The story behind my photography

Low-key lighting in Food Photography

2012-03-01T09:00:00.002+07:00

Hi all ...

It's a quick update from me. Early last month, Lubna Karim from Yummy Food asked me to be a guest writer on her blog. It wasn't a food recipe post but a food photography post. In a short time I managed to do this seriously.

Lubna has shared tips from food photographers in Food Photography series. Every food photographer has their own style, therefor, I believe it will enrich us. Head over to read my post about Low-key lighting food photography.

Keep shooting.....

Food Photography : Time to time

2011-11-13T19:43:00.001+07:00

Hello everyone ! Good to be back here again. Been trying to manage my time between photographing and sharing. Glad to see and hear your positive comments on my posts. I'm still thinking for the best way to share my tips in photography. I photograph foods every weekends thou. And sometime I photograph people on special occasion. Surprisingly, I'll be photographing my friend's pre-wed in the next two weeks. Isn't it fun ? Well, it is for me.

On this post, I want to track back my journey in photography until today. Not quite long time since the first time I jumped in seriously. It was started at the end of 2009. I fell in love with food photography instantly. I was looking at the beautiful food photos on Homemades by Arfi and speak to myself "I want to learn how to photograph food". I have to admit that she's one of my inspiration.

I'm still learning how to create good photos. I read Plate to Pixel by Helene Dujardin and Food Photography : From Snapshots to Great Shots by Nicole S Young as my references. Connect with other food photographers around the globe from Flickr!. Submitting photo to food photography event every month to see my progression month by month. Learn how to judge a photo to sharpen my eyes and feeling. Doing experiment every time I have free time to capture foods.

As an amateur photographer, I learn from zero. I learnt how to produce beautiful light, where I had to put my reflector, what is the best reflector, and so on. You see, everything is a process. And I feel so grateful to go through those steps. So, in this post I will show you my progression after two years. Sit, watch and we're gonna laughing at it together :D

Taken with P&S Samsung S830 / 24 Dec 2009

Taken with P&S Samsung S830 / 1 Feb 2010

I was pretty confidence to send those photos to food photography event DMBLGiT :D Remember, it's a process so you can see your level.

Then, on February 2010, I decided to buy DSLR Canon RebelXS because I need to move to another level. Also, my P&S didn't provide what I need to capture great photo. I did some exploration with my new cam and its kit lens (Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS). Here are some of them.

Canon RebelXS with Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS / 25 April 2010

Canon RebelXS with Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS / 2 April 2010

Canon RebelXS with Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS / 10 June 2010

Terrible styling ! Bad props usage ! :p

After searched for information of what lens that food photographers usually have. I ended up with a conclusion "I need to buy 50mm fixed lens !". So, I bought Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II. Cheap one ! When I came to the camera shop to buy, the seller offered me Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM. But it was too expensive :D

Canon RebelXS with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II / 20 August 2010

Canon RebelXS with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II / 10 July 2010

Okay, this Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens really satisfied me so far. I keep using it depends on what I shoot. But I think fixed lens 50mm is a must have for food photographer.

I already have DSLR camera, 50mm fixed lens. What else do I need ? Macro lens ! A professional food photographer I know, he uses macro lens. Another research for the lens I want and I took home a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro with me !

Canon RebelXS with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro / 8 Oct 2011

Canon RebelXS with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro / 19 June 2011

This lens gives me so much pleasure. I won Third Place winner on DMBLGiT August 2011 !

My learning and experimenting journey continue.... :)
Keep shooting...

Food Photography : Camera angles

2011-09-29T09:30:00.000+07:00

For me food photography is about good food as the hero, excellent light, nice perspective, best camera angle and beautiful styling. How we combine all elements together to produce a good looking photo. Sounds like a hard work, right ? It's important to keep in our mind that there's a message we (as food photographer) want to deliver to the viewers. Our job is to make the food look great, delicious and mouth watering. :P

Camera angle plays an important role in food photography. Which side of the food we want to show to the viewer. Not all food looking good at top view angle. Imagine if you photograph a burger and you take it from top view angle. I'm sure that the viewers can't see the stacks of the burger. So, before shooting food, make sure you have already decided which part of the food you want to expose the most.

There are four camera angles I know and I usually use in food photography. Horizontal to the table angle, 10-20 degree angle, 45 degree angle and perpendicular to the table or 90 degree angle. We do want to make the food look good and appealing in photo. But before that, please bear in your mind, how you are going to capture it, is it the shape or texture of the food that has caught your attention, which part of the food that really interesting to be seen. The more you explore the food then it's better for you.

It's Banana Cheese Pizza ! I want to show to the viewer the texture of pizza bread and the layers of the topping. Since your eyes are almost at the same level of the table, you need to choose neutral background. Don't overdo the background because it will distract our attention from the food. I've seen so many gorgeous food photos with this angle. So, get some inspirations out there :) Here are some example of the horizontal to the table food images from Sylvie , Renata , Vera , Csenge , Eva.

In the image above, with a see-through glass, people can see what is inside it. Watch out for the background if you use this angle. Another photos taken at 10-20 degrees angle from Soma , Jenn , Harini , Aisha , Martina , Yuli , Ann , Yuliya.

