Chef Deborah Loc: Columbus, Ohio

Hi! I am a chef and am starting a website for a new company that will feature tons of gluten and dairy free recipes and instructional videos. The only problem is I am new to DSLR photography and I don't know which camera to get. If you had $3000 total to spend on a camera, lenses, lighting, and an external microphone, what would you get and why? I need the still shots to be top quality, and the videos to be clear and easy to understand. Thanks! (The attached photos were taken with my iPad 2 in bad lighting, but I wanted you to see some of the recipes!)

Sandwich Bread


Baguettes


Blueberry Crumb Muffins

geclevel Loc: Springville, Utah

Welcome to the Hog.
I am partial to the Canon 7D, simply because it is the camera I own. I have not used my 7D for video but I have been told the HD video is amazing. I do like the image quality of my 7D. Keep an eye on your post because some great people on this site will give you some excellent recommendations.
-Gerald

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

Welcome to UHH

luvmypets Loc: Born & raised Texan living in Fayetteville NC

Hello and welcome!!

wonkytripod Loc: Peterborough UK

Welcome from the UK. Send 6 muffins for more info. :lol: :lol:

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

The real answer?

It won't matter....really, it won't.

I've seen foodie shots taken by lowly Canon entry level DSLR's several years old that were stunning.

Gear isn't the deal in this sort of shooting...understanding how to take great food shots is.


Here is what I'd recommend:

1.) Buy a few-year-old refurbished camera; Canon t2i is one that you can get cheap though there are many others.

2.) If the camera comes with a kit lens...fine, if not, buy a decent lens. (this is an example though not the only one): http://www.amazon.com/Tamron-28-75mm-Aspherical-Canon-Digital/dp/B0000A1G05/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383928620&sr=8-1&keywords=tamron+28-75mm

3.) Go to Kelby training (kelbytraining.com) and purchase a year of their video training, right now it's 40% off, good deal.

4.) Get the lighting gear that they recommend in the video. You can go cheap, it's not necessary to get expensive here and you can even shoot using window light if you know what you are doing...and that's the main thing before gear...knowing how to pull good shots out.

They have foodie instructional videos that are second to none.


Doing this will allow you to get a decent camera, some very good training and all the "little bits and pieces" that you'll have to get and still have cash left over.


Here is the link to the video series.

http://kelbytraining.com/course/glyda_food/


I just watched that course and I was blown away.

cthahn

Hire a good photographer who specializes in food. You can spend all the money you want to on a camera, but if you are not a photographer and do not understand the basics of photography and lighting, you will not be happy with the results.

cthahn

Hire a good photographer who specializes in food. You can spend all the money you want to on a camera, but if you are not a photographer and do not understand the basics of photography and lighting, you will not be happy with the results.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Welcome to our forum!

Send a private PM (private message) to JR1. He just finished photographing food for a cookbook. I think you've found it's not as easy as you might think taking good pictures of food. Click on the link below, and then click on "Send PM."

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/user_profile.jsp?usernum=24276

Chef Deborah Loc: Columbus, Ohio

Thank you for the welcome and the suggestions! I do have to learn how to take the photos and videos myself, because I'll be adding new content to the website on a daily basis. I checked out the Kelby course and it looks great! So far, no one has mentioned a Nikon camera. Does everyone here like Canon better?

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Nope...they are both ok...just that I had Canon so I mentioned it...no difference at all.

BuckeyeBilly Loc: St. Petersburg, FL

Chef,
Welcome to UHH. Here are some websites that have information about shooting food:

http://cookieandkate.com/food-photography-tips-for-food-bloggers/

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2013/10/22/food-photography-tips-10-ingredients-for-delicious-images/

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Photograph-Food-without-a-Fancy-Camera/

This one includes the chef's camera recommendations:
http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/01/20/bites-for-growing-your-blog-food-photography-basics/

This is from Nikon with info about about each photo taken, including the lens and camera used:
http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Learn-And-Explore/Article/h3w39v2e/tips-for-making-tempting-food-photos.html

You can thank me by sending a box of the whatever happens to be your most-requested food item!


:lol: :-P

Singing Swan

I agree. I've been trying to learn to make food look yummy in a photograph and it is not as easy as pointing at the food and clicking the shutter. It takes some practice to make food look good. And I agree that it isn't the camera, it's the position of the food, the scene you make to display it and the light it is displayed in. And I would agree, that although a better camera will give you a sharper photo, the camera in this case won't make the difference, the skill will.

daninr8 Loc: Western Slope of Colorado

I've talked with plenty of Camera people, and Nikon is excellent at still photos and their top end cameras do shoot very good video. My Canon T3i shoots excellent HD video, while the still shots are very good. You are going to have to choose which is more important to you, video or photos. If I had a budget like yours, I would actually separate the video and photos. Buy a good video camera, a good camera (doesn't have to be a dslr), and then put the rest of your money into the lighting. Canon just announced before Thanksgiving that they are now issuing T3i Manufacture Refurbished cameras. Hope this helps, and welcome to UHH.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

I wouldn't say there's a "best" dslr but rather you should be considering the lens(s) you choose... that's what will be important. Any good make dslr (Canon or Nikon) can do this work very well - I'm think specifically of the Canon t3i at
18mp. It also does HD video and has external audio.

A tripod will be important as will the proper lighting and a good wireless mike system. None of these are cheap but I would think you can get them all if you first don't spend
$1,200 on just the camera body and another many hundreds on the lens.

Good luck with your site. My wife is gluten free and always appreciates a place to get new recipes.