I’m getting better at photographing my CSA produce.
Last year, I splayed everything out on my kitchen table and snapped away.
This year I know better. I’m older and wiser or really I discovered natural light is where it’s at, so once a week I drag a card table out into my backyard. I cover it with an old, raggedy fitted white sheet. Then I splay my produce out in the manner which bests suits my OCD, carefully, with emphasis on the word carefully, hop onto the chair, and snap away.
What’s your photography secrets? Anything you’d be willing to share?
Awe! That’s so sweet of you to already pull out the chair for me. You sure are the perfect date 🙂
Come on over. I’ll give you a chair at the actual table. 🙂
I love using a reflector when I take photos of my recipes! Makes the pictures come out so much more defined and gets rid of shadows :D. And natural light, of course, make the biggest difference!
Oh a reflector is a great idea. Thanks for sharing and for stopping by and saying hello.
YES YES YES!! Natural light is such a goddess!! LOVEEEE taking all my food photos outside. I RARELY post meals I eat late at night because the photos would not be worthy! Also your backyard looks awesome, and I want to sit back there with my coffee.
You are welcome to sit back there anytime. Max will likely come hang with you too. He sits on our back stoop and just watches so he’d be glad to have a companion.
Hahaha you crack me up!!!!
The things we do, huh?!
I have two very grubby pieces of wood that I like to shoot on. Also – use a tripod. Very helpful.
‘Hope you’re having a great summer!
xo
I love your photos on the grubby piece of wood. It looks like whitewashed wood to me, and it’s a great backdrop.
Hahaa omg I love the behind the scenes. I totally put everything on this big window sill in my apartment to get all the natural light & pretend it’s my table. Shhh, it’s a secret.
Your secret is safe with me.
Such a neat idea! I’m considering myself somewhat of a beginner still when it comes to photography. What bugs me most is my flat actually being rather bright yet apparently not when it comes to taking [food] pictures. That’s why I’d considered building a light box but have yet to.
By the way: I’ve nominated you for the Liebster award in my post on Monday and would be happy if you decided to take the survey.
Aw thanks so much for nominating me. That’s very sweet of you; I’ll come check it out.
Can I just come to your yard, sit at your pretty card table, and eat all your produce? Let’s make that a thing 🙂
My photo secret is stabilization, I don’t have a tripod so I usually brace my elbows against my body. That and picmonkey (or snapseed for phone photos) for those days when the light just will not cooperate.
I think we should make it a thing too.
I’ve never heard of snapseed; I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for sharing.
I swear that my neighbours must think I’m a little unstable with all the food pics I take outside. There’s just no beating natural light though… Which is why the winter is so depressing for food photography. How am I supposed to take pics of dinner when it gets dark at 4???
Leftovers, lunchtime the day after.
I know I need to build a light box for the winter, and I can’t bring myself to do it because that means I’m accepting winter is going to come again, and well I haven’t accepted that yet. Me and Denial; we’re besties.
Great idea! Your photos are always so colorful and pretty so you Must be doing something Right!!
Thanks Fran.
I really enjoy behind the scenes posts. You have quite the process going on there. I think I will take a queue from you and my next food photoshoot will take place on my driveway. Probably the sunniest spot around my house and best for lighting. I’m really impressed with how good your photography has gotten. Although your first few CSA posts still look pretty wonderful to me.
Thanks Madison. When I look at those old posts, I can see such a difference too. I can’t wait to see your driveway photos.
I have no good lighting in my house. Like, at all, unless it’s the summer between the hours of 10 – 11 a.m.
I have a board that I put my food on, that I put on the floor of my back door – it seems to be the best light around dinner time. You just have to be careful if you have friendly squirrels in your neighborhood!
http://mybizzykitchen.com/2013/03/28/lyle-wanted-to-stay-for-dinner/
Oh my gosh; I can’t believe how friendly that squirrely is. My cats would attack him for sure, even if it ends badly for them. They are always fighting with the neighborhood squirrels.
I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to my food photography! But you crack me up with your white table set up!
It’s an entire process!
Perhaps we should take a page from Carla at Chocolate Moosey and make our own DIY “aged wood” base using foam core and some sort of product from a hardware store (it’s not contact paper, I’m blanking on what it is though). She’s got them in a variety of different colors.
Speaking of foam core, if you do the window thing, foam core makes a great reflector. I’ve got some behind the scenes shots in my learning food photography album on my FB page.
Thanks for the tip. I’m thinking about making a light box for winter or else my photos are going to do a serious back slide. Eek.
Love it! Now if ONLY I had a privacy fence in my backyard! I swear my neighbors probably think I’m insane when I’m splayed out in the floor in front of my wide open back door! OR in my front bedroom (aka, the photography room) which is now the Room of the F(&%^$ up Blinds! Yep, they got stuck on me the other day…in the UP position…and that did NOT stop me from taking pictures of a BILLION and one things today (even if I was a little self conscious!) 😉
Eh what’s a little public picture taking between neighbors.
I’m sure mine think I’m a bit off too; they did ask the Hubby one day if I had a “food blog or something” because of my photographic ways. He totally outed me by the way; even gave them the site. Heck for all I know, they’re reading this comment right now.
Hahahaha! Love it!