Ok, I'm Back!

For real this time. And although I didn't get to do any of the blog housekeeping I wanted, I have been cooking. And despite all the cooking I've done I didn't get a single good instructional set of pictures. So I'm just going to show you guys some of what I did get and babble about food photography for a while, no recipes today.

I'm getting better with my new camera, but I'm still not getting as many good shots as I want. Some of it is that I often don't have time to set up (or want to deal with) my tripod, some of it is that I've been into photography for less than a year so I still don't really know what I'm doing, yet another part of it is that my new camera wants a different kind of light than my last one and some of it, too, is that I'm still (sometimes) trying to take my pictures quickly so my food doesn't get cold. Heh, I need to get over that. But here is the main lesson I've learned about photography: lighting is key. Here, I brought some visual aids.

Bad lighting. Better lighting. Still not ideal, but the second is much better. The difference was tilting the dish a bit so it was facing the light source more. You know what else would have made it look better? Setting it up on a stable surface and using my tripod instead of holding the dish in one hand and the camera in the other. That's a habit I need to break if I want to get good food shots. Oh, that's some broccoli salad for those who are curious. One of my favorite summertime sides. I made it a bit differently this time, I swapped the onion for shallots and the sunflower seeds for pine nuts. I think I did something else too, but I really don't remember. Anyway, it was wicked good, I used some thick cut pepper crusted bacon. Of course, I got a shot of that. Mmmm, bacon. Speaking of lighting (we were, a while ago) I'm not sure what made me put this shot of the roast beef up the other day. This one is really much better. Because of better lighting.

Another thing I've learned, just because the little rectangular focus indicator is where you want it doesn't mean it's actually focusing on what you think it is. For example, the rim of the glass instead of the strawberry shortcake itself. And yeah, that's the wrist strap in the upper right hand corner. I'm known for my attention to detail. Heh.

Well, that's most of the stuff I don't have plans for. I have a bunch of reviews coming up, so Saturdays are full for a while. I've got some new cat pics for Sundays, too. My girlfriend is eating dinner with coworkers tonight, so I'm finally making some lamb. Hopefully I'll get some good shots and have that up on Wednesday.