5 Tips for Better Food Photography

We all know food tastes good, but it’s not always the easiest subject to photograph. Taking good photos doesn’t just happen by pointing and shooting. There’s a lot that goes into it.
A great photograph doesn’t just happen. You need to think about the details like composition, lighting, styling, etc. A good food photo makes your drool just looking at it because it displays the best traits of the food (aka, the subject).

Below are five tips from one of our brands, FoodPhotoStudio.com that detail some of the key aspects to getting great food shots:

Don’t Ignore Composition

Tell a story by using your backdrop or setting and props. Make sure that everything looks beautiful and well-rounded. Composition basically means the arrangement of stuff in your photo. A good composition sets the scene for your audience, whether it’s a plate or a single piece of parsley on your dish.

One useful tool to keep in mind is the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds is a nine-part grid that you need to imagine over your photo or subject. Your main subject should be either along the lines or at the intersections of your grid. Our eyes are naturally drawn to these points, so it’s good to keep in mind when taking your photos. You use this method to really highlight your dish and tell a story.

Props Are Essential

Props can really set the storyline for your photo and give it more depth. However, you don’t want to overdo it. You want your photos to be full of detail, but you don’t want the props to take over the shot or upstage your main subject (the food).

For example:

• Choose the plate you use wisely

• Use accessories like napkins or utensils

• Garnish the dish

• Get creative with your backgrounds

• If the food is busy, make sure your props aren’t, and if your setting/food isn’t so busy then add some flare and character using your plates, bowls, etc.

Angles Are Critical

Choosing the right angles makes all the difference. Some dishes are better with the side view and others are better from a birds eye view. When you establish which is best for your subject, you’ll really see an increase in response because you’ll have made the food look incredible!

Don’t Get Too Close

Try to take a shot far enough away from the ideal sizing you’ll want. This way you’ll have wiggle room when you are editing and you can play with different compositions in the editing process. Sometimes playing with the cropping when editing can take a photo that you didn’t love from the start to one that’s fantastic.

A good rule of thumb is being far enough away that you know you won’t end up cropping half the bowl out or even someone’s head. Think of the subject and how you want it to look in its "end use".

Interact With The Food

Interaction is a great way to liven up your photos. For example, cutting into the item, using a hand with a fork, etc., will create a story and make it more real versus just looking like fake, pretty food. It also adds character and creates a style to the client's photography.

Is Virtual Art the Future of Creativity?

Have You Experienced Virtual Art?

Every art piece demands a certain level of immersion and engagement from its viewers, but art experienced via VR googles takes things to an entirely different level. Virtual art, VR art or virtual reality art are all terms we use to describe the virtualization of art, made with the technical tools developed in recent decades. The development of computers and other tools such as “visualization casks, stereoscopic spectacles and screens, digital painting and sculpture, generators of three-dimensional sound, position sensors, tactile and power feed-back systems transforms artwork into a virtual universe and allows viewers to get in and edit. This deep level of immersion and personal involvement and the application of specific technical tools are the main characteristics of what we refer to as virtual art.

Unlike many other art forms, virtual art cannot exist without the observer, but at the same time, it erases the difference between the viewer, the creator and the artwork itself. It merges all three in one by letting the viewers control their surrounding with gesture and movement, by giving them different paths of exploring the artwork and by integrating the participants into the piece itself (sometimes through breathing, speech or video clips, other times through virtual representation of the participant aka the avatar).

A Milestone Event

Recently, a blockchain crypto-art rose titled "Forever Rose" has been sold to a collective of investors for cryptocurrencies with a value equivalent to $1,000,000 USD. The collective is composed of 10 investors, each of whom contributed an equal amount toward the digital rose. The artwork is based on Kevin Abosch's photograph of a rose and was created by Abosch and GIFTO, a decentralized universal gifting protocol. Blockchain technology is behind cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and rights management platforms like KODAKOne. The tech can also be used for art, as demonstrated by Abosch with "Forever Rose." Abosch previously sold an image of a potato titled "Potato #345" in 2016 for more than $1 million.

Forever Rose is believed to currently be the most valuable virtual artwork in the world. The buyers can choose to hold onto their rose tokens, sell them, or give them away. Abosch and GIFTO will donate the sale proceeds to The CoderDojo Foundation, which provides kids around the world with the opportunity to learn coding skills for free.

What is the Future of Virtual Art?

