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Fried Green Tomatoes
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Your photo makes me hungry, but from what I’ve learned there are a few things that need to be considered~~~~
If this photo is meant to be an advertisement for a greasy spoon..or an example for their menu…you’ve done well! Food looks sumptuous though a bit unsharp.
If it is meant to emphasis the fried green tomatoes themselves…then you need to get closer to them and maybe go for more shallow DOF. Bring the ingredients up the eyes.
It’s also a bit busy. Take away the paper placemat with the writing… the ketchup and mustard. I only know this because I do eat fried green tomatoes and realise they have no consequence to your dish. I’ve learned from people on here that it’s better to concentrate on your main event when it comes to commercial food photography.
It’s great to see people posting in this section..keep it up DALYA00!
Shar
Hi Shar – Thanks a million for your hints and tips. The more the merrier. I actually took this photo in an American rest. in Barcelona in 2007. I had watched the film a few times and thought that the fried green tomatoes were mouth watering. Imagine my surprise to find them on the menu, so I just had to take a quick pic of them. Needless to say, I did not give much thought to the composition. (mind you they were a bit on the greasy side and pretty tasteless) hence the variety of sauces.
AliceThe main issue for me is that focus plane is at the bottles in the background, not the food. Having your main topic out of focus is a no-no. I don’t know if you know how to lock your focus before shooting (depending on the camera, you will have a focus point identified by something, such as a cross or dot, in the viewfinder/LCD – half press the shutter and hold it down while pointing the dot/cross on what you want sharp – then recompose the shot) but this picture doesn’t work because of it.
Hi – Thanks for your comment and suggestions. – This photo was just a point and shoot back in 2007. I now know about locking down half ways, as you described in your post. I have to admit though that I still have a problem with focusing sometimes. I purchased a Canon 40D recently. When I am taking a portrait shot of a person, should the main focus be on the eyes? I posted a pic in the ‘people’ section ‘Baby Blues’, recently. In this pic, the focus seem to be on the childs ear and the rest of his face was a bit out of focus. Likewise, I find that sometimes the hair is super clear and the face is out a bit. I see a little circle of dots with a cross in the center when I am focusing but I know that I am definately going wrong somewhere at times.
AliceAlice, it sounds like you are allowing the camera to pick the focus points for you. If you press and hold the top right Button on the rear of the camera (the one with the + magnifying glass under it) and rotate the control dial, you will see the focus point change in the viewfinder and on the rear display. If all light up, then the camera picks it for you, if one only is selected, thats what the camera will lock on to.
For faces, the focus point should be the eyes. When shooting close up, remember that the depth of field at any particular aperture will reduce – risking having only parts of the face in focus. Either shoot a few shots as a contingency or increase a few stops to compensate. At very low apertures (say f1.8) as little as 5-8mm may be in focus, not enough to keep someone’s nose in full clarity!
These were shot at f4 with focus locked on the eyes and then recomposed…
https://www.photographyireland.net/viewtopic.php?t=21650&highlight=
https://www.photographyireland.net/viewtopic.php?t=21649&highlight=Thanks a million – I really appreciate this advice – I will try this out later at home. I need to understand more about my camera anyhow in general. I really want to get good portraits and another goal of mine is to take pics of a waterfall at a slow shutter speed, so that the water will look silky.
Thanks again
AliceDALYA00 wrote:
Another goal of mine is to take pics of a waterfall at a slow shutter speed, so that the water will look silky.
…a steady camera (tripod preferably), ISO100, high fstop (>f16) and a slow shutter (>1/20th). You may need to use neutral density filters on a bright day to stop everexposing, especially for very long exposures (they are like sunglasses for the camera :D ).
Thanks again – I will head to the Mahon Falls one day soon and will try out the settings that you outlined and will take my tripod along as well.
AliceHi again, I wonder if you could tell me what size neutral density filter to get for my Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens. I have been looking at different sizes on e-bay and tried to measure my lens. I am not sure if I am doing this correctly.
Thanks
AliceThe size is printed on the front face of the lens (it might be 52mm, the f1.8 is this).
Personally, I use the Cokin-P (or Kood-P) filter system. Instead of buying different size filters for all your different lenses, you buy only one filter, a filter holder and then just an adaptor ring per lens. This works out much cheaper and if you change lenses in the future, you only need to change the adaptor ring (<€10). Additionally, the filter holder can tale up to three filters – so you can group them for further effects.
Have a look at:
http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/default.php?cat=1&type=1330&man=0&filterwords=&go=SEARCH&comp=
You could also try the well known auction site too…
Thanks again for your help. I will look into getting this. I am starting my course next week and want to gather up bits and pieces. Your photos on flickr are fantastic.
Alice
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