Top Tips for Photographing the Best a City has to Offer in 48-hours

By: Matt Murray 

Always be on the lookout for interesting scenes in cities. I saw this view in Taipei from a metro 

train and went back at dusk.

You have two days and two nights to photograph a city you’ve never been to before. How will you make the most of this opportunity and come away with amazing photos?
You could just turn up without much advance thought and deliver a stunning set of images that fits the brief perfectly. Leaving things to chance is not always the best plan, though. You will be better prepared and more confident if you research and plan your trip in advance.
Whether you’re working for a client, an editor, or taking photos for your own portfolio, these tips will help you make the most of your trip. Here is a guide to photographing a city and the best it has to offer in 48 hours.

Find what is unique about your destination and capture it.

What’s unique about the city?

The first question you need to ask is what makes the city unique? Does it have stunning architecture? An incredible food scene? Unique modes of transport? Vibrant markets? Make sure you keep this in mind as you plan your trip.

What types and styles of images are you being asked to deliver?

What type of shots are you, your client, or your editor expecting? Find out what their expectations are in as much detail as possible. Is there a particular style or theme you need to shoot for? Will your images be used to accompany a story on a particular subject, for advertising, or as a standalone photo essay?
Think of the final use of your photos. Will you need to capture landscape or portrait orientation photos? Do you need to shoot images with negative space to allow for text to be overlaid?
Image style is an important consideration. Is your client looking for bright, colorful photos? Images showing well-known landmarks? Hidden gems? Photos with a shallow depth of field? Moody black and white images? Photos of people experiencing the city? It’s important to get agreement on this too.

Create a mood board

Visualizing your shots before you go can help the planning process. One way you can achieve this is by creating a mood board for the trip, showing the types and the style of photos you will aim to produce. The good news is, it’s easy to do with a tool such as Pinterest.
A mood board can also be handy if you don’t have a formal brief. If you create one for yourself or your client showing the type and style of images you propose to take, this can stimulate further discussion. It might be exactly what they’re after, or it could prompt them to get involved in the process and suggest changes.

On my list of shots for Taronga Zoo was an iconic view of the Sydney with animals – thankfully, 

this giraffe helped me out!

Weather and climate

The next thing to research is the expected weather and climate at your destination. Bear in mind, some destinations, such as London and Melbourne, are notorious for variable conditions all year round. Getting a sense of what to expect will help with your daily planning and can guide your choices for clothing and equipment.
For example, if you’re heading to Asia during the wet season, you’ll need to think about taking clothing and camera gear that is water-resistant, whereas if you’re on a trip to somewhere hot and dry, such as Dubai or Death Valley, you may need to consider a hat and sunscreen.
Next, look at the sunrise and sunset times for the city when you will be there and plan your day accordingly. Make a note of them and think of the most important shots you need to capture at those times. These times will also indicate the number of daylight hours you have on location.

Autumn in Sydney was a good opportunity to capture golden leaves.

Online planning resources

Two resources that can help you are the Photographers Ephemeris and PhotoPills. These handy guides for photographers also give you information like how long the blue hour and golden hour last for, the direction of the sun at sunrise and sunset, and much more. This can be very helpful, though, remember, in built-up environments, you’ll never truly know how the light falls on your scene until you’re there.

Background city research

Researching your destination is one of the most important things to do before you leave. Learn as much as you can. Potential sources of information include travel magazines, travel blogs, official tourism websites, and YouTube videos. It’s also worthwhile downloading guidebooks from companies such as Lonely Planet, or if you’re on a tight budget, you could borrow them from a friend or your local library.
As you’re doing this research, make a note of previous coverage the destination has had in published articles or photo essays. If you plan to use the same or similar angle, aim to capture the destination in a unique or better way.

Image research

Pay close attention to the types of images used to illustrate and promote this city. What style are they? Do they fall into a particular genre? What kind of lenses do you think the photographer used? This is all useful information.
Then turn to more visual references. What kind of images show up for your destination using a Google image search? Is there a famous view of the city you’d like to capture? Next, search on Instagram. Look at images used by the official city or country accounts, popular hashtags for your destination and even geolocation image searches.
Take a look at recent Instagram posts, carefully reading the description. Was the image taken in the last few days? If it was, this might help you understand the weather or lighting conditions at your destination. If there is no context to when the image was taken, it could’ve been from last month or last year.
Another key place for researching your destination is stock photography sites. What images are the best sellers for the city? Keep these in mind when you’re shooting. As well as your main client, think of other markets where you could sell your images such as stock libraries.

Always look for detail shots at your destination that show the way of life.

Create your shot list

I love travel photography as it includes so many other genres. On a single assignment, you can include landscapes, cityscapes, street scenes, portraits, food shots, detail shots, architecture, and documentary-style images. Remember this as you create your shot list.
First, lock in the locations you need to be for sunrise and sunset and have a rough plan for the rest of the day. Plot these locations on a map and make sure you’re leaving yourself enough time to look around and photograph unexpected sights. Sometimes the best shots at a destination are not the things you expect to see, but things you didn’t expect to see.
Then list the next most important shots for you or your client. Make these a priority.
Try to capture well-known landmarks in a new or interesting way. This could be through the frame of a doorway or window, a reflection, or a completely different angle or viewpoint not used before.
Jot down a reminder to get a good variety of images at each location you visit – landscape orientation, portrait orientation, images with negative space, and images that crop well for Instagram. Also, think back to why this city is unique or exotic and make a note to get images of the food, people, clothing – anything that’s different.

Booking your hotel

Now you’ve created your shot list, look at the key locations on your map, and book a hotel nearby. It can be tempting to save money by staying at a hotel further away, but being close to your proposed photography locations is a huge advantage. Not only will it cut down on travel time, but you will also have the advantage of popping back to your room whenever you like throughout the day.
Quite often when I’m photographing a city, I head back to my hotel for a break. You can have a quick rest, grab a hot or cold drink, back up your images, and review the progress you’ve made ready for the next round of photos. You may even need time to warm up or cool down depending on the weather.
With your hotel search, always be on the lookout for historic or beautiful hotels that could provide additional photographic opportunities for you. Also, remember to choose a hotel where you feel like your gear will be safe when you’re not there.

Carry a travel tripod so you can capture scenes with a slow shutter speed.

Packing your kit

Versatility is the key when packing your kit. Fast zoom lenses are generally the travel photographer’s best friend. Also, look at the notes you made during your research. What type of lenses do you think the photographers used? Does your client expect any images with a very shallow depth of field? Do they want images taken with long telephoto lenses or ultra-wide angle lenses?
Plan your kit, taking into account these considerations along with the expected weather conditions. For a two-day trip, I would typically take the following:

• Two camera bodies that use the same batteries and lenses, at least one of which is weather resistant.
• Two zooms covering a wide focal range, at least one of which is weather resistant.
• One or two small fast prime lenses – these are very handy for low light conditions and shallow depth of field shots.
• As many reliable high-quality SD cards as you have. Make sure you format them before your trip.
• As many batteries as you have for your camera system.
• A small travel tripod and some neutral density filters.

You can see more about the travel kit I take in my article, The Best Fujifilm X-Series Kits for Travel Photography

Sydney Opera House sails with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background.

Traveling to your destination

As your trip approaches, keep an eye on the weather and current events for the city you’re heading to. Will this present any issues or challenges? Is there other gear you may need to bring? As I write this, I am preparing for a few days in Hong Kong, where there are currently protests taking place. I don’t think these protests will affect my trip or what I plan to photograph, but it’s good to always good to stay up-to-date with what’s going on.
Before I arrive at my destination, I always sort out some way to use my iPhone when I get there. This can mean either having a SIM card for the country I’m visiting or setting up international roaming before I go.
On the way from the airport or train station to my hotel, I look for interesting things to photograph. I have my phone at the ready with maps loaded up tracking the journey I’m taking. If I see something interesting, I screenshot the map, so I have the exact location on my phone for future reference.

Children playing in the Faroe Islands photographed on a telephoto lens.

Once you’ve arrived

You’ve arrived at your hotel, dumped your bag and are now ready to hit the streets and tick off that shot list. Before you go, make sure you have everything you need and leave anything you won’t need at the hotel. Remember to go easy on the air conditioning or heating – extreme temperature changes can fog up your camera lenses.
Take a few minutes to double-check your camera (especially your ISO and image quality settings), make sure you have fully-charged batteries and formatted memory cards. Then synchronize the clocks on your cameras at local time.
Regardless of the time I arrive, I always try to hit the streets as soon as I can to get a feel for the place. In tropical locations, shooting conditions are not always ideal during the middle of the day when it’s very bright with the sun overhead. It’s still possible, however, to look for opportunities to keep shooting. On a recent trip to Indonesia, I found the most beautiful light in a semi-covered market place in Borobudur. I took some of my favorite shots of the trip at that market.

Borobudur Market.

