by Alex Brown | Feb 11, 2017
Do you remember when Instagram first came out? Most likely at any restaurant you could glance over and see someone taking a picture of their food! Food Photographer Brandon Cozza explains why gourmet restaurant food photography is so important to the success of restaurants:
You eat with your eyes first, so making sure that what your eyes see is appealing is key.
In order to tackle the world of gourmet restaurant food photography, I went with a group of photographers to The Lift Jackson Hole. The Lift is an awesome restaurant because it’s got a cool atmosphere, awesome food and is affordable in comparison to other gourmet restaurants in Jackson Hole.
Setting the Scene
Sometimes you need to look up!
The Lift Jackson Hole is located in the SoBro District, which is south of Broadway on Cache. The bar is rarely empty, unless you come before they actually open.
LED lighting changes against the bar wall.
Appetizer Appeal
I love controlling the depth of field when shooting gourmet restaurant food. By using big apertures (low f/stop numbers), you are able to focus and showcase certain items/ingredients of the item. In this case, I wanted to show a lineup of appetizers that The Lift Jackson Hole has on its menu; this one picture not only features the Lobster Mac & Cheese, but you can make out the WY Whiskey BBQ Buffalo Wings!
Lobster Mac & Cheese: Melted American Cheese with Red Onion, Lobster, Jalapenos and Cilantro. Topped with Panko.
Ben enjoying Angela’s Nachos of Love with Homemade Melted Cheese, Olives, Jalapenos, Black Beans, Pico De Gallo, Guacamole & Sour Cream
The Main Dish
LuLu Salad: Field Greens, Sunflower Seeds, Candied Walnuts, Dried Cranberries, Shredded Carrots, Goat Cheese, with a House Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette
Shorty’s Taco Salad: Fried Tortilla Shell Filled with Mexican Rice, Black Beans, Corn, Lettuce, Shredded Cheese, Pico de Gallo, Guacamole and Sour Cream. *Topped with Fajita Style Peppers, Onions, and Steak.
The Rueben
Fat Bastard Burger: Cheddar, Swiss, Pastrami, Sauerkraut, Bacon and Thousand Island
DELICIOUS DESSERTS
I love how the first picture below has the spoons there in the background. It helps add interest and tells a story.
Coffee Ice Cream Oreo Cake with Root Beer Float
Glory Bowl: Warm Chocolate Chip Brownie with a Huckleberry Compote, Vanilla Ice Cream & Whipped Cream
Here are my top tips if you want to give restaurant food photography a try:
- Check Yelp to find a restaurant nearby that might have awesome food to photograph
- Use a large aperture (small f/stop number)
- Try different angles
- Focus on what makes the dish unique!
- Set the scene by making sure you get pictures of the environment and of people enjoying the food
by Alex Brown | Jan 21, 2017
Instead of thinking about life through a lens, start living it; Capturing amazing moments of real life with street photography and still life photography.
Think of your daily route to work or school. You do it so often it becomes boring and ordinary. I know there have been times when I’ve noticed something and I’ve contemplated whether or not it’s new or if something has changed. Most likely, it probably it hasn’t.
I was challenged to merge my ordinary real life with my creative mind in something called OS-ES. After attending a conference and workshop, photographer and visual communications professor Caryn Esplin was amazed by the work of Roberto Valenzuela – specifically how he was able to take an ordinary spot and turn it into an extraordinary shot (OS-ES).
Street Photography
Living in Idaho, urban and street photography is something that is somewhat hard to come by. As I was driving around Eastern Idaho, I came by this ordinary spot and was fascinated by how the light created abstract shadows against these concrete walls. You’re going to have to wait to see the ordinary spot, but here’s the extraordinary shot I got:
Extraordinary Shot
What I love most about this image is how thoughtful and contemplative it is. It’s conceptual in nature. I took this shot with the intent of making the viewer try to think about exactly what it is. Not only did this remind me of my Eucalyptus Euphoria project, it reminded me of what the great street photographer, Eric Kim, mentions in his guide to street photography:
Not all street photography needs to be super emotional. Some street photographs are purely visual images– that appeal to our sense of geometry, composition, and composition. These images are generally shot in good light with nice lights and shadows, have strong diagonal lines, leading lines, curves, and shapes of interest
Still Life Photography
Still life photography is a lot like street photography, except you capture the emotion and pause the life of inanimate objects. I thought a lot about how I could get an extraordinary shot out of an ordinary spot. I think because of this, I tended to overthink it. After changing out my camera battery, I was just browsing in my room and I noticed not only how the light from the window was hitting my roommate’s bed, but also how he “set” his covers up before he went boarding this morning.
Ordinary Spot
Extraordinary Shot
With photography, my favorite angle is the lowest angle possible. So, when I got lower and closer to his bed, I noticed his pair of jeans on the floor. And then the creativity happened with this shot. Who knew an ordinary pair of jeans could turn in to such a dramatic still life photograph?! (I guess he now has an excuse for not picking his clothes up off the floor.)
Oh… before I forget. Here’s the ordinary spot of the first picture. Also, check out Megan Graham’s challenge with OS-ES.
Ordinary Spot
by Alex Brown | Jan 14, 2017
How to turn an everyday male headshot into a billboard-ready, fashion photograph using lighting patterns and high-end retouching
Headshots are often seen as and perceived as girly and glamorous: Hours of makeup followed by hours of hair, and in the end there aren’t really any shots that she loves. When it comes to photographing male headshots, simplicity is key. The goal of a photographer is to balance the light. When taking male headshots, the simple application of standard lighting patterns can make the difference between not or HOT! If you combine these lighting patterns with some post production high-end retouching, your male headshot steps it up a level, becoming billboard ready!
With any headshot, good auxiliary lighting is key. For all the male headshots below, I used an Einstein strobe with a beauty dish and a diffuser cover. By using a beauty dish, we get the beautiful circular outlined catch light in the eyes!
Loop Lighting
Named after the shadow loop underneath and to the side of the nose, Loop lighting is one of the most typical lighting patterns because it achieves a flattering look while at the same time creating depth. To take this photo a step above and beyond, I did some high end retouching to help even out the complexion and shadows on the skin, creating even better contrast with the glasses. Eyewear photographers, watch out! For more examples of high end retouching check out my buddy Gerardo Sumano, who is an expert at high end fashion photography and retouching!
Rembrandt Lighting
Rembrandt lighting is lighting that features a triangle underneath the eye on the short side of the light.
Split Lighting
Split lighting is where one side of the face is lit while the other is dark.
