What kind of equipment do I need for amateur food photography?

L

Lenore

New member
Thanks in advance for answering my question. I want to start posting pictures of delicious food I've prepared on social networking sites (Facebook, Flickr, etc.) for my friends and family to see. Unfortunately, these photos will have to be taken in a poorly lit apartment, most often at night because I work during the daylight hours. Since the photos will be for purely personal use, can anyone recommend some low budget equipment for me to look into? What kind of camera, tripod and lighting should I get? I just want a set up that will make the food look beautiful and appetizing rather than discolored and grimy.
 
Your camera should be any DSLR that has a mirror-lockup function. A macro lens would be very handy for this; if you're on a tight budget, consider extension tubes or a macro filter instead of the macro lens. Since your lighting isn't ideal, the tripod, mirror-lockup, and a remote trigger will help you a lot.

You don't need a special tripod. Just something that is stable enough to sit on your floor and hold your camera.

You have a lot of lighting options. When I started doing some similar photography, I just used a poseable lamp and a strong flashlight, and was able to sufficiently light all of my photos with it. You can get fancier with strobes later on after you've got a better feel for what you're doing.
 
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