After the sun is well and truly below the horizon, you may think it’s time to head back to the hotel, but always see if there are opportunities to photograph food vendors or night markets. You’ll need either a fast prime or zoom lens in conjunction with using a higher ISO to capture handheld shots or a tripod for longer exposures.

Backups

When you’re finished shooting for the day, it’s time to head back to your hotel and backup your images.
For each trip, I create a new Lightroom catalog on my laptop. I then import the images into Lightroom, specifying that the images should be copied from my SD cards to an SSD hard drive plugged into my MacBook.
After the import, I copy these folders and the Lightroom catalog to a second SSD drive. I always keep these SSD hard drives in separate locations – one with me in my camera bag, and one in my luggage. As I review my shots in Lightroom, if there are any that I think are perfect for my needs or my client, I make another backup of those select images to DropBox. When I get home, I transfer the folders and Lightroom catalog from my laptop straight to my desktop computer.

Final thoughts

I hope these tips will help you think about what you need to plan and research when you’re in a city for the first time on assignment.
Always remember, though, despite the amount of research and planning you do, things are often out of your hands. If you can’t get that iconic shot due to weather conditions, street closures, scaffolding or who knows what else, don’t beat yourself up too much about it. Instead, concentrate on other opportunities that you can capture while you’re there to make the most of your time.
Do you have any other tips you’d like to share on photographing a city in 48 hours? Share with us in the comments!

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Ready to Upgrade Your Kit Lens? Tips for Which Lens to Invest in Next

By: Simon Ringsmuth

Most cameras come with a kit lens that generally works well as a decent all-around workhorse. A common focal range for these lenses is 18-55mm, which means they are capable of wide-angle shots as well as medium-telephoto pictures, and everything in between. The tradeoff for this zoom range, however, is a limited maximum aperture range of roughly f/3.5 when zoomed out (18mm), and f/5.6 when zoomed in to 55mm.
Of course some kit lenses cover a longer focal range and have different maximum apertures, but overall most kit lenses are designed for the types of all-around shooting conditions in which you may often find yourself. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it does mean that the kit lens is more of a jack of all trades while being the master of none, and after a while you might start wondering what other options are available to you and how they will affect your photography. This all begs the question: which lens should you buy when you want to upgrade from the one that came with your camera?

A 35mm or 50mm lens can work well for shooting portraits

Lenses are like apps

Think of lenses like different apps for your camera, and just as apps on your smartphone or tablet have specific functions, each lens is designed to meet a specific set of photographic needs. Next, think of the kit lens as a basic set of apps you might find on a device. It does many things well, but doesn’t really unlock the true potential of your camera. For some people, that’s fine: they don’t feel the need to install new apps (i.e. buy new lenses) and instead only use the ones that come with their device.
But when you start exploring the myriad of apps available for phones and tablets you might wonder how you ever lived with your device’s basic apps at all! The same holds true for lenses, but there is one key area where the analogy breaks down – price. When you start looking around for lenses, you might find that your vision quickly outstrips your budget! The choice, then, is this – which lens should you buy after exhausting the possibilities of the kit lens that came with your camera?

Wide-angle lenses are great for capturing photos of natural landscapes and other outdoor scenery.

Know what you need for the photography you do

The answer, unfortunately, is not as black and white as it might seem. While there are hundreds of options available, what you buy ultimately comes down to your unique needs and style as a photographer. After using your kit lens for a while, you will hopefully have an idea of what type of photography you enjoy most: landscapes, architecture, portraits, nighttime long exposures, pets, sports, weddings, etc. Or maybe you do a combination of everything! Before spending hundreds of dollars on another lens it’s important to know what will suit your needs – much in the same way that purchasing a vehicle is a matter of finding one that works for you, as opposed to simply buying the same car that all your friends have.

A lens with a wider aperture will enable you to shoot get nice blurry backgrounds that are not always possible with a kit lens.

Prime lenses pros and cons

My first bit of advice, though, is to find a prime (non-zooming) lens that can accommodate your shooting style. If you take a lot of landscape and outdoor shots, you will likely want a wide-angle lens with a focal length of around 10-20mm (for cropped sensors, 15-35mm if you have full frame). For portraits, anything between 50-100mm is a good choice. Sports and wildlife shooters tend to use lenses that are on the telephoto end, such as 100-300mm. Remember the tradeoff between zooming and aperture I mentioned in the first paragraph? If you eliminate the zoom functionality you will find plenty of lenses with much larger apertures, which will let in much more light and allow you to use faster shutter speeds, as well as capture pictures in low-light situations that might not otherwise be possible without the use of a flash.

