Year of the Restaurant...

We just celebrated our new year, but not everywhere in the world celebrates the same way. The Chinese for example, have a Lunisolar new year which means that the date isn't the same from year to year, as well as that they hold a celebration that lasts 15 days. The Chinese also name their years with an astrological sign, which is slightly different than our own. This year I believe is the year of the Tiger for them. For me though, this feels like the year of the 'Dining Guide' so far...


(Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 200ISO, Canon EF100mmF2.8Macro. 1/50th@F8. Single 580EX Speedlight set to 1/16th power fired by pocket wizard through a 15" softbox shot over the back right of the food perpendicular with the table. Single 580EX Speedlight set to 1/4th power shot into a 32"Translucent disk as a reflector to the left of the food and wine against the wall. Cloudy Day White balance)

So far I've shot 5 restaurants for dining guide this week. Haven't had a string like that in a while. Not that I haven't had other things to do, but dining guides are relatively easy. I shot that earlier this week, you'd never believe that was a restaurant in a strip mall so I guess I either got something right; or something went horribly wrong. It's a place named A2Z Cafe in Indianapolis. Food seems pretty good although I've never actually eaten there. Shot there plenty of times though. Nice group of people, never mind going there.


(Canon 5D Mark II, 250ISO, Canon EF 16-35mmF2.8L@35mm. 1/30th@F5.6. Single 580EX Speedlight set to 1/8th shot through a 42" Umbrella from above the right of the cheesecake about 5 feet back, 60" white reflector with another 580EX Speedlight set to 1/16th to camera left for the main fill light.)

That wildly colorful piece of work is from the Tye Dye Grill, also here in Indianapolis, and also shot earlier this week. I can definitely tell you there's awesome food at this place over on the east side. Am planning on making my way back for some of this cheesecake too. I'll make sure to take my eyeglasses off or blindfold myself or something so I don't go blind with the crazy colors. This is also a location with some awesome people, for which they never seem to be not busy. I was surprised that they didn't have a line outside waiting to get in when I got there before they opened. I've never seen it not busy in this place.


(Canon EOS 1D Mark II, 100ISO, Canon EF 100mmF2.8Macro, 1/200th@F13. Single SB-580EX to the left of the yogurt set to 1/16th zoomed to 105mm hard light directly at yogurt. Second 580EX speedlight to Yogurt right set to 1/16th power zoomed to 70mm. The yogurt was sitting on a white reflective coffee table giving it a natural glow using the white styrofoam cup.)

That's not from this year, but it was a favorite of mine. I had no idea what I was walking into when I entered the yogurt shop that day. Sometimes walking into these stores or restaurants I get wild foreign ladies screaming in demon tongues at me shaking their fingers either because I'm a minute early or a minute late, that my hair is too short, or not short enough; or that my camera looked like a contraption to steal the souls out of space age grape nuts. What? Usually they are excited and just telling me what they want me to do, not realizing that I don't speak whatever it is that they are yelling. I speak Duh really well, but freaky alien? Didn't get that merit badge.

Funny part was that the shot I pictured isn't what she wanted. She was exceedingly happy with it though so I can't complain. Especially for a shot that only took about 10 minutes to plan and execute. Favorite kinds of shoots, the easy ones.


(Canon 5D Mark II, 200ISO, Canon EF 100MMF2.8Macro, 1.50th@F7.1. Single 580EX speedlight set to 1/8th through a 15" Softbox to the right of the plate. Left fill from Window light, White Balance at 7900 Kelvin.)

And now I'll end where I started, except a bit out of order in the grand scheme of all things food. Breakfast foods are some of the prettiest foods because of all the colors. Much more colorful and nice than things like Pad Thai, or a burrito. Those suckers are tough to shoot. Strawberry pancakes though? That's a favorite for sure. Don't know many people that wont' eat em. I personally find that breakfast food looks best with that slight orange tinge, like the warm morning sunlight. More Soon.

Eatin Time...

