Food Photography Equipment & Lens

June 13, 2011 | 6 Comments

Food Photography Guide

Many readers have asked about my food photography equipment and gear. So here’s my post on how I go about taking food photographs, the equipment I use to shoot, and my thoughts on food photography.

If you are new to my blog, you can read my post on Basic Food Photography Tips first.

Food Photography Camera Body

In order not to digress from the main topic, I’ll write a separate post on what camera to buy. For now, let’s take it that you are interested to know what equipment I’m using for my food photography. For a start, DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera is definitely the choice if you want to bring your photography to the next level.

Before I start, I’ll like to say that I have no brand preferences when it comes to cameras. If you ask me which DSLR is better: Nikon or Canon? Or, for that matter, any other camera brands. I’d tell you, go for the one that you like.

Nikon D700

I am currently using a Nikon D700 (the Canon’s equivalent of 5D Mark II). It is a full-frame camera and it goes for around SGD$3.3k in the market.

The D700 is gorgeous, I love the build of the camera. It sounds a little silly to spend so much money on a camera, but it is worth every cent. Besides the excellent grip, a full-frame DSLR comes with a larger viewfinder and screen.

Compact Digital Cameras

As for compact cameras, there are a few in the market that caught my eye: Olympus Pen, Panasonic GF camera, Canon S95 and Fujifilm x100.

Food Photography

Food Photography Lenses

It’s about the lens, not the camera.

I’m sure you have heard of this before. Whilst I agree that lenses are very important, I  think it is only with a good camera body that can you get the most out of a lens. When it comes to shooting food, I prefer prime lens (no zoom). I’d love to use the professional 24-70mm f2.8, but it’s too expensive (around SGD $2.6k) and heavy (almost 1kg).

50mm f1.4 AF-D

For those of you who are getting your first DSLR, forget about the kit lens and get the 50mm f1.8 (around SGD$120 for Canon and SGD$180 for Nikon) instead. It is easily the cheapest lens, and for that kind of price, you really can’t complain.

I personally use the Nikon 50mm f1.4 (around SGD$550). It is my secret weapon for shooting in low light without external flash. Is it necessary to get the 50mm f1.4 which is three times the price of the 50mm f1.8? It depends. But to cut the long story short, get the 50mm f1.8 if you are on a budget.

60mm f2.8 AF-S micro lens

This is definitely my favourite lens for food photography. I shoot 80% of the photos on my food blog with this amazing lens. It allows me to get a close-up shot of food. The Nikon 60mm f2.8 macro lens (around SGD$950) is definitely the best lens for food photography.

How about the 105mm f2.8 micro lens? I find the focal length of the 60mm f2.8 (on a full frame body) to be just right, the 105mm micro lens will require much more space. There is no luxury of moving around too much if you are taking photographs of food in a restaurant.

18-35mm f/3.5-4.5 AF-D

I use this relatively inexpensive wide angle lens (SGD$500 for second hand) to shoot the interior of restaurants. Sure, there are other good wide angle lens like the Nikon 14-24mm f2.8, and the 16-35mm f4, but they are very heavy and so much more expensive.

My next lens? Definitely the Nikon 24mm f2.8.

Food Photography Lighting

Lighting is the most important aspect of photography. You can have the best camera equipment, but without good lighting, there’s no way you can take a good picture.

Natural lighting is everything a food photographer can ask for. But sometimes, you don’t have the luxury of good lighting in restaurants. Especially when it’s a romantic fine dining restaurant with dim lighting.

SB-600 Speedlight

I use an external flash when the lighting is really bad. It is not very nice to have bright camera flashes when dining in a nice restaurant, so I will use it only when necessary. Having said that, the external flash is a godsend in low light situations. It makes the photos look like as if it was shot in daylight.

The Canon’s equivalent of the Nikon SB-600 Speedlight (around SGD$400) is speedlite 430ex. For a level up, there’s the Nikon SB-900 (Canon Speedlite 580ex), but I find that the SB-600 is more than sufficient for shooting food photographs in restaurants.

I will explain more about food photography lighting in my post on how to take food photography in restaurants.

Food Photography Gear

Other Food Photography Equipment

Tripods

I am a very lazy guy, so there’s no way I will carry a heavy tripod out. The only time you see me using a tripod is when I am shooting for clients. Having said that, a tripod can be very useful if you have shaky hands, or insufficient lighting. There are many different tripod brands out there, but I like Manfrotto. I think their tripods are very well-built and reliable.

