Photography
Every so often I get an email regarding photography and what sort of gear I use to take and edit my photos. I hope this page might offer some guidance:
My Gear:
• My camera: Currently I use a Canon 5D Mark III
• I mostly use this lens: Canon 24-70 mm standard zoom lens
• I love this Canon 50mm Lens (mostly for portraits or outdoor shots like this one)
• Once upon a time, I use a macro lens: Tamron AF 90mm Macro Lens for Canon Digital Cameras (a generous hand-me-down from my father-in-law; for capturing extreme detail like the caviar of a vanilla bean, this is a good one to have; but, unless you have an extremely steady hand/don’t drink half a pot of coffee a day, you have to use a tripod or the image will be blurry.)
• Once upon a time, I used a flash: Canon 430EX Speedlite Flash. Warning: this thing eats batteries about as quickly as you replace them. I recommend not storing your batteries in the flash itself, but inserting them as you need them. Also, I generally just recommend avoid using a flash if possible.
• I love my tripod for shooting overhead video and for Instagram stories.
• This is the phone attachment for my tripod. I use this for Instagram stories.
At one point, this was my workspace: a wooden pallet next to a window that gets a ton of light but no direct light. Update: I use the same north-facing windows, but I mostly use my kitchen countertops now. 
My process:
• natural light only
• I set up my food on a countertop or table next to a window that gets the most sunlight without any direct sunlight — a north-facing window is ideal.
• I generally shoot between 10am and 3pm depending on the time of year and also the type of day. When I lived in Virginia, I had these great shades from IKEA that were very sheer, and I could pull them down all the way, and they would diffuse the light so nicely — this might be a nice option for those of you who only have windows that let in direct sunlight.
• I find wood backgrounds to be particularly nice. White, as much as I love it for serving food on, is difficult for me to photograph on.
• I use minimal props.
• I edit in Adobe Photoshop, too, but mostly simple things: minor adjustments to increase contrast, and sharpening.
• Sometimes I balance a big piece of white foam core on the side of my board opposite the window, which helps bounce light onto spaces that might be shadowy.
• That’s about it — I update this page as things come to me.
22 Comments on “Photography”
I didn’t even see this post till tonite! Thanks for putting it up….Love that picture of you taking the photo of the chicken..:) Can’t help noticing the bookshelf in the background…who is the reader? Are they cookbooks?! The camera (and you!) take awesome photos, really superb compared to other blogs….that’s one of the things that originally caught my eye was your great photography. The difference between us novices and a professional. I’ve got a little Canon digital but nothing on this scale. I recently bought a new one that had a faster memory card so the photos I’m taking are coming out better than they were before. Taking pictures of flowers/etc outside is almost all macro work and needs a steadier hand than mine, too much coffee etc! I’m going to look at picking up one of these because it would work for food photographs as well. Hope all is going well darlin’, the kitchen is still being hammered away at. The floor and appliances are going in next week two days before Thanksgiving….nothing like last minute! XO!
Great tips that are easy to follow! I’ve read many others but they were a bit too much information for a beginner; this is perfect. Thank you sharing your skills!
You’re so welcome, Sheila. Hope it helps somewhat!
Ali–I was just thinking about you today and wondering about your photography method! Has this post always been here and I’m just now noticing it? Thanks so much for this post–it definitely helps to see how you do things. I hope you are doing well and I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season!
Tracey, hi! No, it’s pretty new — I added it a little while ago (maybe a month ago?) because I had received a few questions. I hope it offers a little bit of help! I wish I knew more. Still dying to take a class to really get to know my camera. I hope you are well, too! Always wonderful to hear from you. Happy Holidays!
I’m so happy that you shared it–it is very helpful! I can’t believe you are able to take such great shots without a tripod! My hands are too shaky! I also want to take a class–perhaps this summer!
wish we could take a class together, tracey!
Wow! This is great info. I’m a painter (watercolor and oil) and often go out for photos to use back in my workroom as references. And I use my camera to take still lifes since I’m so slow, the real fruit or whatever can go south before I get the dang painting done. Love your natural light advice. Where ever did you find that great roll-about storage stand? Amy
PS I’m 73 years old, but when I grow up I want to be you!
Amy! Akh, I am so sorry I haven’t gotten back to you until now. I read your comment, and then some how it got lost in the shuffle of comments over the holidays. Thank you for your nice comment! You made me laugh. My dad is a painter, and I vividly remember photographs taped together to create sort of panoramic scenes that he would use as guidance while he painted, and I can only imagine how important photographs must be for capturing still lifes on paper.
OK, the cart is from IKEA: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30216536/ I’m going to email you now, too. So sorry again for the delay. Happy 2014!
Hi! I absolutely love your pictures, they really make the food really come to life! Just wondering where you got your wooden board from, as I want to get better at food photography and love your background! Thanks 🙂
Ashumi, the board I have been using most recently is actually a giant antique pizza peel — I should take a picture of it (it’s awesome!) — and the board I have used in the past is an old cutting board. The best place to look for these boards/backgrounds is an antique shop or flea market. Those old milk crates work well, too. Hope that helps!