The future of Virtual Art will in many ways depend on the development of components that will be available to future art-makers. The first wave came instantly and gained immediate attention around the globe. But shortly after, virtual art began to fade a bit, since the possibilities of the latest equipment was quickly exhausted. But technological progress continues, and now you can make paintings, sculptures, even murals by using VR tools but still there’s a long way to go, and developers know it. With its ability to simultaneously occupy all our senses, transcend time and space and present the work from numerous perspectives, virtual art offers something that no other art genre does: the complete and impeccable substitute for reality. 

Let us know your thoughts or your experiences with virtual art… and as always, keep creating!

In 2018, Image Means More Than Ever

So if you thought one way when you read the title of this post, we’re hear to tell you that it’s truly a “two-fold issue" as far as how our creative team looks at it. As part of a group of creative companies, FIRM NAME and it’s people believe that the “visual image" we capture for you and your company directly impacts how your “brand image” is perceived out there in the world, be it on packaging in a supermarket, on social media, or as part of an editorial spread in a newspaper or magazine.

Humans are visual creatures hence what others see has an undeniable impact on our success. Images transcend language and words and allow for a greater understanding of whatever is being discussed. Since first impressions are formed within seconds and since most of the information we consume and interpret is visual, quality design can make your site and your brand stick in the viewer’s mind as professional and credible.

It’s simple: the more professional, compelling and enticing your imagery is, the more business you’ll conduct over time. We’re not just talking about pretty pictures, we’re talking about a way to visualize information in a way that makes sense to your end user. Using high quality imagery of your products and services will help you market to a much larger audience. Imagery opens your content up to a whole new audience by giving visitors the chance to share your imagery with friends and family… and as a bonus: shared images are basically free advertising.

Using great design and imaginative, high quality imagery is a necessity in today’s visual world. Great creative should convey a message in an easy, simple way, transcend language barriers, provide a good summary of information, support and break down complex concepts, and take a fraction of a second to understand. Yes, that’s a tall order, but it’s one that we fulfill for our clients on a daily basis. 

Our Look At Super Bowl Commercial Chatter

For this week’s post, our team thought it would be fun to recap the public AND professional reactions to this year’s crop of Super Bowl commercials. We examined what major publications as well as various social media channels were talking about… both good AND bad.

Humor Trumps Politics

Last year’s Super Bowl featured several ads that were political in nature. This year, companies focused more on humor and nostalgia. Many industry experts saw this as a direct reaction to the fractured climate that exists among Americans as gridlock continues in Washington. 

Some of the most talked-about commercials include:

As the Super Bowl headed into its final quarter, the ads fluctuated between funny and somber. The N.F.L.’s own ad featuring the New York Giants’ Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. re-enacting the climactic dance scene from “Dirty Dancing” was a huge hit, as was Amazon’s “Alexa Loses Her Voice” spot.

“There’s definitely a humanitarian theme that is running through the spots,” said Margaret Johnson, chief creative officer of the agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners, which created the Doritos-Mountain Dew ad. “That and humor seem to be the two themes of the night.”
While there were no commercials connected to the #MeToo movement, some still saw progress when it came to the role of gender in Super Bowl ads. “In a culture and a climate where it’s hard to find any kind of positive news out there at the moment, it felt like something we wanted to really lean into and take on a very different message,” said Andrew McKechnie, Verizon’s chief creative officer.

Social media blew up about the Dodge Ram truck commercial, which utilized a voice-over of a speech from Martin Luther King, Jr. And while the reaction to this ad was quite negative and generated much discussion, it appears that social media was in agreement that the “Alexa” and “Dirty Dancing” ads topped this year’s list of “best in show”.

And while “product sales” were still the mainstay throughout the game, more and more we’re seeing extravagant productions for everything from movies and TV network shows, to tourism promotion for Australia.

Watch The Ads Again!

If you’d like to check out any of the commercials again, here’s a link to the world famous USA Today “Ad Meter” that is compiled through a nationwide group of reviews in real time. (Once the new browser window opens, scroll to the bottom of the report to see the reel of all 64 spots).

NOTE: Special thanks to the New York Times, Ad Age and USA TODAY for their links and commentary.

New Tech from CES 2018

CES, the world's biggest technology show, recently wrapped up its 2018 edition in Las Vegas. The giant electronics trade show is a yearly showcase of the latest gadgets. It’s also a chance for companies to demonstrate some of their crazier concepts, which may never actually be developed. Below is a brief look at some of the highlights from this year’s show.

Televisions

At CES, the TV reigns supreme. So far, 2018 is proving to be no exception to this unwritten rule. Sony, Samsung, LG and Panasonic have lugged their premium screens to Vegas and OLED is the flavor of the show – as well as overwhelmingly large screens.

