From Baking to Photographing

        Whether you just baked some absolutely beautiful cupcakes or grilled some perfect kebabs; you're probably feeling the urge to photograph it before you delve into the deliciousness; but for some photographing these yummy pieces can be trickier than actually making them!

        Why is food photography so hard? I don't actually have a direct answer for that; but I think a lot of it has to do with the limitations on placing it and the small areas you have to do it in. We can place a figurine in the dirt, on a tree branch, on the window sill, between some book pages... you see my point; we can't quite do any of that [nor would we want to!] with cupcakes, sushi, steak or cookies.

Tools

• your food
• a camera
• background/props/etc. if any
• lighting [if needed]
• your lovely self!

Background & Area
        While your main piece is the food, you still have to consider the background. So what can you use?! Well; my first suggestion would be your cooking area! There's a variety of ways you could do this, from photographing one with more in the background or using the tools or ingredients you used to make it with! Or you can simply use a plain background from a plate, counter or otherwise. [For plain backgrounds I use fabric, a 12inch x 12inch piece should usually be sufficient; it's like a mini-backdrop!] and finally another easy way to create a background is bokeh or out of focus objects.
        Keep in mind while props [other objects, food, garnishes, etc.] can add to your photo, they should not be the photo. However you decide to set up, make sure your food is still the main focus of your photograph.
        Once you've got your food; I suggest picking ONE piece/plate to photograph. If you want to have more in the background; that's fine, but pick one to be your main focal piece that shows your best out of it all to be your center of attention; your "shining star".
       
Lighting:
       First of all lighting, I highly, highly recommend not using flash. I [as many others] would suggest using as much natural lighting as you can; try to set up by a window with a good amount of light coming in to keep the natural atmosphere to the photo. If you can't go ahead and get some lamps in the room if you need more light but flash turns most colored food [especially in cakes, cupcakes, cookies and anything with food coloring] into something that looks more like a lsd trip over an appetizing photograph. People at woodstock didn't see colors so bright as food coloring under a camera flash. My best suggestion is try using natural light and work with your camera settings first.
        One thing I've used for lighting without having a lighting kit is I bought some "daylight" bulbs, you can get them at decent prices and almost any store. [seriously; I bought mine at the market down the road that doesn't even carry fresh produce past October.]

Angle & Framing:
        LSD trips and food coloring aside; after you've found adequate lighting the next two things to worry about are the positioning and angles to use.
        There are 3 main angles you see in food photography
                                1. downwards [capturing the top]
                                2. straight forward [photographing the sides]
                                3. tilted towards [catching a bit of the sides & the top]
Now you have to decide which one is right for your food. Decide which part of your food you want to show the most, which part stands out and is going to give the best appearance to your subject. Is most of your work visible from the side [for example, cakes with multiple layers, fruit & vegetable work, etc.] or is it mostly at the top [like decorated cookies, soups, etc.] or is it on both top and sides [cakes, entrees, salads, etc.]
        Once you've decided what you'd like to capture most out of your food, pick an angle that will show the best and most of what you're photographing. For example: If you're photographing soup, it's in a bowl so you can't go from the side, you can either do from the top or tilted towards. The next questions are do you have props to add to a from the top shot, without adding something to it along side the bowl it will feel flat and uninteresting. You could add some crackers on the side and one along side of the bowl in the soup to add some depth to the image without taking away from the soup. If you decide to tilt towards it; you can add some garnishes [herbs, sour cream, cheese, etc.] to give it life as well.
                Keep in mind if you're working with flat food [i.e. a dish, soup, cookies etc.] build the dish itself up with garnishes [herbs, sauce, ingredients [for example, put some cinnamon sticks in your pumpkin soup, sour cream in your chili, a wedge of lemon on your fish, etc.] to give it less of a flat feeling to it. You can also stack them [like cookies], make a stack to take a photograph of rather than have a bunch of them flat on the surface, it will give a more natural and appealing feel to it.

        Now it's time to actually take your photo; I suggest a more shallow Depth of Field, it will help hold the focus on your main piece while keeping the background subtle but still there. You want your food to stand out from any props, background or anything else you use.
        When it comes to framing, forget the rule of thirds and almost everything else you've learned about framing. Fill your frame with your food. Take your best angle and frame around it giving a little room around the food, but allow it to take up a great deal of the frame, allow enough room for any props/background you used, but try to make your food take up the most allowing the details to be seen better.
        It's okay for it to be centered, it's fine for the edges to be cut out, and it's perfectly find to be a little tilted.
      