WOW !!
awesome post. Thanks for sharing . I was about to email you and ask some questions, because your photos are AMAZING. I am new to this at age 55 and always trying to learn and improve. I have to agree with Amy in a previous post …
” I want to be like you when I grow up ”
🙂
So happy I found your blog
Donna
Oh Donna, you are too nice to say so! You and Amy make me laugh. Thank you. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks for writing in!
Hi Alexandra,
After much debating and research I bit the bullet and bought that 50 mm lens for my Canon rebel t3i.
One question :
I am curious if that is the lens you used in your most recent post….. especially the shot of the pizza crust and also the orzo shot. Great shots and great recipes that I can’t wait to try. Thanks in advance for any tips or other advice on this lens….. I would love to buy that Tamron 90mm lens but that’s waaaay out of my budget …
🙂
Yay! Donna, this is very exciting. It took me a long time to start using my 50 mm lens, but I now love it and love experimenting with it. I actually did not use the 50 mm lens in either of those photos, but I used it in the first photo on this post: https://alexandracooks.com/2014/02/09/valentines-day/ You can see how the area that is in focus is really small, and the background area is blurred.
This is what I always do when I use my 50 mm lens: Set the camera to the Av (aperture priority mode I think) setting, then use the dial (or whatever mechanism it is on your camera) to set the fstop to its lowest setting — I get mine down to 1.8. Then snap away! This will let in the most light, and it will create that blown-out, blurred background with a small depth of field. Does that make sense? I am by no means a whizz in this type of shooting, but I really like it for certain shots, and the two photos you mentioned would actually be good shots to use this lens and these settings. The thing you have to get used to is that you can’t zoom, so you generally have to stand back a little bit.
I just remembered another shot I used this lens for: the top photo in this preserved lemon post: https://alexandracooks.com/2014/01/10/preserved-lemons-two-ways-weekend-project/
Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions. It’s a great lens to use for portraits, too.
Hi Alexandra,
That is great information. I am waiting for the lens to come in the mail so I can play with it. This gives me some good options though. Both photos you shared links to, are excellent examples.
Did you use the 90 mm on the orzo and the crust then ? They seem really sharp and detailed.
Thanks again.
I have been researching food photography for a while so I can get it right. Here is a link I found last night that has some very detailed information on styling and food photography. It is the most comprehensive link I have found so far. You may find it useful too. It’s a wealth of information:
https://www.6bittersweets.com/2011/08/my-take-on-food-styling-and-photography.html
Thanks again for the great advice. I have been sharing your blog with all the other foodies I know and they love it. Look forward to seeing more.
Donna
I’m so excited for you to try it out! I did not use the 90mm lens on the orzo or crust — I just used the lens that came with my canon rebel xt. I rarely use the 90mm lens as incredible as it is — it really just requires more effort (a tripod or a very steady hand), and I get lazy. Thank you SO much for passing along the photography link — so much great information. I am going to study it, and I’m going to click on each and every link 🙂 Also, I just posted a link to some photos I took at a cooking class this past weekend. Each of these photos was taken with my 50mm lens: https://www.flickr.com/photos/10576492@N02/sets/72157641863166744
Let me know how it goes! I would love to see some of the shots you take and help you with anything as you get started.
Like everyone else here, I adore your photography!! They give me hope, being gorgeous without tons and tons of props. That’s kinda where my photos are too. Most of your shots are from above, with those gorgeous boards underneath as backgrounds, but what do you do when you’re shooting from a different angle, and there is a vertical surface in the background? That’s where all my pictures fail!
Have you ever tried using a monopod versus a tripod? A lot easier to move around and set up with a minimum of fuss. Also, have you ever used Google Picasa (it’s free) for photo editing and management? Been using it for years, as it meets my simple needs. Have used programs like CS2 in the past when doing more serious work, but don’t need that for my everyday passions.
No! I’ve never heard of a monopod! I am going to look it up immediately. Thank you for the tip! The main reason I don’t use my tripod is because it always feels like a pain to set up. And great tip on Google picasa — I have an account and love it for organizing photos. Thanks for writing in!
As a beginner in cooking and bread making, I finally gathered up the courage to make a starter and then sourdough bread! Wow. What fun. I has plenty of time to study recipes and gather the tools (especially the kitchen scale)during the pandemic.
I tried a couple of other recipes but your Easy Sourdough Bread (Whole Wheat-ish) recipe was the easiest to follow. I made mine in an oval clay cloche instead of a Dutch oven because I found the cast iron ovens were too heavy for me to manage.
Your recipe will be my “go-to” page. How do I send you a photo of my “first” masterpiece?
I’m also exploring the other recipes you post.
Thank you.
Roberta Patton
Naples FL
So nice to hear all of this Roberta! Smart re clay cloche — cast iron is so heavy.
You are too sweet. The best way to send a photo is via email: alexandra@alexandracooks.com
Thanks so much!