Prime lenses can’t zoom, but you gain the ability to shoot in dimly-lit situations without the need for a flash because they often have large apertures.

It admit it can be a bit nerve-wracking to use a lens that can’t zoom in and out, but once you try it you may find a whole new world of photographic possibilities that you never knew existed, thanks to the larger aperture. Remember that you haven’t lost the ability to zoom, you can still move yourself around physically, which is another fantastic way to explore and stretch yourself as a photographer. You can often find prime lenses for a couple hundred dollars that will suit your needs exceedingly well, though even prime lenses with longer focal lengths could easily push the limits of your budget.

It might be small, but Canon’s 40mm f/2.8 pancake lens packs a big punch.

If you would like to upgrade from your kit lens but are not entirely sure exactly what your individual needs are, I would recommend one of the following. All are fairly inexpensive as far as lenses go, and will suit a variety of photographic situations, though they are not the best for sports and wildlife due to their somewhat short focal lengths:

• Canon 24mm f/2.8 – and the newly released pancake version at only $149 US
• Canon 40mm f/2.8 (pictured on the right)
• Canon 50mm f/1.8
• Nikon 35mm 1.8G – get the DX if you have an APS-C or cropped sensor, get the ED if you have full frame.
• Nikon 50mm 1.8G

Zoom lens options

You can buy prime lenses with longer focal lengths, but they can easily cost many times that of their cheaper counterparts. If you decide you absolutely cannot live without the zoom functionality, I would recommend going with a lens that covers one end of a focal range (i.e. wide-angle to medium telephoto) rather than one that covers both ultra-wide and ultra-telephoto. Of course this is all subjective, and there are as many opinions on this topic as there are photographers. In my experience lenses that try to cover as many focal lengths as possible are generally not as sharp as their more limited counterparts, unless you are willing to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Lenses I would recommend include:

• Canon 75-300mm f/4-5.6
• Canon 28-135mm f/3.6-5.6
• Canon 24-105mm f/4
• Nikon 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6
• Nikon 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6G

There are also many other really good third party options available. The options are almost endless so I’ve stayed with the two big brands here, but you can also look at Sigma and Tamron who both make some really good lenses also.

Deciding

The more you are willing to spend on a lens, particularly a zoom lens, the more features it will have like: image stabilization, higher-quality glass elements, weather sealing, and larger maximum apertures. These lenses are just the beginning. The sky’s the limit when it comes to upgrading your lens, and it’s important to not overlook options like simply borrowing one from a friend, buying older gear, renting, or even looking online for used equipment. Whatever you decide, it’s important that the lens is right for you and your photography goals, but chances are if the kit lens is too limiting there is a fantastic one out there with your name on it, waiting for you to come and explore what it can do for you.

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Trump’s New Tariffs Could Drive Up the Prices of Cameras and Lenses

By: Jaymes Dempsey

President Donald Trump made waves when he announced new tariffs on Chinese goods via Twitter.
Trump writes:

“Our representatives have just returned from China where they had constructive talks having to do with a future Trade Deal…Trade talks are continuing.”

Trump goes on to explain that “the US will start, on September 1st, putting a small additional Tariff of 10% on the remaining 300 Billion Dollars of goods and products coming from China into our Country.”

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump

 · 1 Aug 2019

Replying to @realDonaldTrump

...buy agricultural product from the U.S. in large quantities, but did not do so. Additionally, my friend President Xi said that he would stop the sale of Fentanyl to the United States – this never happened, and many Americans continue to die! Trade talks are continuing, and...

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump

...during the talks the U.S. will start, on September 1st, putting a small additional Tariff of 10% on the remaining 300 Billion Dollars of goods and products coming from China into our Country. This does not include the 250 Billion Dollars already Tariffed at 25%...

In other words, certain goods will be taxed before arriving in the US.
For photographers, this is an especially painful blow.
Up to this point, photography equipment had largely managed to avoid any import taxes. But the new 10% tariff will be largely levied on electronics, including computers, phones, and camera gear. And it may cause serious consequences for American consumers of photo equipment.

lucas Favre

You see, prices of camera products exist in a delicate balance. When the cost to import the gear goes up, prices go up with it, in order to offset the cost paid by resellers. This cost is often felt by consumers.
While companies like Canon, Nikon, and Sony are based in Japan, a significant number of their imaging products are made in China. It’s these products that will be hit by the tariffs, and it’s these products consumers should be worried about.
Trump does promise that his administration will work toward a trade deal with China. However, you should note that these new tariffs follow on the heels of previous tariffs, which left camera gear largely untouched. If the trend continues, things are likely to get worse before they get better.
Of course, this news is only relevant to American readers. Prices in countries other than the US will remain unaffected. But for photography-lovers in America, you may want to purchase any China-made camera gear now, while you can still get it for cheap.
President Trump’s tweet indicates that the new tariffs will come into effect on September 1st.
So pretty soon, prices will be on the rise.
What do you think about the tariffs? Will they stop you buying new camera gear? Let me know in the comments!