Diptych:
        I'm sure you've seen these before; they usually have 2-3 different photographs in one image. These are great for food photography because it lets you display different angles. stages or give better view of the smaller details.


Everything Else I Forgot:        Have fun with it; this is one of the few times you can break most of the rules of photography! Take multiple shots and try different things, soon enough you'll find your niche and style for photographing food.  

If you have any questions or there was something I missed please don't hesitate to ask!

artist's block - break it!

    The recurring question “how do I break this artist's block”, we’ve all hit that wall where we just can’t find a way to get anything out, and if we do it’s just rubbish we can hardly bare to admit we created. There are many causes of artist’s block, and luckily many cures!

     Sometimes we're not inspired, this is probably the hardest to overcome because you can't always just make yourself get up and go get inspired. Another reason people hit this block is because they're just bored with what they're doing. Below are a few ways to break either of those causes, use one method, use four whatever you want and whatever it takes. You can get through it.

• Take a break; seriously. This is my first suggestion give yourself a little bit to think, relax, rejuvenate and simply be blocked for a minute, hour or a day or two. Unless you’re in some rush to get it done take advantage of this step. Sometimes your brain just needs a minute to cool down before it powers back up and gets going again.
• Prompts: prompts come in many forms from themes, words/phrases, examples, visual pieces, music etc. They are used to inspire you and make you think about how to represent or respond to the given prompt. [you can google [art type i.e. writing, photography, etc.] prompts or you can use your own.
• Try something new: Think of something you haven’t done/tried before. Then go forth and find a tutorial and give it a try, you’ll create something from that tutorial AND maybe you’ll get inspired to use the method/style in a different way with something else.
• Previous Ideas/Art:
• in my opinion everybody should keep an inspiration journal [writing journal, thought journal, whatever you choose to call it]. We’ve all had those moments where we’re in class, at work, walking our dog, showering, whatever and we have a brilliant idea! Write it down, write it on your hand, write it in the steam on the mirror, write it on a scrap of paper just write it down. And when you get the chance add it to your journal [I do recommend keeping this on you, but it’s up to you. I also know people who keep their ideas in their phone notes because it’s easier to carry your phone then remember a journal] When you get a block, go back to this list and find stuff on there to start, work on or whatever.
• another option is to go back to an old piece of work; think of the ways you improve it and do again, branch off [start a series, make it bigger or even get an entirely new idea!]
• Start a project: Project 365, 52 week project, a monthly themed challenge [NaNoWriMo, 30 Days of Photos, 30 days, 30 sketches], even make one up! Make a goal/challenge to get yourself creating something, anything. It doesn’t have to be fantastic, it has to break that barrier between you and your inspiration. 
• Believe in yourself: if you believe you're never going to create art again, you're probably not. If you keep thinking it's only going to suck, it probably will. Believe in  yourself and your art! Take compliments! Let your head grow! Improve, grow and strive. You'll get through this block, we all have 

SUMMARY 
   ☆ Take a break
   ☆ Give prompts a go [music, words/phrases, visual, etc.]
   ☆ Try new methods/styles/techniques/etc.
   ☆ Go back to old ideas/art and try them [again]
   ☆ Start a project [daily, weekly, month long, etc.]
   ☆ Believe in Yourself

*** This is an older article I had written on deviantART in 2010, while updating my old posts/journals/articles, I decided to share some of them here. Maybe you'll find them useful as well ♥ ***

Surviving Project 365

The beginning of the year brings hopes, aspirations, resolutions and PROJECT 365. Here's some helpful tips to help you get through your project 365 a bit easier

What is project 365?
Project365 is originally the goal of taking a photo a day for a year [totalling in 365 photos]
BUT; you can do it with anything
write something every day
do a sketch/drawing a day
make a craft a day

With that possible question cleared up, many of us set forth on New Years day with the ambition of completing this project, but ideas do grow slim, creativity fades, time just simply doesn't allow it, ambition and excitement over the project grows weary... simply put; interest gets lost along the way here and there.

Thus, this year, armed with your fresh new, Project 365 Survival Guide, you are ready to start your project and FINISH!


Why do it?
There are many reasons to do it; the main two being
* to improve your art
*to keep a diary of your life


ALWAYS, always, always take your tools on you!
This is a pretty basic concept, but an extremely useful one. Keep your tools on you; your camera, pen & paper, pencil & sketchbook, tablet, whatever. This will be the most helpful advice I can give you.