So far, LG has led the way with its prototype of a 65-inch rollable OLED screen. It has also announced its future TVs will incorporate voice assistants and captured early headlines by announcing an 8K TV.

Samsung has debuted what it is calling a modular TV. Called 'The Wall' the 146-inch display is made up of micro LEDs and the firm claims "consumers can customize their television sizes and shapes to suit their needs". Samsung also says in the second half of 2018 it will be releasing an 8K QLED TV that uses artificial intelligence to adjust the screen resolution based on what is being shown.

Elsewhere Sony has launched the Bravia A8F. The TV has a virtually bezel-less screen and comes in 55 and 65-inch versions. When put on sale later this year it will support 4K, HDR and Dolby Vision. Panasonic added two 4K OLEDs, the FZ800 and FZ950, to its lineup.

Laptops & Tablets

Despite their dominance, CES isn't just about TVs. Ahead of the show, Dell announced its new XPS 13 laptop, which comes with three USB ports, one of Intel's latest generation process and the possibility of a 4K screen. Not to be outdone, LG also pre-announced its new line of LG Gram laptops in three different screen sizes.

Meanwhile, Samsung has revamped its Notebook 9 and Notebook 7 Spin. And Acer has also refreshed its Swift 7 laptop, which it claims to be the thinnest in the world, at 8.98mm.

Asus is updating a couple of its laptops, including the ZenBook 13, which is claimed will have a 15-hour battery life. Also being announced is the ASUS X507, a portable gaming laptop with an Intel Core i7 CPU. Outside of the laptop world, Asus also announced the Chromebox 3, a tiny desktop PC that runs Chrome OS.

Dell's latest laptop, the XPS 2-in-1, now comes in a 15-inch size and has a keyboard that utilizes magnets. Using the resistance of the magnets, the firm says it can control the feel of typing. It has also announced a new app that allows notifications from iOS and Android phones to be shown on its laptops.

Google Appears At CES

For the first time, Google has a public presence at CES. It usually sends along an army of staff to explore what's being shown and conduct business meetings behind the scenes but this year it's stepped out of the shadows. In part this is because of its hardware push – launching the Google Home, Pixel 2 and Pixelbook in recent months – but mostly because of its Google Assistant being integrated into other products.

Google continues its push into VR. Partnering with Lenovo and Yi, the companies announced standalone VR headsets. These don't require a mobile phone to run, include head movement tracking and work on Google's Daydream VR platform.

Elsewhere, Android Pay and Google Wallet have been merged into one system, Google Pay, and it has also introduced its Assistant to Android Auto.

The web giant also announced that Google Assistant will work on home assistant devices with screens. This allows a Google-powered Echo Show to be created. But Google hasn't made one of these devices itself (yet), but Lenovo has launched one.

What About Cameras?

Despite the world's media descending on the Las Vegas Convention Center, however, the photographic industry has decided to keep a very low profile this year. The one big announcement has been Panasonic's Lumix GH5S hybrid mirrorless camera, while Nikon paraded an exotic super-telephoto 180-400mm zoom lens that costs about the same as a decent used car.

We perhaps shouldn't overlook the Lenovo Mirage and Yi Technology DayDream VR180 cameras, although while they certainly look fun they don't quite stir the photographer inside us. And that's been about it in terms of new technology.

But it didn't always used to be like this. It was only a few years ago that our inbox would get clogged up with a multitude of CES camera announcements, while those on the ground at the Convention Center would spend our time dashing round trying to make sure we saw everything and everyone they needed to see.

Admittedly, many of these camera announcements were entry-level compacts, but CES has also seen some big camera launches in recent years. Nikon has used the show to announce the likes of the D3300, D5500, D4, D500 and D5, while Canon unveiled the PowerShot G9 X Mark II, Fujifilm the X-Pro1 and X100S and Sony the Alpha A5000.

From a photography perspective though, CES has been on a bit of a slide in recent years. The writing was on the wall when the Photo Marketing Association's (PMA) imaging technology trade show (which was also held in Las Vegas) was incorporated into CES and rebranded as PMA@CES starting 2012.

While the big guns like Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Sony and Samsung would show off their latest cameras at their vast stands in the Convention Center, others would opt for small booths and meeting rooms instead, while the PMA itself was tucked away at the nearby Venetian hotel. But 2015 was the last PMA@CES, and now the event has disappeared completely, getting swallowed up by the juggernaut that is CES.

Factor in how the photo market has shifted in recent years, from everyone having a smartphone, a multitude of high-volume, low-cost compacts as well as more premium models with longer life cycles, and it makes sense that there's now a distinct lack of "camera news" at CES.