When I shot the Nutella jam, one thing I wanted to expose was the melted chocolatey nut jam and make you want to lick the screen to taste it :D *kidding. With around 45 degrees angle, I held the camera in my right hand while my left hand was holding a knife. Tough job !! My idea was to make Nutella as the only subject with the creamy chocolate jam running down the knife which I could show to the viewer from this angle.View these images from Anna , Alessandro Guerani , Xiaolu , Lakhsmi , Vania Samperuru , Aran , Sukaina.

Perpendicular to the table or top view or 90 degrees angle, is one of my favorite angle. For my Fermented Cassava Cake, I chose to show the grated cheese on top of the cake. But I also wanted to show the delicate of the cake at the same time. Check out another images from Bhavani Konings , Melina , Helene , Vera , Dario.

I wrote this article from my amateur perspective and based on my experience in food photography.

Keep shooting....

The other side of photo editing

2011-08-25T14:11:00.001+07:00

Feel just like a kid with a new toy. Sit in front of my computer for hours only to open my old archives where I keep my photo files. Tracing one file to another only to find which photos I don't like but worth to get the new look. Discover the beauty in unnatural look and colors, create a stunning vintage Polaroid effect. Abandoned old pics because they didn't pass my quality control deserve a chance to change. Out of focus, overexposed, no dimension and ordinary photos, it's time to show your new beauty !!

Canon Rebel XS - Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

Canon Rebel XS - Canon 50mm f/1.8 II

Sony Ericsson Vivaz

Canon Rebel XS - Canon 50mm f/1.8 II

Food Photography : Another scene with backlight

2011-06-25T17:15:00.001+07:00

I hope this doesn't count as repetition. Just the same technique from different scene. Check out my last post of backlight, here (just in case you haven't read it yet).

For my Coffee Panna cotta, (recipe here) shot this time, I used simple set-up. The same set-up I used for my Durian Pancake and also at same spot. Since I already knew where when is the best time to get the best light, I just put everything I need there. At the porch around 3.00 - 4.30 PM. The light around that time never fails me !

Light from the back, then all you have to is just find a bouncer/reflector to bounce the light back to the food. It's very important to give enough light to the food (what I mean here is not direct light) and also to lessen the shadow on the front.

As for the accessories I add coffee beans and yellow ribbon to make the photo look nicer. It needed to be there to fill the empty space ! Coffee beans scatter around and swirl from the ribbon. I hope it's not too much. But if you think so, let me know.

I know I am not a professional food photographer, so if you find me wrong in explaining the techniques, I would receive all the critiques with open ears, heart and big smile. Don't worry, criticism helped me grow ! Last ... the result from my artisan home studio !

Keep shooting ...

Food Photography : Back light

2011-05-16T21:59:00.006+07:00

Back light. I believe some of you are quite familiar with those words. I photographed these Durian Pancake with natural light coming from the back of the food (back light). With the dominant of white color, I was kind of curios with the result. FYI, I'm a big fan of white-on-hite photo with back light.

I am always amazed by Yuli's photostream (a friend from Flickr) who often use back light in her photos. She picks the right colors and tones in her photos. So, I emboldened myself to take the risks, using back light in my white-on-white food photo shoot.

It's important to know that using back light technique will create strong shadow in the foreground of your image. So, you need reflector (aluminium foil, styrofoam or mirror) to bounce back the light to towards the food. My tips are keep your photo simple and without too many props. Since it's white-on-white presentation, you could add some color to the scene. For example flower, ribbon or colored napkin. I am pretty sure it will add more colors to your image, but don't overdo it, okay !

The photo below is the result with back light technique and with white-on-white theme. This photo also was criticized by Dario Milano on Food Photography Critique-5.

Keep shooting...

You can read the recipe here.

Food photography : Avocado Juice

2011-04-23T09:37:00.001+07:00

Okay...okay... I'm trying to be more consistent ! I try to keep this blog updated with at least one post every month.

This post is about me and camera against weather. :p The weather is so unpredictable lately. For amateur food photographer like me who is natural light-dependent, weather can be your truly best friend and also uncooperative friend at the same time :)

Not much to say, the avocado juice is ready to be served when the rain came down heavily. Speechless !! If I keep with shooting the juice, it would be like having photo shoot in winter ! Lack of light, I hate when this happened. But then I kept going with shooting the juice anyway. I used simple set-up, with a table and I put a large piece of styrofoam on top of it, then I lined up with two pieces of white papers, two glasses of juice, two spoons and wooden tray.

I have to confess, it is so hard shooting under cloudy condition, especially on a rainy day. I have to use big aperture, large ISO only to get the fastest shutter speed and also some magic from photo editing software =)) (that's what photo editing for, right ?!!)

Here's the result of two glass of avocado juice captured in the middle of heavy rain and wind blows. Not good enough, just want to share it with you guys ! Don't let those limitations hamper you to do anything. You tried, you failed, fix it and learn from it and you'll become the winner.

Keep shooting....

You can read the recipe here.

Food Photography : Onde-onde kacang hijau

2011-03-20T09:41:00.001+07:00

I love earth tone, warm and comforting. That's why in most of my food photos, I use earth tone colors. Sometime I did it deliberately, though sometime I don't realize before taking picture I already choose food props with earth colors. :p

This is one of the example. I took two pieces of recycle papers and a wooden platter. Well, it was because I've bought this new wooden platter. I think it looks perfect for my onde-onde. So, I use it for my food photo props. Nice platter, right ? :D

Since I already found my favourite spot for my food photo shoot, with great lighting, and also I can take picture between 9.00 AM to 4.00 PM. Good news is I have time to cook in the morning then photo shoot until 4.00 AM. What a relieve !