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How to take BETTER photos in DIRECT SUNLIGHT!

Tips to Take Better Photos in Direct Sunlight [video]

By: Caz Nowaczyk  

16.7K

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Sometimes, as photographers, we don’t always have the luxury of shooting in the lovely early morning/late afternoon light. We just have to shoot in the middle of the day where the harshest light of the direct sun exists.

In the video above by Peter McKinnon, he shares his tricks on how to take better photos in direct sunlight so you don’t end up with a bunch of photos that are super-contrasty and leave your model with harsh shadows around their eyes etc.  

Tips to Take Better Photos in Direct Sunlight

1. Bounce the light

You could use a reflector or bounce card. Consider using natural reflectors such as light-colored concrete. Concrete acts as a natural reflector for the sun.

2. Diffuse the light

Have someone hold a diffuser in the line of the light source coming from the sun. This will defuse the harshness of the direct sun and soften it on your subject’s face.

Find areas of shade and if

3. Use the shadows to your advantage

If you don’t have a diffuser or a friend to hold one for you and you just have to shoot in the direct sunlight, take advantage of the shadows.

Find great spots (like a staircase) that have interesting patterned shadows to create interesting effects on your subject.

4. Move your model around

Keep in mind the direction your model is facing. Have them move around, and watch how the sunlight hits their face. Have them move until you get the most flattering/even light.

The Best Camera Gear for Food and Still Life Photography

A Post By: Darina Kopcok 

I get a lot of questions about the gear I use in my food and still life photography, particularly from those just starting out in these genres. Buying the wrong equipment can be an expensive mistake. This is a list of the best camera gear I have found to work for me and a lot of the still life photographers that I know.
That being said, take the time to research what works for you and your budget. Also, think about your end goal. If you’re a blogger, your needs will be different than those of a photographer shooting product advertising.

Cameras

First, you need to decide if you will use a camera with a cropped sensor or a full-frame camera. This will likely be determined by your budget.
A cropped sensor is cheaper for a camera manufacturer to make, which makes decent digital cameras available to a wide variety of consumers. Keep in mind that the focal length of your lenses will be different on a cropped sensor camera. For example, on a full-frame camera, a 50mm will behave like a 50mm. Put that same lens on a camera with a cropped sensor, it will behave more like an 80mm. Your shots will be nowhere near as wide.
Also, make sure that the camera you choose can shoot RAW images–not just JPEGs. If you intend to shoot professionally, file size matters. If your work is going to be printed, you need at least a 12-megapixel camera.

I shoot with a full frame Canon 5D Mark II.

As a food or still life photographer, you’ll find that you won’t need most of the bells and whistles that the modern digital cameras on the market offer. Look for the detail the camera will provide, especially if you’re shooting professionally. The camera should have several focus points and handle noise relatively well. It should also have a tethering feature. If you can afford a full-frame camera, I would invest in one right off the bat.

Lenses

Every camera manufacturer has a series of lenses for the amateur and another for the pro photographer. However, if you are a pro shooter, this doesn’t mean that you should only stick to a pro series, such as the Canon L-Series, for example. There are some good options without the hefty price tag that a pro series brings. That being said, lenses are where you should spend the majority of your budget and you should look at them as a long-term investment in your craft.
Your most pressing concerns when shopping for a lens is the sharpness, so your focus should be on prime lenses. Prime lenses are sharper than zoom lenses.

An excellent lens to have in your kit is a 100mm macro lens. This lens is not just for macro or close up shots, although obviously, it’s great at this. By pulling further away from your set, you can get very nice portrait-style shots as well. The focal length will give you that lovely blurred background that is so coveted in food photography.
I have the consumer grade 100mm f/2.8 from Canon and it’s razor sharp. If you can only get one lens, this is the one I’d recommend.
I also recommend a zoom lens, such as a 24-70mm f/2.8 or 24-105mm f/4. I have both in Canon’s L-Series and find the 24-70mm much sharper than the 24-105mm. The 24-105mm is the kit lens when you buy a Canon 5D.
Although the 24-70mm is a zoom lens, I find it very sharp.

Lenses I use.

