Homemade biscotti: What it says. I put them into a clay pot which I use for bread baking, set it on the family room table, and shot it with at f/22 in aperture mode (Nikon D5000).

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

What it says. I put them into a clay pot which I use for bread baking, set it on the family room table, and shot it with at f/22 in aperture mode (Nikon D5000). Tripod, available lighting (incandescent bulbs). I set the camera for a 2-second delay and the exposure ended up as 8 seconds. I upped the exposure a bit, cut the temperature a little and boosted the clarity in Adobe Camera Raw and cropped it.

C&C, and what would you do different? (Mind you, I have no lights other than the built-in flash, or whatever's available. OK, one answer is, "Go out and buy some lights.")

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

Well, the lighting is a little flat. And you probably didn't need f/22. But your photo made me want to eat some of them and that is the real test of whether a food photo works or not! Your biscotti looks delicious. You could try taking a photo at f/8 and your exposure time would be much different. You could try taking it from a lower angle, perhaps with some side light coming in through a window. Just different things you could try. That is, if you have any biscotti left. I think rpavich is becoming the resident expert on food photography! I hope he sees your photo and comments.

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

The lighting definitely left something to be desired. I shot straight down in part because there was limited space that was completely clear. If I were going to shoot at an angle, I'd want sunlight and enough light to open the lens up. This time around, I wanted to capture detail, hence the long exposure. Thanks for looking and commenting.

Nightski

I think I would shoot it straight on just like you did. Frame it up a little tighter. We don't need to see the table or all of the bowl. Go to f5.6 and make sure it's tack sharp. Fast shutter or get your tripod into a funky position. :-)

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

Nightski wrote:

I think I would shoot it straight on just like you did. Frame it up a little tighter. We don't need to see the table or all of the bowl. Go to f5.6 and make sure it's tack sharp. Fast shutter or get your tripod into a funky position. :-)

I have a cropped version, as you can see. It was framed pretty tight. My tripod was on the table and I was using LiveView to frame and focus, and set the 2-second delay. That is, when I could find all the right buttons, which seemed to keep moving around while I wasn't looking. I could have used a wider aperture, but I was curious about how the long exposure would look, and I was trying to keep everything in the pot sharp. I climbed up on a footstool a couple of times, but that was not contributing to anything but my risk of collecting on my health insurance.

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

I hope this helps http://www.lightstalking.com/how-to-photograph-food

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

St3v3M wrote:

I hope this helps http://www.lightstalking.com/how-to-photograph-food

Nice reference. Thank you. I like shooting in natural light (mostly because I only have the camera's built-in flash to augment available light), but it was completely dark when I had time to take the photo. After I finished the biscotti, I baked a couple of loaves of whole wheat, so I was kinda busy.

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

For the intent being the biscotti, the table upstages. Perhaps do some burning on the bread and dodging on the table?

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

artBob wrote:

For the intent being the biscotti, the table upstages. Perhaps do some burning on the bread and dodging on the table?

Please! I was very careful not to burn the biscotti. It's light and crisp. ;)

Maybe something could be done about the table.

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

RMM wrote:

Please! I was very careful not to burn the biscotti. It's light and crisp. ;)

Maybe something could be done about the table.

:-)

RichieC Loc: Adirondacks

While no bread, have a look at a close friends site, his use of DOF, some props, and a bit of set-up. I'd suggest some silverwear, perhaps some butter, perhaps a glass of milk, perhaps some crumbs or a broken piece or arranged in a neat stack.. etc. etc.

You subject looks delicious! Have fun and get creative. Shooting food to look appetizing is a whole branch of photography in itself.

http://www.rfkent.com/index.php#a=0&at=0&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=1&p=1

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

RichieC wrote:

While no bread, have a look at a close friends site, his use of DOF, some props, and a bit of set-up. I'd suggest some silverwear, perhaps some butter, perhaps a glass of milk, perhaps some crumbs or a broken piece or arranged in a neat stack.. etc. etc.

You subject looks delicious! Have fun and get creative. Shooting food to look appetizing is a whole branch of photography in itself.

http://www.rfkent.com/index.php#a=0&at=0&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=1&p=1

Lovely site.

Just by way of background, yes, I was trying to exercise the camera a bit. It has been wicked cold, and there hasn't been much to photograph. Call it guilt. Also, I've been using my photography to stay in touch with family members who aren't doing well. So here was an experiment in baking that turned out well, and could also serve as a (drumroll, please) "ready-made" subject. OK, home-made, in every sense of the term. If you'd seen me on a wobbly stepladder trying to find where the buttons on the camera had wandered off to, you'd probably have wondered if either the camera or I was going to make it out alive.

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

RMM wrote:

Lovely site. br br Just by way of background, yes... (show quote)

I have heard of people breaking their legs falling off ladders while cleaning house gutters, but haven't heard of people breaking their legs photographing homemade biscotti. Please be careful. The #1 site for accidents is in the home.

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

Heirloom Tomato wrote:

I have heard of people breaking their legs falling off ladders while cleaning house gutters, but haven't heard of people breaking their legs photographing homemade biscotti. Please be careful. The #1 site for accidents is in the home.

We've managed to keep those incidents out of the newspapers, but it happens all the time. Biscotti photography is one of the most dangerous types of photography this side of a war zone.

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

RMM wrote:

We've managed to keep those incidents out of the newspapers, but it happens all the time. Biscotti photography is one of the most dangerous types of photography this side of a war zone.

You are very funny. I appreciate that. :-P