Doorway, yes this is my favourite spot whenever I want to take picture of food. The natural light coming from the left side, I put styrofoam on the opposite side from the light. Yeah, you probably already read some of my posts, you might notice where I put the reflector. You might need more than one reflector or you could use bigger styrofoam. First, I have to lessen the shadow on the right side and second I need to fill the light on the front side of the food.
And here it is, my "home studio". Voila !

Here's the result. The orange paper cups did the job successfully. I did want those cups to break the dominant of earth color. One of my mentor in photography told me, I need to learn about tones and he's right. Time to explore more.

Keep shooting.....

You can read the recipe here.

Food Photography : Bubur sumsum / Indonesian rice pudding

2011-02-27T16:41:00.003+07:00

Love...love...love this dish since I was a kid ! :)

This traditional dish, soft and melted in my mouth immediately after I scooped a spoonful of bubur sumsum and put it in my mouth. Yum !!!

Outdoor setting for this traditional dish, at my mom's porch. I want to make this setting airy, homey and also simple. Besides, my food photography tools at my mom's house is very limited ! What I used for reflector is a mirror (I always use mirror as reflector in my mom's house)

I carried out my mom's table from living room to the porch (imagine this, I really need to do the shoot in a hurry, only have 30 minutes before off to work), mirror, ugly saucepan where I placed the hot palm sugar syrup (sorry mom !!). Also, I have to remove the potted plant for background.

Luckily, the morning light at 6.15 - 7.00 AM is perfect. The sun was shining from my back, blocked off by the tree, so the light didn't fall directly to the food. My tips, set the setup first, when you think everything is ready, you can pour the palm sugar syrup to the glass. For this photo shoot, I think I pour too much palm sugar syrup into the glass. You can see the bubur sumsum floats, when it supposed to be stay at the bottom of the glass. :(

Oowww...I also add pandan leaf as a spoon too, (mom's home-grown pandan leaves :) )
Honestly to tell you, every place in my mom's house has beautiful light coming from the window. But porch has always been my favourite.

See behind the scene photos of bubur sumsum, so you can figure out what my home studio looked like.

Learn more, share more. Keep shooting ....

Food Photography : Food photography vs kids

2011-02-18T18:35:00.001+07:00

Are you a mother, having kids and love food photography ? Well then, we're the same !

Don't worry, nothing is wrong with that. But sometimes, things happen beyond our expectations when we're photographing food. Whether they play "safely" behind our back or even waiting until we finished photographing to be able to taste the food. Though I've set aside the same food for them in a special dish.

I have only one son, almost 8 yo, but sometimes my two cute nephews come to my house (they live nearby). So then, I have 3 boys waiting for me to finished my quick photo shoot.

Yup, that's my nephew ! He's such a cute boy. Can you see that he just can't wait to eat the brownie ? I also have a photo of him waiting for me and he just can't wait to taste the Vietnamese Fried Chicken I shoot.

My son, R, quite often want to be a part of my photo session. When I was photographing food, he suddenly stuck out his hand. Yeah....I should let him take some part :D . But then, when I let him take the part, this is what happened. He wanted me to shoot only his hand !!! See, I have lots of funny stories with kids during the photo session.

So, what I usually do when 3 boys stay in the same room together while I have photo shoot to do ? Here it is .... let them play cooking together ! Messy ? No problem, at least they have fun with it ! My note for them is "Don't block off the light, please !".

Sometimes, I ask them to hold the styrofoam for me. You should see the impression of their face, BORING !! Hahaha .... I hope this doesn't count as child abuse :p
Right after you read this, you may say "I'm not alone".

Keep shooting...

Food Photography : Green Tea Smoothie

2011-01-18T10:00:00.002+07:00

Hopefully you already made some progress after reading my earlier posts.

It's been a year of learning about food photography and I'm still going on and on. In the past 1 year, many things have happened. I bought a new SLR camera, I have my own Flickr pro album, now I have friends from other countries who have the same passion as mine in food photography, and who always give me constructive criticism, comments and inputs in my photos. I also have two blogs of food photography. First blog is recipes blog with my food photos and the second one is this one :)

Without meaning to sound boastful, what makes me really happy until now is when I achieved the 2nd place winner of DMBLGiT (Does My Blog Look Good in This) October 2010. DMBLGiT is a food photography event, conceived by Andrew of SpittoonExtra. My first award, after 10 months since my first entry on January 2010. I keep sending my entry every month, without any hesitation to be a winner.

That's enough about me. Now I want to share my story behind my "Green Tea Smoothie" photo session. Green, green everywhere. I don't have any concept for this photo shoot. So, I just grab one piece of green paper and round wooden board for props. See, nothing special really !

The natural light coming from top left of the object, and as I can remember this shot was taken at around 11.00 - 12.00 am. I just take a close-up view for this. I know, the green tea smoothie didn't pop-up so well in the picture because I used the same paper color for background. Though the red cherry is a nice touch to break the dominant of green.

