When you give a food blogger a camera…

The food bloggers who lunch. / Daina Beth Solomon

How do you teach a dozen LA Weekly bloggers about food photography? With plenty of naan, chicken tikka, dal soup and sautéed okra from Tara’s Himalayan Cuisine in Culver City.  

My editor arranged this lunch for us food writers to learn how to take delectable shots of the meals, drinks, and restaurants we write about.  At the LA Weekly, unlike the LA Times, writers are largely responsible for their own photos.  And original shots are ALWAYS best.  But they have to be good, almost professional-quality.  At lunch, art editor Darrick Rainey was on hand to offer a tutorial.  We crowded around two tables, splitting our attention among Darrick, cameras, and the food.  Here were some of his tips:

• Lighting is the biggest concern.  When you need to use flash, try to diffuse it by covering the flash with a thin, white napkin.  The darker the photo, the more pixelated it looks.
• Next, consider composition.  Horizontal photos are the best for the web. Follow the rule of thirds – the subject should be slightly off-center.  (Like still life paintings, one writer commented.)  Get close enough to see detail, but far enough to understand the context.  (My editor: We must be able to see what the food is!)
• Your focus should primarily be food – not the building or people inside. Shoot so that the background looks slightly blurred.
• Take a lot of photos!  You can never be sure which will come out best.  Also, you never know what a photo might be good for – perhaps an entirely different article.
• Be ready to shoot fast – no one likes to hang around a table with food getting cold.

{Lotus Food Photo} Banana Cream Pie at the Pie Hole

In the world of today’s Digital Revolution, also called the Information Era and the Attention Age, you are not just a food writer.  You are most certainly a blogger, too.  And most likely a budding – if not accomplished – food photographer.  I began my exploration into this field last summer.  My first food photos might have been at Hwa Sun Ji, an adorable coffee shop in Koreatown that I visited with fellow food-loving friends Sophia and Mimi.

See?  Here’s the proof, in a photo by Sophia from her blog:

I snap a photo at Hwa Sun Ji in Koreatown, summer 2011. / Sophia Lee, www.burpandslurp.com

But my interest in photography had begun before, during an internship at the LA Times writing for Calendar.  I worked closely with many photographers and photo editors, and their talent and dedication amazed me.  Collaborating with Anne Cusack on a James Franco story and Kirk McKoy about a historic L.A. framing shop, for example, fueled the desire to understand those little buttons on my Nikon Coolpix.   Thanks to tips and encouragement from Hal Wells, Ken Kwok and Kirk McKoy – photo editor friends with desks conveniently down the aisle from mine – I began to learn.

Still, most of my best shots, I’m convinced, are just flukes!  But I want to celebrate photo successes both accidental and intended.  After all, we eat with our eyes before our mouths.  And I’d like the chance to share my encounters with beautiful food with Lotus Bites readers.  So, about once a week I’ll post a particularly mouth-watering photo.

For the first in this series, called “Lotus Food Photo,” I present an image from the Pie Hole.  I visited this new bakeshop across the street from Wurstkuche in downtown’s Arts District last Saturday and sampled the Banana Cream Pie.  To be honest, it looks better than it tasted.   Ah, the magic of photography.

Doesn't it look imposing, despite the humble brown paper? / Daina Beth Solomon