ScotchGuard

I was reading somewhere again,  On food styling of course...... about pancakes... And how to make them picture perfect for the camera...... 

So the other day I made up a bunch of pancakes to shoot.....  I used a box mix and my biggest concern at the time was getting them all the same size.  So anyway,  I picked out the best three of the batch and saved them for the pictures.  

The first thing I did when it was time to take my pictures,  Was to spray SCOTCHGUARD on the cakes,  I did all three but Looking at the pictures I really don't think that is really necessary to do, Just the top one or the HERO cake.  By now the cakes are not as fluffy as they should be,  But this was more of a test than anything else.  

So I sat the plate down on the set and aligned the camera for the angle and did my pre-focus.  etc.  Stacked my cakes with the good one on top,  Took some test shots and checked them out,  I adjusted from there,  To get my final composition the way I wanted.  Placed the butter on top.  For the real shot I would use pads of butter,  but this was testing only.  Then poured on the syrup And watched it run right off the cakes onto the plate...... So that was test one.....  got a few good pic's.  But nothing outstanding.  Then I decided to put the syrup in the frig to cool down and run slower.......  So the final shot came out better.....  

So what one needs is scotchguard to protect the cakes from too much syrup and cold syrup so it doesn't run all over the place while your trying to get your pictures.

© by Michael Long 2013

Using make up wedges

Both pictures were taken on a Nikon 3000 camera and a 55-200mm lens.  The trick to this photograph was the use of the make up wedges that were used to give the croissant the height. In turn making the roll look bigger.  That was about the only trick to these pictures other than cropping them.  The top picture was done with out any cropping,  Where as the second picture was cropped to the rule of thirds.  Shifting the center of interest to a more pleasing angle.  Both pictures would sell,  But the bottom one is more correct.  The other trick to the picture was to get the butter to melt.  Which was a simple trick of using a kitchen torch to melt the butter.  Both pictures are © by Michael Long 2013

Hot roll with melted butter

© by Michael Long

Having some time on my hands this morning,  And wanting to photograph a crescent roll.  I went for it.  I picked up a dozen rolls this past weekend at Sam's club and started to work this morning.  I tired the steam thing,  Not much luck with that,  Then I tried a bowl of boiling water behind the roll.  Got some steam,  but nothing that said HOT.  So I put a pad of butter on top and took a flame torch to the butter and slowly melted the butter so it would run down the front.....  And that came out pretty good.  I was happy with it.

I used a Nikor 200mm lens and diffused window light and a small reflector on the side......  

Test Photo's

Test photo's for the portfolio.  North lite,  with white reflector

Both Pictures are ©by Michael Long 2013

Portfolio