The 50mm can also be a useful lens, especially if you don’t have a zoom. This lens is good for overhead shots and tablescapes. For food and still life photography, 50mm is considered a wide angle lens. If you’re shooting only an item or two straight-on or at 45 degrees, you will likely have too much of the background and surface in your frame.
You will need to have large backgrounds if you use the lens this way. If you get a 24-70mm, then you can shoot your overhead shots by setting it at 50mm.
If you’re not sure which lenses you should get, try renting a couple. Check the sharpness and focal length before spending a large sum of money. Photographers have their own style and thus tend to shoot within a preferred range of focal lengths. For example, I am usually between 60-80mm on my full frame camera.

This food image was shot at 50mm (left) and another shot at 60mm (right). You can see the 50mm 

leaves too much negative space and the background is not big enough. These were shot with the 

camera in the exact same position, close to the scene, etc.

Studio Lighting and Modifiers

If you want to shoot food or still life professionally, you’ll need to master studio lighting. You can rent studio lights or buy your own. Even if don’t have your own studio, you will benefit from having your own lights if you can afford them. Many studio rental places don’t open early enough to allow you to transport and set up your camera gear before the arrival time of your client.
If you’re a blogger venturing into the world of artificial lighting, you may want to start with a continuous light, like an LED. I recommend that you do not get a set of those Lowel EGO lights that so many bloggers are crazy about. They are too bright and at the same time, don’t have enough spread.
You need to be able to work with strobes if you want to shoot professionally for clients. These are expensive lights, so try to make a good choice initially with these. Make sure they have at least 400 to 500Ws (stands for Watt-seconds, is a measurement of flash output) power and that you are able to modify the light with grids and softboxes.

An example lighting setup using a large softbox as the light modifier.

Great lights at a medium price are the Hensel Integra Pro plus 500, or my personal favorite, the Elinchrom ELC HD Pro 500w set. The Elinchrom monolights have clean and consistent light from shot to shot, and they fire fast enough to freeze motion or liquid splashes, a feature found in the high-end and pricey lighting systems.
For a cheaper system that is great to start with, check out the Bowens Gemini 500. The big benefit of using Bowens is that its S-mount is a common modifier mount, which allows you to use a variety of inexpensive modifiers with your strobes. In terms of modifiers, get at least one softbox in the largest size you can find and afford. The larger the softbox, the softer the light.
When shooting food and still life, you will also need a large diffuser to soften the light as it hits your subjects. I use a 59×79-inch diffusor placed right up against my set. This creates a large, soft light source and prevents any unwanted light from spilling onto the set.

Get a good reflector as well to bounce more light into shadowy areas when needed.

You can also use plain white boards as reflectors in tight spots. Get some clamps to hold them in 

place as I have done here.

Shot with a large soft light source.

Tripod

A tripod is necessary when shooting food, product, or still life images because the objective is very sharp photos. This often means shooting at lower shutter speeds, which can introduce camera shake into your images if you are hand-holding and working in natural light.
Shooting in these genres is about creating a scene, which is a process of building and assessing. You’ll find yourself constantly adjusting your set-ups, adding items or taking them away, or otherwise moving them around to get the perfect shot. This type of photography is not about catching a decisive moment, but about deliberately creating a visual story through the placement of objects. You need to compose to the camera.
Working with a tripod is also important if you are doing a series of shots and need consistency in your set-ups, or if you’re focus stacking or using scripts in Photoshop.

A tripod is essential for framing your shots.

Software

You will need a professional grade image editing software program to get the most out of your food or still life pictures. Adobe’s Lightroom can give you most of the tools you need to create awesome images at a relatively low price. It’s a powerful program that is intuitive and user-friendly. Not only does it have great editing capabilities, it also acts as an archive for all the image files you have on your hard disk.
Lightroom functions best as a global editor. It helps you make adjustments globally to the whole image. In contrast, Photoshop is a pixel editor. It helps you work with the actual pixels in a given image. There is a lot you can do in Photoshop that you can’t do in Lightroom, such as compositing (combining multiple images into one).
As a professional photographer, I do most of my editing in Lightroom. Then I take my images over to Photoshop to do what Lightroom cannot, or doesn’t do as well. Photoshop has the powerful tools that I need to give me the refined look I’m seeking.
Read my other article: How to Edit Food Photography Images Using Lightroom

The difference between the before and after images is subtle but processing your food images is 

important.

If you’re just starting out, Lightroom will deliver everything you need to make great pictures.
If you’re working on professional packaging design, Capture One Pro is mandatory. With this program, you can upload an overlay of the packaging artwork to determine where the elements in the image should sit on the packaging. It will make the shooting process go a lot faster and a creative director will likely expect you to work this way.