So it's been a while since my last post, and I'm sure that most of my already very modest readership has already found someone that can at least spell their own name correctly. If not, that I shall attempt to correct my spelling in the slim and nill free time that I currently enjoy as most of my time at the paper consists of shooting custom work. Custom work being Advertising, Marketing, internal video, and other various things. Shoots at 7am on Sundays, 5pm on Mondays, the bar guide requiring that I go to the bar when it's open at 10pm and so on and so forth. As I've said in the past it's one of those strange awful things that I sort of enjoy though. I'm not sure I would be able to survive sitting at a desk for 8 hours every day, and I hope that it doesn't come to that, but if it does my hopes are that I'm doing something cool like designing xbox games or reviewing those addicting flash games you find on the internets.

Right now though I am sitting at lunch, which I made for myself. My culinary skills are greatly eclipsed by that of a 8 year old with an easy bake oven; despite the fact that I worked at a restaurant while I was at Purdue. So really I thought this might be a good time to update the blog, enjoy my microwaved hamburger, and say a thing or two about photographing food that actually looks as good as it tastes.

(Nikon D3, 200ISO, Nikon 28-70mmF2.8@70mm, 1/60th@F9. Nikon SB-800 Speedlight fired by pocket wizard set to 1/2 power to camera right shot through a 32" Translucent disk. Nikon SB-800 Speedlight fired by pocket wizard set to 1/4th power fired through a 42" Translucent disk)

The shot above is from when I was shooting for billboards and Menu's for a restaurant bar in Indy named Lulu's. A friend of mine was the chef, and another friend was the GM and they thought I'd be able to get some nice stuff for them. Gladly I didn't disappoint myself, or more importantly them. Also made a nice print of that shot for the chef, who had it framed for his mom. (Nothing is a greater compliment to a photographer than framing one of their photos and giving it to your mom. Awesome.) I don't remember what the food up there is exactly, but I remember eating some of it at some point or another too, and it was outstanding. Most of the stuff that I end up shooting ends up tasting outstanding though (I actually get to try it sometimes). If it wasn't outstanding, they wouldn't feature it......know what I'm saying?

(Canon 1D Mark II, 100ISO, Canon 24-70mmF2.8L@64mm, 1/200th@F7.1. Single Dynalight 400JR fired bare bulb from front camera left, set to 1/4th power fired by Pocket Wizard. White 60" reflector to camera right for fill.)

Shooting food at the paper has always been somewhat Trial and Error for me. I've made lots of mistakes, and continue to make them every time I go out to shoot. Flared lights, mis colorings, omlets, and even more. I make a mess no matter where I go, as anybody who has seen my desk at the paper (or at home) would know. Food is one of those things to shoot though, that is similar to jewelry in that way where you can take absolutely forever to do it, and you can be outlandishly deliberate about the styling. Unfortunately I am not afforded that kind of time at the paper, and usually someone eats the food I shoot when I'm done. I can't say the same about the shots you see taken for McDonalds, Burger King, or any other fast food joint. The food may look amazing, and taste that way as well; but if you ate the burger they photographed? It would kill you....

(Canon EOS 1D Mark II, 400ISO, Canon 24-70mmF2.8L@45mm, 1/50th@F5)

The most destructive I am to the food that I shoot, is poking at it with a fork, cutting it up, maybe leaving it a little under cooked, or just down right re-arranging it. Otherwise, it is all edible after the fact (unless you are allergic to the germs of my fingers poking at and or playing with the food). If I know someone is meant to eat it afterwards I'm usually pretty good about it, but there are other times when I absolutely destroy the plate, and my clothes after the fact. It never did sink in not to wipe my hands on my pants after playing with my food. Or maybe I'm not supposed to play with my food in the first place? I don't remember. Sorry mom....

Anyway, As I mentioned to begin with I've been crazy busy since I got back from Canada. Lots of video actually. Shot for a band named Youthguard at the beginning of the week, and there is a super cool behind the scenes video being put together for it. Doing a new Metromix road-trip series as well, which has been fun thus far albeit time consuming. Tomorrow I've got one of the largest shoots I've ever attempted during the day too. I've got a battalion of zombies that have to be made for a photo for the 2010 Roller Derby Calendar. So long day tomorrow. To end on the food note though, I leave you with a slightly different way to view food. More Soon.

