Always keep a camera with you when traveling

I always keep a camera in the trunk of my car. Not an expensive one but an older model that works.The reason for this is you never know what you are going to see when you go somewhere. Even if the somewhere is 15 minutes away.

On a recent trip to Orlando, Florida, which is almost 2 hours away, we saw a burning truck. It looked like a fairly new Ford truck. The heavy duty one. We were in North Tampa on Interstate 75 and this truck was on the side of the road burning. Every so often you would here a small explosion.
Probably different pockets of gas in the line or whatever.

I had an appointment in Orlando and we had to leave otherwise we would have stayed for the grand finale of the gas tank blowing up. As far as we could see the truck was not in any accident and thankfully no one was hurt. The truck just caught fire and the driver got out safely and was watching it as well.

I always leave my cameras set to ISO 100 at f/5.6 at 60th of a second. Knowing that, I changed the settings to 200th of a second at f/8 and started taking photos. For a bright sunny day with some clouds I know that is a good exposure. I got my shots and left.

Always keep a camera with you when you travel more than 15 minutes from your house. You never know what you will see.

Food photography

Making food look appetizing



Ever been asked to photograph food? Restaurants that offer foods that might not be as familiar to Americans can be more appetizing as a photo than a list. If you have walked into a restaurant that offers dishes that you can't pronounce you can probably relate. We all like to try something different but what is it? Taking photos of the different entrees for the customer to see is crucial and breaks the barrier that the foreign words create. I was asked by the owner of The Spice Cafe in the Dr. Phillips area of Orlando to photograph some of the dishes he serves in his restaurant. Many of which I have eaten but still do not know the names. The good thing is I can easily point to the picture.
So, how do you take photos of food? In two words, close-up. You want to see the food close up as if you are holding it close enough to take a bite. This is how you make someones mouth water when looking at it.
If you have a macro lens your life is a little easier or put on the close-up filter like I did. The close-up filter on the 70 to 200mm zoom lens. For these photos I used my Novatron portable light kit. I bought this 4 light kit 27 years ago for about $1,100.00. It has payed for itself a couple of hundred times or more. The photos were taken at the restaurant and not my studio. The flashes were set at low power and I shot at f/8 at 1/60th of a second. Although I like the outcome, next time I will shoot some at f/22 to get a greater Depth of Field. I used a lot of Diagonal Composition to make the food more exciting.
One major word of advice when photographing food. Make sure you eat well before you start your session. Yes this sounds like silly advice but but smelling the the food on on empty stomach will cause you to think of only one thing. "When will this end so I can get something to eat?" Sorry to end this article abruptly but I am going to get something to eat.

Photo Convention in Orlando Aug. 8, 9

The Florida Professional Photographers are having the yearly convention in Orlando. Held at the Rosen Hotel on International Drive. August 8 and 9. Admission is 20 dollars. Camera and photo related manufacturers will be their to display and sell the latest ware. Here is the link
http://fpponline.org/members/?page_id=4882