Ever see something and think "I wish I had my camera?"
Or have inspiration to write hit you at the bank?
Maybe you see something while you're waiting somewhere that you want to draw?

Since you are now going to be doing it every day it's going to be a lot easier to have your tools with you wherever inspiration may strike.
Plus; this will fit into your daily schedule a whole lot better than setting time aside each day to accomplish your work.

If you forget your camera; use your phone camera. It may not be the best quality but it will be a photo regardless which will work if you don't find another opportunity that day.
Same goes for writing or drawing; you have a notepad on your phone and you can take a photo of whatever you want to draw.
Your phone will probably be extremely helpful in your project!


Have a goal & support
What's the point in doing a project this extreme without a goal? So you have a large collection of photo sitting around on your harddrive? Some do this to improve their skills and create a chart or meme [day 1, day 25, day 50, day 75...etc.]
Personally I did mine with the goal of turning it into a book. That way I can look at it sitting on my coffee table one day and say "hey, that was an interesting year".

I've heard of some people who say things like "for every month I get to..." and treat yourself to something. If you work better short term with a reward at the end go for it. At day 100 I bought myself something I had wanted and did the same following that.

Also; tell your friends and family what you're doing. It's hard to stay excited about something if you're the only one that knows about it and how hard you're working. Let them be your cheerleaders. Even if they aren't interested in your art most of the time they will still support your goal, and they probably wouldn't object to a quick overview every once in a while!


Don't wait until last minute!
Imagine this... it's 11:54pm and you remember you haven't done your project today. It's dark, it's almost over and you're potentially tired. Take something earlier in the day, if you find something better later then awesome, if you don't at least you have something to fall back on.
At least you won't end up with the case of in 6 minutes all you can find are your dirty socks, broken hair ties and a bag of stale chips.

Plans & Back-up Plans
I'm not talking Monday - this, Tuesday - that, Wednesday - this; that would make this incredibly tedious.
If you're a photographer get to know the area around you, plan some mini-trips, get a plan of things/places you can do/go to get different things. Do you really want to take a photo of your grandmas garden everyday? It gets old.

So; you're sitting there and your daily project is finished but: OMG You have a brilliant idea! Write it down! Seriously; write down all your ideas in a notebook, a memo on your phone, whatever. Just keep a list because there will be days you're not inspired and when those days come oh look, you have ideas!
[another suggestion is try the 100 theme challenge, you can complete two challenges at once!]
You can also join groups on dA that offer prompts, online groups, blogs, tweeters(?) that offer daily/weekly/monthly prompts


Experiment
Project365 is the perfect chance for you to experiment and try new things. You're in this for a year, so why not have fun with it? It is your perfect chance to try/learn new techniques, perfect old ones and work on something different you wouldn't normally do.


This is 365 pieces, NOT 365 masterpieces
This is a tough one for a lot of people, you're not going to get a perfect artwork everyday! Don't scrap everything because you didn't get a great piece for the day. One thing you'll notice through the project is the improvement you've made. What took you all day in the beginning may only take you a short time now.
Also you get to learn new things like mentioned above, if it's not perfect, oh well. You're learning! And by learning, you are really improving.


Promote your project
Let people follow your project. Create a folder in your gallery, make an album on Facebook, create a blog, a flickr account, etc. Let the world see what you're doing. Not only does this open the chance to share your project and perhaps get some feedback, it also keeps an organization of your project.


Be Organized
This isn't the most important, but it is very helpful. Create a specific folder titled 'project 365' and put your work for the project in there. It makes it easier to keep track of where you are and see your improvement than having them scattered about your computer. If you have a special folder for art, you can always move the photos into there later.


Other Stuff
    * Don't have time for project 365? try a 52 week challenge. A 52 week challenge is a less intense version of project 365. Instead of a project a week for a year
    * Pick a date that works for YOU - sure Jan. 1 is quite memorable, but, so is your birthday. Christmas when you got your new gear, ect. I started mine April 1. Spring reminds me of a 'fresh start'.
    * ENJOY THE RIDE! - this isn't supposed to be a chore, it's a fun project involving something you love. This is your project, your rules, your art!

selective color tutorial - GIMP

I don't write a lot of tutorials, mostly because my descriptions are often confusing; but I notice a lot on Facebook people wanting to do selective color on photos of their children and such; so here is an actual tutorial for you. I posted it quite a while ago on my dA page, but it works for the latest updates of GIMP as well.
If you don't have GIMP it is free to download and while it's not photoshop it is a decent equivalent of it.

Some photos I've done using this method: