Minty Photography Update

I’ve written a few posts about photography. Mostly about my learning curve and struggles. I am still on the fence about a new camera though the desire is pretty strong when I view what I consider awful pictures taken at dark restaurants.

But I’ve been pretty pleased with most of my photography these days. I have now learned a few tricks.

1. No flash. Well, that’s not so much as a trick as an etiquette issue.  I don’t want to attract attention nor do I want to disturb others around me. But mainly when food pics are taken with flash, they tend to look washed out and horrible. No amount of editing fixes the problem.

2. Work with a lot of light. So, I tend to be shy about moving to a light source or holding a light source near the item I’m shooting but every time I see my shots that have good light, I’m amazed. Duh! It helps to see the thing you’re shooting.

3. Take a lot of shots. From different angles. Just shoot the hell out of it. I used to take one shot. Maybe two-three depending if I thought it was blurry or not. Now I take upwards of five or six. But only when in company of other bloggers. I don’t want to hold up dinner!

4. Edit photos. By editing, I mean I tend to saturate and sharpen photos. But only until recently did I figure out what to do with some of my dark photos.

duck confit eggrolls from Elements Kitchen

I hated this pic so much I never used it on my original Elements post.

retouched

It’s not much better but this picture I would have actually used!

Every time I learn something new, the more I hang on to the idea that I can do so much more with my basic point and shoot. Yeah, maybe I would like that fabled “food porn” camera a few people have but I have more fun being the best photographer I can be with the camera I have.

oyster and mussels chowder

This is pretty bad, huh? It was so bad, I actually received a nasty comment from a complete stranger I shouldn’t take any more pics. Well, Mr. Negative, I’ve worked on it.

retouched

So again, it’s not the best but I like to think it’s better. Which means, yes, you’ll probably still see pics that are kind of yellowy and dark but hopefully less of them!

I just found my camera’s instruction book. I suppose it’ll help to read it! I am also thinking about taking a class. In general, I like my shots. I like to think being an artist helps my composition.

Now if only I had the time to go through all my photos and edit them!

Category : minty life, photography