Finally, my biggest hope, you all can learn something from my blog. I try to be consistent with my aim to help you in food photography. Learn more, share more !! Oh, I don't mind if one of you want to share your home studio food photography tips with me. :)

Keep shooting....

Read the recipe here.

Food Photography : Bird's eye view

2011-01-08T09:16:00.005+07:00

In food photography, you may shoot the food from different angles, left, right or top, and the bird's eye view may be very appealing to you.

According to Wikipedia, bird's eye view is an elevated view of an object from above, with a perspective as though the observer were a bird. So, that means in food photography, we have to shoot the food from above. This usually at or around an angle of 90 to the horizontal surface where your food is placed.

The above soup photo is an example. At first I wanted to show the contents of this soup, which doesn't work well as I expected if I capture the soup at 15 - 45 degrees angle. In this photo, light is coming from the left. I think bird's eye view is perfect for soup. It was so hard to style and make it look natural at the beginning, but I keep trying and learn from food photographers trough their photos.

Cookies... :) How come I ended up shooting these cookies in bird's eye view. First, I already set the setting minimalist and simple. Besides, if you see that photo, your eyes won't look anywhere but only to the cookies. This is one example for a simple setting, you don't need to put too much props for this.

Messy setup ? Don't be scared ! The photo above is my preparation to make ice blewah. Can't you see how messy is that ? Even I put my shredded tool, knife, an empty glass and blewah with juicy seeds. This setting was so hard for me. I got very confused where to put this and that only to make it look "natural" messy setup. :p

Well, I already give you my opinion about bird's eye view on my own by my experiments. It would be nice to hear comments and critics from you. Especially when you have tried the different style from what I already did. You know, a critic can be your best friend !

Have a nice try....

Food Photography : Sumpia udang / Shrimp Sumpia

2010-12-28T15:06:00.000+07:00

Hi there...it's me again. I feel like I'm ready to share my tips with you again now. I'm just recovering from flu and a very bad cough, but thank God I'm alive. :)

Have you seen food photography with dark background ? Sometimes, our foods look better on white or bright background, but sometimes they look better on black. Black and simple, bring out the beauty of the food itself.

Black background doesn't mean you have to shoot your picture in a studio or in the dark room, because in my home-studio I don't have any studio and I don't have any equipments to support indoor photo shoot. So, I shoot all my food photos with dark background in my usual and favorite spot. Yup, what I need is a room with plenty of light !

About the photo itself, I took a few days before Eid'l Adha as photo greeting card.

The photo shoot this time, I did it on the porch, at about 2.00-3.00 afternoon. I don't need a lot of props here. Only 2 pieces of black cardboard, styrofoam and of course the food itself. The photo below is my behind the scene home-studio. As you can see the final result from the photo above.

Not too special, but perhaps could give you an idea of how the photo with a black background was made. And you can do it yourself at home.

Have fun....and happy holidays.

Food Photography : Bolu Meranti / Meranti Roll Cake

2010-11-26T11:30:00.005+07:00

Kebetulan sekali, ada teman yang bisa dititipin bolu Meranti khusus dari Medan. Keesokan harinya, pagi hari sekitar jam 6.15 - 7.00 pagi saya siapkan set untuk pemotretan bolu Meranti. Hanya menggunakan selembar kertas minyak, piring-piring kecil, garpu, gelas berisi sirup, dan pisau yang diletakan di atas meja kayu.

Saat itu saya sedang berada di rumah orang tua saya, properti juga seadanya. Tidak ada styrofoam besar yang biasa saya gunakan. Akhirnya saya menggunakan cermin sebagai reflektornya. Percayalah, cermin bisa digunakan sebagai reflektor yang baik juga :)

Yang saya suka kalau motret makanan di rumah orang tua saya salah satunya karena banyak tempat terbuka dengan cahaya yang banyak. Saya bisa motret di kamar tidur, di teras atas, teras bawah dan juga di pintu masuk ruang tamu. =)) Pokoknya bebas tinggal pilih.

Lokasi pemotretan kali ini persis di pintu ruang tamu. Cahaya masuk dari arah sebelah kiri foto bolu, sebelah kanan saya beri cermin sebagai reflektor. Saya meletakan cermin ini di tempat yang berlawanan dengan datangnya sinar. Fungsinya, agar bayangan tidak terlalu gelap.

Nah, pesan saya masih sama dengan yang sebelum-sebelumnya, terus bereksplorasi, dan pelajari sinar di rumah anda. Dengan peralatan seadanya, kita bisa menghasilkan foto yang apik.

English version

Hello everyone ... it's me again. Sorry it took such a long time to update. I've been pretty busy lately with my new job (still at the same company). I have to documenting all the paper works related to testing software, software historical revision , etc. (I usually update my blog when I have spare time while I have nothing to do at the office :p)

Speaking of the Meranti roll cake, a friend of mine asked me if I want a Meranti Roll Cake from Medan. It was such a hard to say no. Besides, the cake is only sold in Medan, the taste of it is also delicious. Yummy, creamy, I love the creamy of mocha butter cream.

I was at my parents' house that day. I used any available props I have there. (I had to be creative). For the props, as you can see from the picture, I used plates, forks, paper, knife, and mirror..!!! (what a mirror doing in there ??) I put them all at the top of the table. So, in this post, I'll explain about using mirror as a reflector.

Those pictures were taken at 6.15 - 7.00 AM, at the doorway. Believe me, this place is a very good spot and always be my favorite when I photograph food at my parents' house. The picture above has explained everything very well. Why mirror ? You can try this tips sometime. Mirror can reflect the light which has come from the opposite direction. It will fill the light from the other side and reduce the shadow.

At the end of this photo session, I eat that roll cake with creamy butter cream plus a cup of hot tea. I think, it's gonna be a perfect for commercially used. What do you think ?

Keep shooting....

Food Photography : Es cendol / Cendol ice

2010-11-12T17:00:00.000+07:00

Es cendol ini bukan buatan saya, tapi saya beli di pasar Serpong. Biasanya terjual di plastik terpisah, baik cendol, santan dan sirup gula merahnya. Kalau lagi panas-panas terik, enak banget sambil minum es cendol. Sluuurrrrpppp........

Pemotretan kali ini dilakukan sore hari di teras rumah. Sempat bingung mau cari gelas untuk tempat cendolnya. Saya tidak punya gelas champagne di rumah, jadi setelah obrak-abrik kotak props, saya berhasil menemukan toples bulat kecil. :p

Seperti tips saya sebelumnya, apabila memotret minuman yang menggunakan es, sebaiknya tambahkan es ke dalam minuman di saat set anda sudah siap dan anda sudah cocok dengan cahaya juga settingnya.

Ada cerita lucu saat pemotretan ini, awalnya saya ingin menampilkan sedikit daun-daun hijau di bagian belakang. Tapi karena sayang kalau harus metikin daun-daun buat motret, jadilah saya selipin sedikit daun dari pot di rumah yang ga keurus dan dekil banget.

Nah, lakukan eksperimen karena ternyata tetesan-tetesan dari sirup gula merah itu bisa menjadi aksen tersendiri. Karena tempat sirup gula merahnya itu tidak transparan, jadi ya saya biarkan tetesan terlihat.

English version

Cendol ice or es cendol is very popular in Indonesia as traditional dessert. The basic ingredients are rice flour, natural green food coloring (usually derived from pandan leaf), coconut milk and palm sugar. Don't forget to add ice cubes or shredded ice, it will give you nice, fresh and cold pleasure.

I did this shoot at my porch, afternoon nearly dusk, and did it in a rush, because I was afraid to miss the sun light. ;p. For the food props, at first I wanted to use champagne glass, but I don't have one. So I searched all over my cupboard and box where I keep my food props. Until I found a small glass jar, perfect for my cendol ice photo shoots session.

As I posted before, if you want to shoot drinks which include ice cubes or shredded ice, do remind yourself to put the ice after the set is ready. Also when you feel the light and setting is perfect for the shot.

I have funny story along the photo session. I was intend to use the green leaves as background. But it such a waste if I pick leaves from the tree only for a few minutes photo session. So I used leaf from my ugly and horrible pot (you can see from the picture). Poor me ... :(

I did an experiment by letting the palm sugar syrup drip as a nice accent. Besides the creamer pot is not a see through one, the palm sugar syrup drip lets everyone know that there's palm sugar syrup inside it.

Keep shooting.....

Food Photography : Choco Cheese Brownies

2010-11-05T11:25:00.002+07:00

Akhir pekan ini merupakan akhir pekan yang membuat kondisi badan saya drop !! Setelah pulang malam dari kantor di hari Jum'at, dilanjutkan lembur di hari Sabtu dan pulang malam. Lengkap sudah, sedangkan pekerjaan rumah sudah menyambut, dari mulai cucian, setrikaan, rencana motret, sampai ke mencoba resep brownies. Dan kondisi saya sekarang, flu dengan hidung mampeeetttt.

Tapi teteeeppp... saya sempatkan mencoba resep brownies dan motret juga. Sebenarnya untuk pemotretan kali ini, saya ingin sekali motret bahan-bahan brownies-nya. Tapi saya benar-benar tidak sempat, karena meja makan, dapur sudah penuuuhhh. Tangan dan baju saya juga kotor, agak takut untuk pegang-pegang kamera. Mungkin lain kali ya....

Ide saya kali ini, motret brownies dengan tema earth. Baik warna dan properti, saya ingin menampilkan suasana homey. Jadilah, alas kayu dengan piring dari kayu, tatakan kayu, dan serbet warna coklat. Untuk posting kali ini, saya ingin berbagi cerita tentang TEMA. Tema sangat penting dalam pemotretan makanan, agar kita bisa menentukan, properti , warna-warna, dan suasana apa yang ingin kita tampilkan.

Misalnya kita ingin motret dengan tema "sarapan". Maka sebisa mungkin kita menata properti yang sesuai dengan nuansa sarapan. Entah dengan segelas susu, koran atau bunga. Atau kita ingin menampilkan tema yang sedikit berantakan, dengan taburan tepung, saringan, pisau yang agak kotor bekas memotong kue, dll.

Pemotretan kali ini diambil sekitar jam 2.30 - 3.00 sore, di teras rumah. Arah cahaya dari sebelah kiri foto, untuk pernak pernik lainnya bisa dilihat di foto (saya sudah memberi keterangan). Tips berikutnya dari saya, usahakan mengambil foto sebanyak mungkin, dari berbagai angle, dengan menata ulang makanan, piring, sendok/garpu, kira-kira posisi bagaimana yang terlihat enak dan tidak kaku. Untuk pemotretan kali ini, dari sekian puluh take, cuma 2 foto yang sreg di hati. (coba bayangkan..!!)