Shot and processed to be dark and moody.

Tethering

If you’re serious about food photography, you’ll need to shoot tethered.
Tethering is when you connect your camera to a computer via a USB cable so you’re able to view a larger rendition of your image in software such as Lightroom or Capture One Pro. Being able to see your images on the computer as you shoot them is hugely advantageous.
Photographing food and still lifes is a detail-oriented process. A misplaced sprig of basil can ruin your image or create hours of work for you in Photoshop. Such errors can easily be avoided when you can see your work brought to life on a much larger screen than your camera LCD can provide.

If you’re working with clients, they’ll expect you to be shooting tethered. Shooting food, in particular, is a collaborative process that often involves a creative director and a food stylist, who both play a role in the final composition of an image.
To tether to your computer, I recommend a gold-tipped USB cable called a High-Speed USB cable Type A to Mini B. The gold tips prevent them from corroding. Make sure that the cable is no more than 10-15 feet long. The longer ones tend to have problems transferring data. Always have at least a couple of them in your kit so you don’t get stuck, as things don’t always last as long as you’d hope.

Shooting tethered setup. You get to see the image on the computer screen shortly after you shoot it 

and it appears automatically when tethering is on.

Other Miscellaneous Items

Besides extra memory cards and batteries, there are a few other items you will need to invest in if you’re serious about food and still life photography. Here are the basics:

• Shutter Release –  This is a device that you connect to your camera to depress the shutter. Even if you’re working on a tripod, pressing the shutter can cause a small vibration that can introduce camera shake that will make your images less than sharp.
• Backup Drives – Always back up your work to an external drive. Preferably more than one. Hard drives fail all the time, so you need at least two if not three copies of your files, kept in separate places. You should also be backing up while you work.
• Backgrounds – Food and still life photography require backgrounds and surfaces to enhance the subject. These can be purchased expensively online, or you can make your own. One of my favorite style of backgrounds that I use repeatedly in my work is painted canvas. You can buy a large canvas painters drop cloth at a hardware store and cut it into pieces, which you can then paint to suit your needs. You can buy paint samples at the hardware store too. These painted pieces of canvas make inexpensive backgrounds that can be rolled up and put away without taking up a lot of space.
• A Level – Another purchase from the hardware store is a small level, the kind you use in construction or when hanging pictures. A level placed on your camera once it’s set up will show you if your camera is straight. This is very important when taking overhead shots (like the one below).

It’s easy to go crazy with equipment. Don’t fall into the trap that you need tons of the best camera gear to shoot properly. At the same time, don’t buy the cheapest version of what you need.
Quality is important and will take you a long way in getting the best shots you can. Start out with the bare necessities and invest as your budget allows.

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How to Backup Your Photos While Shooting Tethered so You Never Lose Them

A Post By: Darina Kopcok 

Whether you’re working with clients or shoot as a lone ranger, you need to back up your work. As the saying goes, when it comes to hard drives, it’s not a matter of if they will fail, but when they will fail.
Working with image files requires a lot of power and is very taxing for your computer. This increases the chance of hard drive failure. You need to have a system of backing up your images that works for you. This is also important to backup your photos while shooting tethered.

Backup your photos while shooting tethered

There are various programs that allow you to connect your camera to a laptop or desktop computer via a USB cable. This allows you to view a larger and more accurate version of your image on the computer screen. Tethering is crucial in genres like food and still life photography, but also very useful in other niches, like studio portrait photography.
When shooting tethered while on location, an efficient workflow around the backup process will make your life a lot easier and ensure that you have several copies of your image files should an unforeseen incident occur.
If you’re like me and shoot tethered to a laptop but edit on a desktop, you already have the bonus of an extra copy of your images, since you’re using two computers.
If you transfer the images from the laptop to desktop via a detachable external hard drive, there is your third copy. However, if you use a card reader or transfer your images from your camera via a USB cable, you should have at least one more hard copy of your images. Also, what if something happens to your laptop while you’re on a shoot? Remember, it’s a question of when.
Do you use Lightroom as your tethering program of choice? You then have the option of saving your images to your SD cards as you take them. However, Capture One Pro doesn’t offer this option. This makes image capture instant, but it doesn’t give you an extra sense of security by providing additional copies of the images you’ve shot.
You cannot just set up Lightroom or COP to save to two places. You need file synchronization software to make sure that your work is being backed up while you’re shooting tethered. 