However, Manfrotto tripods are not exactly cheap. The one I am using costs around SGD$300. I know there are many cheaper tripod brands, but trust me, just get a good one and you will be using it for a very long time.

Food Photography Post Production

Let’s just face it, most of the good photographs are edited enhanced in some way or another. Whilst photoshop is a very powerful tool, there is only so much you can do with a lousy photo. My only advice: try to get a perfect shot on the camera so that you can spend less time on post processing.

Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is one of the best creations in the world. It can change not-so-good-looking people to a completely different person. It can make a 9/10 photo into a perfect 10/10 shot.

Most of the time, I do minimal editing on photoshop. For a start, let me share some of the basic functions that I use. The three auto-functions (under image tab): auto-tone auto-contrast and auto-colour are what I usually start with. If I am not satisfied with the result, I’ll play around with the ‘colour’ (image > adjustments > Colour Balance) and ‘Levels’ (image > adjustments > Levels). To make the food sharper, I will increase the sharpness of the photo (filer > sharpen > unsharp mask).

Just play around with the functions, and you will get the hang of it.

Adobe Lightroom

Unlike Photoshop, Lightroom is more intuitive and powerful. I’ll use photoshop if I want a quick edit, and Lightroom if I want to make more changes.

More on food photography post production in a separate post next time!

I would love to share more about food photography, but this post is getting way too long.

To wrap things up, I hope you understand that it is not about the equipment you have. I’ve seen people with state of the art cameras producing lousy photos, and at the same time, others with ordinary entry level DSLRs taking stunning photos.

Of course, there are some tricks on how to make a good photo look even better, and I will be sharing them with you in my following posts. But I feel food photography is not just about having the right techniques, it’s also about being able to visualise what you want in the shot.

How to improve food photography without buying expensive equipment? Simple, it is all about practising. Take photographs of different food, in different angles. Just have fun shooting!

Leave me a comment if you have any questions. Until my next tutorial post on food photography then!

For more tricks and tips on food photography, read my post on Basic Food Photography Tips

About
Brad Lau, or more popularly known as ladyironchef, the blog where he has been regularly dishing out reviews of food and his dining experience of both new and long-standing restaurants since 2007.

He is also a food photographer based in Singapore. Check out his photography portfolio, and feel free to contact him at bradleyfk@gmail.com.

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Category: # Restaurant Review, Dining Guide Singapore, Editorial, Food Photography, Singapore Food Blog
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Comments

6 Responses to “Food Photography Equipment & Lens”

  1. Simon Food Favourites
    June 13th, 2011 @ 10:13 pm

    great post and tips. thanks so much for sharing :-)

  2. Camemberu
    June 14th, 2011 @ 1:23 pm

    Wah equipment!!! Don’t poison me leh…I am still using my obsolete entry-level DLSR with kit lens. Remember when we bought our DSLRs at the almost the same time? Yeah that same one.

    Only other lens is 50mm 1.8, and sometimes I’m even too lazy to change to that (because cannot do interior/wider angle shots). :P

  3. J2Kfm
    June 14th, 2011 @ 4:53 pm

    Yup, sometimes it’s more to the composition, the passion behind every shot, and the right moment rather than the almighty gears. And of course, the writing.

    Thanks Brad, good post here.

  4. Ron
    June 15th, 2011 @ 10:27 am

    Hello Brad!

    Thank you for your post! I’ve started writing a journal, and I realized how painfully limiting a point-and-shoot can be.

    I’m inspired to level-up a bit with my equipment in order to take the pictures I want.

    I’m going to go over the article with a fine-tooth comb and pick out the pointers – lenses, etc. I hope we can email you directly for specific questions.

    Much appreciated, Brad!

    Ron

  5. 365days2play
    June 18th, 2011 @ 12:25 am

    Hey thanks for this post. Everytime someone talks about lenses, I want to go get a good one, but then when I think of all my companion diners impatiently waiting for me to even take my shots with the lens that’s already fixed on the camera, I can’t imagine what they will say if I were to change lenses at the table.

  6. Fatbooo
    November 16th, 2011 @ 8:17 pm

    Finally a post about the nuts and bolts of camera + lens selection for food bloggers. Thank you for sharing. I own a Nikon D40 and am considering an upgrade. ;)

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