Pemotretan ini, diakhiri dengan mencicipi choco cheese brownies buatan sendiri. Untuk rasa dari brownies ini, sannnggaattt enak :D. Ya mungkin karena saya suka sekali coklat. Sekalian juga untuk memanjakan diri yang sedang flu :P

English version

The story above is more less about how tired I was last weekend. I got flu, stuffy nose and sneezing. Got home on Friday at 10.30PM, then worked over time on Saturday. But my burden is not over yet, I have to do the laundry, ironing, and I've plan to try a new recipe. Since I only have time to cook and take photo shoots on weekend, so I pushed my self to the limit, to do my very best.

So, in this post, I'd like to share my food photography tips, theme. Before doing photo shoots, it's better if you determine a theme for your photo. For example, you want to bring the breakfast theme into photo. So, you better choose your food properties which gives the morning and breakfast nuance, what color best for the breakfast theme, etc.

For choco cheese brownies photo session this time, I used earth theme. With wooden ware and the colors, I want to present the homey feeling in this photo. Homemade brownies, with napkin, brownies square pan, cutting board and knife. I hope you can smell the fresh from the oven brownies :)

Those pictures were taken at 2.30 - 3.00 PM at my porch. The light coming from the left side of the photo (2nd photo from above). The tools I used are, a portable table (I can carry and move my table to every place in my house depending which place has the best light), wooden board (I put it on top of the table), and styrofoams as reflector.

In my "home studio", I am the photographer and also the food stylist. Another tips from me is, don't be afraid to change the setting, food placement, or using a variety of different backgrounds. Take as many picture as you can from different angle, different styles and settings.

Hope this post gives you enough information about styling and theme. Or, if you want to read some more useful tips in food photography, click here.

Keep shooting...!!

Di balik foto : Memotret anak-anak

2010-11-01T15:13:00.000+07:00

Kalau ditanya saya lebih suka motret apa, jawabannya jelas, saya lebih suka memotret makanan. Tapi kalau sedang keluar rumah, saya senang motret candid anak-anak. Entah kenapa, buat saya pribadi, anak-anak lebih natural di foto. Ekspresi sedih, riang, gembira, sampai ekspresi bengong :p

Ketika lebaran lalu, saya sebenarnya sedang tidak shalat. Tapi saya niat ikut ke mesjid dengan bawa kamera dan lensa tele yang baru saya beli. Biasanya di mesjid, apalagi di shaf wanita banyak anak-anak. Dan ternyata benar, banyak balita :D. Di bawah ini adalah foto seorang anak perempuan yang ibunya sedang shalat sementara dia bengong sendirian. Imuuutttt banget.

*Canon 1000D , lensa Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6

Foto berikutnya, keponakan saya. Namanya Nadif Safian, kalo lihat kamera langsung pose. Waktu saya datang ke rumahnya, dia keluar membawa botol minuman. Saat dia ngintip dari lubang pagar, saya sempatkan motret Nadif. Nah, lihat nih posenya.

*Canon 1000D , lensa Canon 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6

Kekurangan saya, saya tidak ahli memotret di dalam ruangan. Selain harus memakai flash (saya kurang suka hasilnya), ISO besar, dan resiko blur jadi besar. Jadi untuk menghindari itu semua, saya biasanya motret outdoor, kecuali untuk motret makanan. Ini salah satu contoh foto indoor saya, yang saya ambil ketika menunggu pizza di PHD Kemang.

*Canon 1000D, lensa Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6

Foto anak kecil di Water Park ini, diambil waktu siang, terik, gonjreng, puanaaassss. Lengkap deh. Anak ini mandar mandir ke tempat semprotan air, sambil nunggingin bokongnya =))
Kocak banget, padahal itu celana udah kedodoran begitu. Kalau dilihat dari belakang begini, anak ini seperti sedang buang air kecil (uuppsss...)

*Canon 1000D, lensa Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6

Yaaa...gitu deh, sekelumit cerita pengalaman saya motret anak-anak. Kadang ada yang pas disamperin trus nangis (ini cerita waktu belum punya lensa tele), ada yang malah bergaya, tapi yang jelas, saya lebih senang kalau motret candid. Next, I've planned to shoot mother and kids, where you can see the love within.

Wish me luck....

Food Photography : Cahaya

2010-10-26T09:00:00.000+07:00

Apakah untuk menghasilkan foto bagus harus menggunakan peralatan yang mahal ? Tidak. Saran saya, kenali alat yang anda miliki. Kuasai dengan baik, sampai akhirnya anda merasa butuh untuk meningkat ke taraf berikutnya.

*foto di atas diambil di teras depan rumah, arah cahaya melimpah dari belakang, waktu sore hari

Dunia food photography ini serius saya tekuni sejak Februari 2010, setelah saya mantap dengan keseriusan saya, dan akhirnya saya merasa butuh untuk membeli kamera SLR untuk meningkat ke jenjang selanjutnya. Semuanya adalah proses, mengalir dan membeli karena saya butuh.

