FocusedOnYou

Yummy macarons

Canon EOS REBEL T3i

settings

Aperture f/3.2 ISO 2000 Shutter 1/80

upload_date

Sep, 2013

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1365

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+111

Awards

Featured

Contest Finalist in Looks Yummy Photo Contest

Peer Award

+51

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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo in my kitchen, on the kitchen table. I'm a self taught photographer and love playing around with almost anything and turning it into a great photo. I've learned a lot about photography by doing this - you get to discover what angles are good for certain subjects. With a little creativity, an everyday object can be turned into an interesting photo.

Time

It's been 3 years since I've taken this photo and still amazed at how I was able to capture this. I took this close to noon time, before heading to a party. I took several shots of these as the macrons kept falling! By the time I was able to get them in a way to make them 'stand', I tried different angles and distances. By the way, these (macarons) were meant to be shared at a party but decided to photograph them before they were devoured!

Lighting

I wanted to capture the different colors of these macarons, not just the fact that they're edible treats. This picture was taken when the sunlight was beaming through my living room. However the sunlight was too much when I shot this in the living room. I lived in an apartment at the time and the kitchen was right by the living room but didn't get as much light. Photographing these in the kitchen worked out better as there was a good balance of light and shadows; I adjusted the ISO to bring out the colors.

Equipment

This was shot with a Canon T3i, kit lens (18-55 mm). No other equipment was used.

Inspiration

Two of my favourite things are photography and food. So, why not combine the two?! I especially love vibrant colours in food, there is so much you can do when it comes to food photography. I sometimes flip through food magazines just for the photos, and then I get hungry afterwards! The colors on these macarons were perfect for photography. I wanted to discover what else I could do after taking some quick shots of them in the box it came in. The phrase "think outside the box" came to mind and...took them out of the box (mind the pun), and placed them on a white plate for the effect. The white plate inspired me more as it served as a backdrop, to bring out the vibrancy of the macarons.

Editing

I find food photographs look best at the perfect angle. As long as the angle is good, food looks enticing, post processing should be easy to do. The only post processing done here was to remove the plate lines and bring out the colours using a little saturation. Also increased the highlights to bring out the features of the macarons. Even though these are sitting on a white plate, some white vignetting also help to accentuate the colors and get more of a white background.

In my camera bag

Since I'm a novice, self taught photographer, I'm still learning about different lenses but renting lenses has been helpful. If I'm not shooting anything in particular, I like using the Canon EF 50mm macro lens. There's a lot of power in that little lens! I've done portraiture with it and photos have turned out amazing. I've used the Canon 10-18 mm lens for city photos and landscapes and enjoyed photographing with it as well.

Feedback

Lighting is key and is every photographer's friend. Take several shots until you're satisfied. It took me a good hour to finally get what I wanted out of this shot. Look at food photos in magazines and see if you can mimic how the shot was taken with similar food or a similar angle. If you're out with friends at a restaurant, practice on the food you ordered. Again, try different angles. Just consider the lighting - restaurant lighting is not always cooperative so you'll need to play around with camera settings if you have the time.

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Yummy macarons

Behind The Lens

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