D4s then transmitted on a live feed for all the audience to see. And what a large audience it was. The event was inarguably packed as additional chairs were brought out to accommodate the crowd.

Taking a step by step approach, Daniel would add light, then a fill, then a filter until he achieved a satisfying look. He then asked a volunteer from the audience to rearrange the grouping of donut holes while acknowleging the collaborative importance of the food stylist role. He also spoke of “leading lines” when it comes to composing a shot. That is, arrange your product in ways so that the eye will be pleasingly directed towards the focal point of the image. Obviously the excitement surrounding the donut holes became too much to bear, so Daniel continued his demonstration with a bowl of granola cereal. Which may or may not egender the kind of resounding applause associated with a bag of donut holes. It’s kind of like if you attended a Me & Him concert with The Rolling Stones appearing as the opening act. But, hey, I like granola!

Moving on to the lunchtime portion of the demonstration, Daniel started off by photographing sunflower seeds. This time he experimented with different depths of field. He even had an audience member spill some of the tiny, salty seedlings onto the counter top so that the movement could be capturedin various ways (one could infer she was playing with HIS food rather than her own). Next up on the plate (literally) was an assortment of store bought meringues. And, wow, they were incredibly photogenic. Daniel and his team tried different arrangements and even added a strawberry to standout among the herd of white. Using a projector lens, Daniel was able to illuminate said berry in ways that were kind of stunning, actually. Yet since this session is meant to simulate a “lunch” shoot, the meringues inevitably gave way to a sandwhich. Daniel’s team quickly prepped the bread and deli meats for their photographic best. This time he placed a special screen in front of the light, an effect that approximated the shadow of window blinds. This inspired a catchphrase that will never, ever leave my head: “Noir Sandwich.” I must remember to use that as the title for my next prog rock LP.

And finally we arrive at hap—I mean “dinner.” Daniel first introduced a layout of jalepenos and red pepper which gave way to an amusing debate over whether the spicy hot items oft used in chili, on nachos, etc., should have been sliced or not. So Daniel offered to photograph the jalepenos in two ways, sliced and not sliced. Even though the focus of the resulting image was supposed to be on the small, foreground pile of red pepper. But to each his or her own. Up to this point, the approach had been similar with every food item. So the differences came down to choosing the right contrasting colors (green jalepenos with red pepper which is, you know, the color of red) and having fun with different depths of field. It was the final item, however, which offered a more interesting challenge for the photographer. And that is the shiny, scaly surface of an anchovy. Daniel opted for an above the subject shot having rigged the camera so that it would point its lens at the counter surface. The back light was placed directly to the subject’s side so that the hide of the canned fish would reflect in more pleasing ways. He also allowed the back light to bounce off of a gold reflector rather than add any fill. Now I am personally not a fan of anchovies but I have to say the resulting image looked delicious.

The evening ended with Daniel passing out grapefruits to the audience. Poor grapefruits. You didn’t get your chance to shine. Or, rather, poor me as I did not get a grapefruit I could call my own. This made me very sad. However, this particular OnSet event seemed to be one of the more popular. Each week presents a different theme offering great tips and tricks and it’s all in the service of improving one’s skills as a professional photographer. You can find a schedule of upcoming OnSet demonstrations here. And please check out Daniel’s related youtube series and articles here.