advertising and food photography

[adam_ledzinski]

<p>Hi,<br>

Which type of lenses suit best for advertising and food photography (and similar). I am interested mostly in canon lenses. Thank you or any advice.<br>

PS: and maybe some word or two about accesiorries that are useful in this matter?</p>

[andrewg_ny]

<p>What do you already have in terms of camera, lenses, lighting? Lighting is probably the most important of the three. And by 'advertising', do you mean 'product' photography?</p>

[rapyke]

<p>I don't know about Canon lenses, but, fast is good - any good portrait lens is good.</p>

<p>Available light is your friend, a reflector, solid tripod and bags and bags of creativity.</p>

<p>Artificial light is great, if you are very, very good with it.On camera flash is a no-no.</p>

<p>There is a pretty good general article and discussion here: http://digital-photography-school.com/food-photography-techniques-and-tips</p>

[Spearhead]

<p>Start with any lens and learn to control the light, especially artificial lighting, which is what gives the look customers expect for advertising and food photography. The lens is a lot less important than what you can do with the light.<br>

<br />If you can't afford a food stylist, you should take a class at a local school in it. It's essential to quality food photography.</p>

<p>The page link Ron gives is OK, it's pretty brief, but the links at the bottom of the page are very useful. </p>

 

[devon_mccarroll]

<p>I took both food photography courses at <a href="http://www.ppsop.com">www.ppsop.com</a>, and I highly recommend them. The first will teach you about working with natural light, and the second focuses on using studio lighting. It's important to start with understanding how to light your subject, because light is what it's all about. Focus on practicing with natural lighting until you understand it fully, and then move on to artificial light. Once you've done all of that, then you can start looking at things like food styling, which is a critical component down the line if and when you want to do it as a profession.<br>

If you don't have a copy of Light, Science, and Magic, that's a very good book to have--practically the bible of lighting.<br>

For my food photography, now that I've learned how to work with studio lighting, I have two monolights, two softboxes (a small and a medium-large), a full set of grids, radio controls, a boom stand, and of course a tripod. You'll use lots of reflectors, which can be anything from simple white foamcore to more sophisticated things depending on the size of your subject. I work almost exclusively with my 28-105mm lens (Nikon).<br>

Again, I'd really suggest some classes if you want to get serious about this. It will give you a good foundation to start with.</p>

[adam_ledzinski]

<p>wow! Thank You for all this answers. Many valuable tips. I'm so pleased. I feel obliged to use them.</p>