Peralatan untuk food photography saya hanya beberapa lembar styrofoam, kardus yang dibungkus alumunium foil (atau anda bisa membeli alas kue), karton hitam dan putih, card board hitam yang tebal dan meja kecil yang bisa dipindah-pindah.

*foto di atas, diambil siang hari, di belakang rumah, arah sinar dari atas, dan tidak terlalu kuat

"Studio foto" saya juga bukan ruangan khusus untuk motret. Tempatnya berpindah-pindah tergantung dimana cahaya melimpah ruah di rumah. Setelah saya mengamati, pagi jam 8 sampai jam 12-an, saya motret di belakang rumah. Tapi kalau siang sampai sore, studio saya pindah ke teras depan. Karena cahaya matahari banyak di sana.

Lho....kok cahaya matahari ??? Ya, cahaya yang saya pakai di semua foto makanan saya menggunakan cahaya matahari. Ingat, usahakan jangan menggunakan flash dalam foto makanan. Karena sinar dari flash sangat tajam, kurang bagus hasilnya pada hasil akhir foto anda. Jadi ya sebaiknya motret makanan pada saat pagi, siang atau sore hari.

Mengapa butuh sinar matahari ? Yaa... karena kalau cahaya banyak maka ISO yang anda pakai pun kecil, jadi tidak ada noise. Anda tentu tidak mau kalau foto makanan anda yang cantik akhirnya berbintik-bintik karena noise. Lagi pula, foto dengan menggunakan sinar matahari, menurut saya hasilnya lebih natural. Ada lagi, apabila cahaya yang masuk cukup, maka anda tidak butuh tripod untuk memotret. Saya mengalami keterbatasan angle foto apabila menggunakan tripod. :D Istilahnya, mati gaya.

*foto di atas diambil sore hari, cahaya kuat dari arah samping kiri

Apabila anda sudah memahami cahaya di rumah anda sendiri, maka secara tidak langsung anda bisa memperkirakan kualitas, kuantitas, dan arah cahaya di rumah anda. Selanjutnya, anda dapat memotret dengan arah cahaya dari samping atau belakang atau anda butuh cahaya yang banyak atau sedikit. Dengan sering berlatih, mengeksplorasi bagian rumah anda yang mendapatkan cukup cahaya matahari, dan jangan lupa untuk memperhatikan hasil akhir dari foto anda, maka anda akan mendapatkan hasil maksimal.

Foto A dihasilkan dengan cahaya matahari di pagi/siang/sore, arah datangnya cahaya dari samping/belakang, kualitas cahaya mana yang lebih baik di foto anda. Jangan pernah takut mencoba, karena dengan mencoba anda bisa mendapatkan hal-hal baru, ilmu baru yang tidak anda dapatkan dari buku.

Selamat mencoba....

Food Photography : Setting

2010-10-17T21:55:00.001+07:00

Waktu pertama kali terjun ke dunia food photography, saya kerepotan sekali untuk masalah setting pemotretan. Karena biasanya, saya ga ada ide trus ga mikir alas, background, warna dan tetek bengek lainnya. Dan jeleknya lagi, saya sudah menyiapkan makanan di piring, mangkok atau gelas langsung, padahal set belum siap sama sekali. Pokoknya cuma siap jepret aja.

Akhir-akhir ini saya membiasakan untuk menentukan lokasi pemotretan, lalu menata sedemikian rupa set-nya, peralatan makan sudah saya siapkan dan dipadupadankan. Ingat, jangan menaruh makanan di peralatan makan sebelum set anda siap !

Biasakan untuk memilih properti yang akan anda pakai, siapkan alas, reflektor dan peralatan lainnya. Lalu setelah siap, anda bisa meletakan peralatan makanan yang akan difoto, tapi tanpa makanannya. Hanya untuk melihat hasilnya saja, bagaimana cahayanya, warnanya, styling-nya, apakah sudah sesuai dengan yang anda inginkan.

Hal ini baik dilakukan dan dibiasakan. Coba bayangkan, kalau anda memotret segelas es teh. Es teh sudah siap sedangkan set anda belum siap. Maka embun dari es di gelas akan tampak buruk sekali di foto, tidak fresh. Nah, kalau memotret yang dingin-dingin, misalnya ada es batunya, masukkan es batu itu paling akhir, setelah semua benar-benar siap, dan anda sudah yakin dan sreg dengan set yang anda dekor sendiri.

Berikut di bawah ini adalah langkah-langkah yang saya lakukan sebelum pemotretan sesungguhnya dengan makanan.

Keterangan :
1. Saya mempersiapkan peralatan makan yang akan dipakai, lalu saya foto untuk melihat cahaya dan styling-nya. Ternyata terlalu polos.
2. Saya taburkan bunga putih untuk menambahkan aksen agar tidak terlalu polos.
3. Makanan diletakan di tempat, lalu foto kembali.

*Rencananya, saya ingin menyiramkan saus keju ke atas pudding. Tapi hal itu saya lakukan terakhir, untuk menghindari saus yang bleber.

Terkadang saat menataan set ini, kita akan mendapatkan ide-ide untuk mengisi kekosongan pada foto. Dan percayalah, hal ini banyak sekali keuntungannya. Ketika makanan difoto, hasilnya masih dengan panataan yang fresh.

Food Photography : Colorful Chocolate

2010-10-09T12:31:00.000+07:00

Ini proyek iseng-iseng, cuma pengen motret warna warni. Jadilah saya membeli 3 bungkus permen coklat warna warni di supermarket. Ide di kepala saya adalah, warna warni dengan background hitam.

Untuk pemotretan kali ini, saya menggunakan meja menggambar anak saya :D , selembar karton hitam untuk alas, alumunium foil, karton hitam tebal, dan properti alat makan. Lokasi pemotretan di dekat pintu masuk ruang tamu, karena cahaya di sana lagi banyak setelah tadi pagi hujan deras.

Fungsi karton hitam tebal itu untuk menghalangi sinar di belakang objek foto saya. Karena saya ingin menampilkan background yang gelap. Saya mempraktekan ilmu yang saya dapat dari sebuah blog. Semoga orang itu ilmunya tambah banyak. Amiin....

Letakan reflektor di tempat yang ingin diisi oleh cahaya. Karena bayangan ada di sebelah kanan gelas, otomatis saya letakan reflektor di sebelah kanan. Agar hasilnya nanti, cahaya ada dari 2 sisi. Bisa dilihat, ternyata di sekeliling objek foto saya, terdapat peralatan yang tidak ada hubungannya dengan photography.

Foto berikut di bawah ini, bisa dibandingkan hasil dengan menggunakan reflektor dan tanpa reflektor. Coba dilihat dengan jeli, ada perbedaannya atau tidak. Lihat di permen-permen coklat, terlihat sekali bedanya.

Memotret makanan sangat menggoda sekali. Karena selama pemotretan, saya berhasil memasukan beberapa butir permen coklat ke mulut saya. Hihihi... Dan untuk hasil akhir foto untuk eksperimen kali ini bisa dilihat seperti di bawah.

Food Photography : Selai Strawberry

2010-10-06T08:53:00.000+07:00

Hah....kalau saya menjejerkan hasil-hasil food photography saya sejak saya memakai pocket cam sampai DSLR, akan terlihat sekali perbedaan dan kemajuannya (bukan pe-de, tapi saya benar-benar merasakan hasil jerih payah belajar saya). Awalnya motret dengan styling seadanya, diatas meja makan, dengan taplak meja yang selalu sama (hhhffff...), tidak memikirkan arah datangnya cahaya, tanpa reflektor, pokoknya bener-bener asal-asalan.

Setelah sering-sering browsing, saya melihat hasil foto dari para ahli-ahli yang tidak pelit ilmu, yang memberi tau bagaimana cara mereka memotret makanan mereka di rumah sendiri, dengan alat seadanya, hasilnya tidak kalah dengan para food photographer professional. Saya sendiri tidak mempunyai real photography studio di rumah, jadi saya mulai mengumpulkan peralatan yang dibutuhkan, mulai dari alumunium foil yang dipasangkan di kardus kecil, styrofoam, dan properti lainnya.

Untuk kali ini, saya akan memperlihatkan cara saya memotret selai strawberi buatan sendiri. Saya tidak menggunakan alat-alat yang mahal.

Nah ... begitu tuh studio odong-odong saya, dan sepertinya, itu pun belum layak dibilang studio. Untuk foto di atas, cahaya datang dari arah kanan atas. Itu pun bukan dari jendela, karena rumah saya tidak mempunyai jendela besar untuk masuknya cahaya matahari. Itu merupakan open space di pojokan rumah saya, yang fungsi sesungguhnya adalah untuk jemuran :D

Reflektor saya tempatkan sedemikian rupa, untuk mengisi ruang yang gelap. Bisa dilihat sendiri, saya mengganjal semua peralatan saya sedemikian rupa, supaya saya bisa motret selai itu dengan sinar yang cukup. Styling juga seadanya, karena space untuk alas motretnya juga kecil. Itu kursi yang biasa dipakai untuk manjat :p

Kenapa saya memakai kursi itu ? Karena saya ingin memotret dengan alas kayu yang seratnya kelihatan. Kayu itu tadinya dicat rapi, tapi sering tersiram air, jadi catnya udah agak hilang.

Untuk hasil akhir seperti ini.

What do you think ?

Welcome....

2010-10-01T15:13:00.001+07:00

Hi, everyone. Welcome to my new blog !

Ini merupakan posting pertama saya di blog ini. Saya bukanlah seorang yang ahli ataupun profesional di bidang fotografi. Benar-benar menekuni pun baru tahun 2009 dengan menggunakan pocket cam Samsung S830. Dan baru sekitar bulan Februari 2010, saya memakai DSLR Canon 1000D.

Untuk mengasah kemampuan saya di bidang photography, saya sering membaca tutorial yang ada di internet, sering-sering motret, melihat-lihat hasil foto orang lain, mengikuti online photo event dan photo forum. Bukan untuk mencari menang, yang saya harapkan justru feedback, apa yang kurang dari foto-foto saya. Membandingkan hasil foto kita dengan hasil foto pemenang, itu juga sumber pelajaran yang berharga.

Di blog ini saya akan menceritakan kisah-kisah di balik foto-foto yang saya abadikan, yang tidak sempat terlihat di foto. Sebisa mungkin saya akan mentransfer ilmu-ilmu yang saya dapatkan secara otodidak kepada siapa pun yang membutuhkan.

Jadi jangan pernah malas untuk selalu belajar kalau ingin maju.
Keep shooting...