Lately, I have been taking pictures of figurines and other still life items with a few desk lamps and liberal use of pan liner and thin pillow cases. They generally come out nice but I know I am somewhat limited with my d40. The only really nice lens I have is my 105mm macro which I received as a gift and then I have my stock 18-55.

Since my main source of income is web design, these product pictures have been a boon, since having the business owner get high quality photos to me is nearly always a waste of time.

But I am missing out on some big opportunities out there because I do several restaurant websites and they desperately need professional looking images to display on their menus and websites. Sadly, I am not at the level of taking good food photographs. I have tried but they always come out looking half-assed. The chef's styling is great but I cannot get the light to give a pleasurable fill to the food. Furthermore, when I am setting up a stage with plates and silverware at a table, I lack the equipment to light everything to my satisfaction.

So, I have decided to invest in some lights. I have scoured the internet and I still cannot make up my mind. I'll enumerate my points:

1) Regular lights or strobes. I cannot make my mind up to which is better or if it really makes a difference. Common internet knowledge says that regular continuous light is preferred but then I visit some extremely nice food photography blogs that use strobes. Then, if I ever decided to do some nice people portraits I would want to have strobes. If anyone can comment on this or recommend me a few lights to start off with, I would be thrilled.

2) My Nikon D40 does not have a pc cord (is that what they are called) to use strobes natively. I would have to get an attachment. This brings me to another question. Should I move up to a D300 or something more substantial to continue my work? Sure photography has supplemented my income but compared to actual site design I only make about 1 grand a month from photography by itself.

3) Say screw it all and make friends with a good trustworthy photographer to take pictures for me at a fee. It would be less of a headache, but the packages web design, maintenance +photography all in one package has gotten me a lot more jobs, and I am glad to learn more things.

I love finding way to monetize my skills and actually enjoy photography since its less drudgery and more art.

I have a budget of about $1500 to start. Anyone have any suggestions?

p.s. excuse my English, I am a Spanish speaker.

Well, I allways strongly suggest clients to engage a web designer instead of a 'guy with pc'. Ergo I'd look for a (food) photographer, if I were in your shoes

Yes, a food photographer. Believe it or not that is a well defined area of specialty.

And the difference between pro food photography and "almost pro" food photography is huge.

You could spend your $1500 and spend a year practicing, and still not be good enough for commercial work.

Hire a pro, watch and learn, practice on the side, not on customers. Buy "Light - Science & Magic" and learn how light works.

<Chas>

Haha, well there is much love for option three I see.

I guess I am the computer guy, but that is how I get most of my job. I started web designing when wordpress just started and managed to make that my main source of income. Before that I was a kid who didnt have any skills and worked for a bakery. People told me then that baking is hard especially in volume, but I became the head baker until I graduated college.

So this is basically what I will do with photography in time:
I ran into this site: http://stilllifewith.com and he recommended the Lowel Tota-Pak http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0009BZ190/176-8475382-5959914?SubscriptionId=02ZH6J1W0649DTNS6002 bundle for lighting along with a few accessories.

I'll start with that and post some pics on this site. I have come to understand that there is no mystery in most things as soon as you get the gist of it. I think I will be fine.

If you want to be successful - financially and artistically - better off coordinating the food photography through a food shooter and sticking to the knitting.

If you're not going to hire a food/product photography specialist, and if you can't find a place to get some formal training, then you MUST get a copy of Light -- Science and Magic, and study it until you know it well. Otherwise, trying to get good shots that have silverware and glassware in them will be an exercise in futility and frustration.

I would NOT recommend hot lights, like those Lowel lamps, if you're going to be shooting on location. Restaurants won't be a good spot for running all the extension cords and such, plus 750 watt halogen lamps are dangerous to be around.

Portable strobes are a better choice, unless you have a dedicated studio set up for food photography.

makyz wrote:
I have come to understand that there is no mystery in most things as soon as you get the gist of it.

Except particle physics, quantum mechanics, and 12 dimensional string theory.

"If you are not completely confused by quantum mechanics, you do not understand it." - John Wheeler.

"It is safe to say that nobody understands quantum mechanics." - Richard Feynman.


I am still trying to figure out "gluons" from particle physics since 1981 when I first encountered them. They apparently spin backward in time and create themselves?

See - photography is easy by comparison! (except food photography, that is.)

mmurph wrote:...I am still trying to figure out "gluons" from particle physics since 1981 when I first encountered them. They apparently spin backward in time and create themselves?

But what, then, is time? "It's what keeps everyting from happening all at once" doesn't quite cover it.

If you must get involved in photography i would recommend to get "alien bees" strobes. they are not expensive and will do the job. However consider this:
hiring a professional food photographer will not only help your client to have a better looking site, but also will make your own portfolio stronger and you'll be able to get higher end clients with better budgets.

You will not learn any faster than highering a pro food shooter, you'll also learn what to charge for this service and keep your clients happy while you learn.

EatMyShot wrote:...However consider this: hiring a professional food photographer will not only help your client to have a better looking site, but also will make your own portfolio stronger and you'll be able to get higher end clients with better budgets.

Sasha, welcome to the forum. I look forward to your future posts.

I shoot a lot of food and have seen too many of those half assed restaurant websites. Do yourself and your client a favor and hire someone that will produce beautiful images that make everyone look good. You can always observe the shoot and learn something about the genre.

makyz-

Brent is right that contracting and assisting a real food photographer is the quickest path to developing your own skills. I shoot food on location for many high end restaurants and use primarily natural window light, home made reflectors, a tripod, and my teathered laptop. Food photographers do not use continous lights that will heat and melt the food.

Scott

Well food photography has very little to do with a specific equipment but more of a question of quality of light.
Different food requires different light and yes you can shoot with hotlights, I myself do shoot rather often with two 1000w fresnel Arri lights and boy do they get hot, but I also use strobes with snoots and grids and very large softboxes and daylight with small reflectors and mirrors and you name it I have used it to get the light I need.
If anybody know of a place I can get small focusable torches where I can aim the head in different directions with krypton bulbs rather then LED bulbs please let me know.
I have a friend that shoots food with them and they are brilliant for getting small warm details of light in all those difficult to get to areas, and I think he picked them up for a dollar or two a piece somewhere.
I was thinking of getting a couple of lowel pro heads since it is better to have small lights that you can bounce into a white card for a large lightsource or as is for detail lights.
The idea that you can not shoot food with hotlights is a little bit old and is based on the film use, but when you shoot with digital you are faster to judge what work and what does not (using LCD on the back or tethered laptop) and it does not matter if the food melts or dry.
What is VERY difficult is to work without a stylist that is used to work on photoshoots since you as a photographer usually dont have time to look at styling and almost invariably all chef I have worked with styles as for getting the plate laid up in a restaurant and that is VERY different to photography styling.
Good luck and have fun and remember food photography is very easy when you know it ;-)
Karl

Yes, it is easy if you know it. But there's a lot to know...