Recently I’ve been reminiscing about the ’80s and, in particular, a magazine, Andy Warhol’s Interview. At the time, they had this look for the cover art. They took a photo and converted it to halftone, then added shapes, lines, and colors. You got a wonderful blend of illustration and photography. Here are a few of my attempts to recreate that look.
Author: Kevin
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Halftone Look
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Pie Day
The day after Pie Day 2022. I decided to do a little different post for Pie Day and show the aftermath.
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Product Photography Silos
When most people think of product shots, they think of a silhouetted product on a white background. Some people call these silos. We called them C.O.B., cut-out background, at the agency I worked for 15 years. For e-commerce applications, these work fine. But they don’t be that way. Here are three examples of how you could present your product. I used this beer can from New Province Brewing Co. because I love their label design.
The first photo is pretty much straight out of the camera. I lit the can and the background to be popped right onto the website with minimal retouching. This is a good option if you have items that would be hard to C.O.B. However, in most cases, you will have more versatility if you C.O.B. your product.
I C.O.B.ed the can in the second photo, made a fake curved background, and added a shadowed and reduced natural reflection. This is usually the best option because you control the background color.
In the third photo, I took the same can photo and spiced up the background by replicating the label design. Again, with a little more work, the results can be very eye-catching.
Companies have a greater need for quality photography, from websites to social media to print. So give me a call if you want your products to stand out from the rest. -
Granny’s Cookbook – Pancakes
As a kid, we loved my granny’s pancakes. It could have been how she cooked them, the fact that she buttered each pancake in the stack, the fact that she cut them up for us, or all the syrup we would pour on them. We loved them so much that early one Saturday morning, at the age of 8 and 5, my brother and I called her up and asked for her recipe so Mom could cook them.
When I made them, I realized how few ingredients were in her recipe. No butter, no baking soda, and a lot less sugar than the recipe I’ve been using. I’ve wondered if her recipes don’t include certain items because of the time period she grew up in.The first photo is her recipe, and the second is the one I use. The main difference is I add butter, baking soda, and more sugar. Below is the recipe as it appears in her cookbook.
GRANNY’S PANCAKES
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup flour
Mix all the ingredients together and add flour until mixture is thick enough to pour into hot skillet and hold shape of pancakes. Cook until bubbles form on top of pancakes. Then flip and cook on the other side. -
The Twelve Posts of Christmas
Over the Holiday, I was having trouble coming up with a photo for Christmas. Then Kate suggested I do twelve Christmas posts. This was, of course, a much better idea. I was trying to create one photo that encompassed the whole Christmas experience, which is nearly impossible. But a series could focus on the different aspects of the Holiday. Much easier. I hope you had a fantastic holiday season.
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Autumn Pie – Apple
To celebrate the first day of Autumn, I decided to make my(and my family’s) favorite pie; apple. I love making the crust almost as much as making the pie. I also get to use my favorite kitchen gadget, the pie bird. It’s supposed to keep the filling from boiling over and keep the bottom crust from becoming soggy. It also supports the top crust from caving in when the filling shrinks. I’m not sure if it works, but I love the way it looks
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Hanging Food
Food is pretty incredible. Not just because it fuels us but how it looks. Recently I photographed an avocado. The purpose of the photo was the demonstrate rim lighting. The avocado was against a black background, and the texture stood out much more than if it was shot in an environment. It looked more like an alien egg than a fruit.
That got me thinking about foods and how I could explore their looks. As I thought, I knew I wanted the food to be the hero so no propping or environment. I didn’t want to do a lot of retouching; I wanted them to be themselves. And while I do examine the food, I didn’t want them to be perfect like we normally shoot in food photography— think regular people, not supermodels.I decided to shoot them in front of a white background. The white would help the colors stand out. I decided to suspend them in the air, but I didn’t want them to be magically floating. They needed to look natural. I settled on hanging them from a piece of twine. Next was the lighting. Again I didn’t want any elaborate lighting set up, just a simple sidelight to help the texture stand out.
I’m really happy with how these images are coming out. It’s fun to go to the farmer’s markets to search for something that strikes my interest and shoots them later that same day.
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Eggs, Eggs, Eggs
Recently my family traveled back to my hometown to see my nephew’s graduation. My mom lives on a long dirt road outside of town. While there, her neighbor across the road brought her two dozen eggs. It turns out this is a fairly regular event since she still had some eggs left from his previous visit. So we ended up with the eggs. And what happens when a food photographer has way too many eggs? He shoots them, of course.
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To dress or not to dress.
People have different opinions about how they like their beer. But I’m not talking about the taste; I’m talking about the way it looks.
I know people who prefer to have a soft, gradient highlight on their bottles. A few others prefer a nice hard highlight. Then there are the beer bottles that are fully dressed with ice and water droplets. It gives the beer that ice-cold look. Me? I think there are good things about all of them. I used to like a softer highlight, but lately, I love that sharp highlight. It looks so crisp and clean. And there is nothing quite as nice as a beer bottle dressed with ice and water droplets. But my favorite is when the shoot is over, and I can pop one open. Santé!
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Granny’s Cornbread
Another one of my favorites is cornbread. I remember Granny would dip one into a tall glass of buttermilk. I personally never tried it but she loved it.
- 1 egg
- 2/3 cup Milk
- 1/2 cup Flour
- Cornmeal (not self-rising)
- 2 level teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Pinch of salt
Mix all ingredients together and add enough cornmeal to thicken. Put grease in an iron skillet and get hot; pour cornbread mixture into skillet. Bake at 500 degrees until golden brown on top.
Granny gave this recipe to Freda Wilkerson so that everyone could make cornbread like hers.