(Canon EOS 1D Mark II, 400ISO, Canon EF 100mmF2.8Macro, 1/50th@F4.5. Single 580EX Speedlight from directly overhead set to 1/16th power shot hard light right at the top of the food, fired by off camera cable.)

Derby, Concerts, Food, and overdue posting...

Whoa so it's been over a week since I posted something last. I decided I needed to take a minute and do that real quick, before all 8 of my readers stop reading due to lack of content. It's either that or something shiny flew past and I would be forgotten completely. Whichever/or.

So yea that means I've been busy. Big surprise right? It's summertime, and summertime is super busy for me. I tell that to any girl I've dated, "Enjoy me now, you wont see me much over the summer." For the record; no that doesn't always go over that well... These bad boys though......These will make anybody smile.

(Canon EOS 1D Mark II, 160ISO, Canon EF 100MM F2.8, 1/100th@F7.1. Single 580EX Speedlight at 1/2 power through an umbrella above left fired by pocket wizard, Single 580EX Speedlight fired by pocket wizard shot directly into a silver reflector 3 feet to camera right at 1/8th power)

I really need to figure out this whole online color profile thing. I post photos and the colors are sometimes muted down due to the browser that people look at them in. On my comptuer the pancakes are that perfect golden brown pancake color, and the jam is that blueish purple awesomeness color. I've heard (again from those 8ish readers) that sometimes the colors look muted. That bugs me. It might even keep me awake at night actually...

Other things that keep me awake at night are things that I shoot on weekends. Friday night KJ Testin had her first big live performance at 8 Seconds Saloon here in Indianapolis. KJ did an awesome job, and I'm really happy for her. I hope that her music goes noplace but up, and from the looks of it; I can't imagine anything different happening.

(Nikon D3 560ISO, Nikon 70-200mmF2.8VR @200mm, 1/100th @F2.8)

On an earlier blog post I showed the Music video that we made for one of KJ's songs, and we had a ton of awesome feedback on it. Live, KJ really did put on a great show. The fans seemed to dig her, and the GM of the venue seemed very pleased with the crowd that she brought in. As for me, I was thrilled to get to shoot a concert type event. I don't really ever get to shoot anything like that anymore. Especially not events where I know the artist even. It's so cool, I almost wanted to wear blues brothers glasses while I was shooting. I really needed to give my buddy Adam a call and get a few pointers on shooting concerts, but I didn't end up having any time to do such a thing and just had to wing it. I think I did alright though, but more importantly a great job goes to KJ! Keep singing the great music! Everybody should check her stuff out here.

Quick side note here: This is the kind of thing where Auto ISO is a godsend. Nikon has really done their AutoISO right, and I have absolutely no hesitation to use it in this type of event. You can see that the two photos that I posted are at 400ISO, and 580ISO (580? WTF?). I shot everywhere from 200ISO to 6400ISO that night, but the camera knew when 6400 or 1600 wasn't necessary and allowed me to shoot at these lower sensitivities. That's right folks. that means that if KJ wants to make a 40" poster of her singing on stage; she can do it with these files. I'm telling you. AutoISO. Check it out.

(Nikon D3 400ISO, Nikon 70-200mmF2.8VR@110mm, 1/100th @F2.8)

This week finished like many others have or are bound to finish, and that's with a page out of the 2010 Roller Derby Calendar. Next week will be no different. I ended up being home sick today with some kind of WTF food poisoning. Am better now, but this morning I felt like death had been microwaved and served to a prison inmate on one of those Styrofoam plates (which of course made the trip through the nuker as well). The good news is that the shots from last night turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. Of course I can't post anything interesting about it here, but I'll try to find something that I can post by the end of the week. Last night we shot in Salon 6 in Broad Ripple, next week we are doing Bikers. The logistical challenges never end it seems... More Soon.