Types of backups

There are two types of backup: specific project backup and overall data backup. You need to concern yourself with both.
While you’re shooting, you need to back up every single file. You also need to do a backup of your whole computer. You should create backups on external hard drives and also in a cloud-based system. Don’t simply rely on cloud solutions for your backups.

Storing photos in the cloud basically outsources the storage of your photos. The data in the cloud is not necessarily safe or under your control. Risks with cloud storage are having your data hacked and deleted, being locked out of your account, or having it be closed if you make late payments. Also, these types of online services can suddenly shut down or otherwise cease to exist. 

A word about digital data

The problem with digital data is that storage formats change over time. You might keep your photos “safe,” but they’ll be useless to you if you can’t read or open them. 

Operating systems, software and file formats keep changing, so just because you can see a file on your computer doesn’t mean you can actually load it.

One example is the attempts to replace the standard .jpg file format with JPEG 2000, PNG (Portable Network Graphics) and several others. JPG is fine for now, but you can never say never because this sort of thing actually happens all the time as technology changes.

A word about disk drives

Hard drives are great for storing images because they are relatively inexpensive, they provide fast access to data, and it’s very easy to copy one hard drive to another. 
However, backup drives are not an all-in-one perfect solution. Your data is at risk of being stolen or destroyed by fire, flood or some other disaster.
Also, the data is vulnerable to malicious software and human error.
You can accidentally delete a folder, or make mistakes when copying files. If your PC is infected by malware, it will usually encrypt files on external hard drives as well.

I personally have had several hard drives fail. One time I had a hard drive and a laptop fail at the same time! Some hard drives fail after several years of use, while others fail after only a few months. There is no way of knowing when the case may be.

Therefore, you can’t store your photos on a single drive. A minimum of two is recommended. I have backups on a couple of 1TB external, portable hard drives, as well as on two 4TB hard drives that are plugged into my desktop computer. 

You should keep one of your backups off-site, like at a relative’s home or even in a bank safety deposit box. 

How to back up while shooting tethered

Chronosync is one backup software that I recommend you use while shooting tethered if you use a Mac. If you’re a PC user, check out Bvckup.
Goodsync can be used with either system.
This type of software allows you to look at a given folder and copy everything to another folder on a separate hard drive. For example, you might want to shoot images on your laptop and have them sync to an external portable hard drive. Or you may want to use two separate portable hard drives. Basically what you’re doing is telling it what folder to look at and make an exact duplicate of it to another drive.
You can set it on a schedule or have it running in the background. Setting it on a schedule is great if you always have a hard drive plugged into your laptop.
Here is an example of how to do it with Chronosync.
1. Open up the application and choose, Create a New Synchronizer Document

2. Decide what drives you want to synchronize by selecting >Choose from the Source Target and Destination Target menus accordingly. It will give you several choices of how you might want to back up from the dropdown menu under >Operation.
My recommendation is that you choose >Backup Synchronize Bidirectional. This will ensure that everything that is on one drive will also appear on the other.

3. Click on >Synchronize in the top left-hand corner. It may take a few minutes for the synchronization to take place. Once it’s complete you’ll see the message below.

It’s as simple as that. With synchronization software like Chronosync, you’ll ensure that all your files and folders are backed up for a very low price.

Other backup software

Many large companies offer photo storage services including Amazon, Google, Microsoft (OneDrive), and Apple (iCloud). However, this can be expensive if you need a lot of storage. With some, downloading large files is cumbersome and data such as file names and EXIF Data may not be preserved. Some services don’t preserve your photos as you uploaded them, and others just don’t work very well (Time Machine, I’m looking at you).

Here are some other paid-for options that are worth a look:
FoldersSynchronizer – a popular program for Mac OS which synchronizes backup files, folders, and disks.
Super Duper – great for disk backups on a Mac. It allows you to create a bootable clone of your disk which you can easily copy from one hard disk to another. This makes moving from one computer to another during an upgrade virtually painless.
Smug Mug – an all-in-one solution that allows photographers to display and sell their images, with unlimited uploads.
Backblaze – a cloud-based backup system that will continually back up your data while your computer is on. Use to restore data after a drive failure.

To ensure that you have all your bases covered when backing up your files, you should backup specific shoots as well as regularly do backups of your whole computer(s).
Have a couple of backups on hard drives, as well as a cloud-based backup.
When shooting tethered, I recommend backing up your images manually as you’re shooting, one at a time, to ensure that each image exists in at least two places at that time. Once you’re finished shooting, back up your portable hard drive to another one, preferably a larger, more robust hard drive where you store a copy of all your image folders.

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