Happy Thanksgiving everyone. The holidays bring out the cameras, so take a few minutes to browse some of the tips below on taking better Thanksgiving photos. Enjoy.
Tips for Thanksgiving Photos
Creating a How to Food Video using an iPhone 6s Plus
A friend and co-worker recently gave me some red potatoes that she had purchased at the farmers market here in Okinawa. We both like to cook and frequently talk about cooking. As a thank you to her for the potatoes I decided to make a video on what I cooked with them. It then occurred to me that this would be a good "how to" video on shooting cooking videos with your iPhone. So if your interested in that, or just want to see what I cooked check out the video below and please subscribe to my channel if you like it.
Bon Appétit Magazine Shoots March Issue with an iPhone.
Smartphones have come a long way in the last couple years. They are increasingly more amazing at shooting our day-to-day for our social media feeds, but they are also being used more and more by professional photographers as another creative tool on their belts. Bon Appétit magazine recently challenged four photographers to shoot their March 2016 issue with only iPhones. Check out the link below to the story on Bon Appétit's official blog where they ask the photographers their thoughts.
Sake Infused KitKat - why not, right?
KitKat here in Japan is something of a cultural phenomenon. Not content to offer just a few varieties of chocolate, Nestlé in Japan has introduced over 200 flavors of the crunchy, chocolate pieces of sweet delight, according to Kit-Kat-Flavors.com (of course there's a website for this😊). Flavors have ranged from simple things like banana, creme brûlée and green tea, to slightly out of the norm flavors such as soy sauce, wasabi and now sake flavor with 0.8% alcohol - why not, right. Then there are the flavors that are something of a mystery, like Kit Kat Mini Fujisan, as in the famous volcano mountain in Japan, Mt. Fuji, or Kit Kat Convey Your Feeling, release. Umm, ok. So Nestlé Japan, we salute you and please just keep 'em coming.
Tips for Great Food Photos
There are three basic angles when shooting food: Top Down, Three Quarter, and Table/Plate level, at least this is what I call them. Of course regardless of which angle you choose, lighting is key, and don't forget about the background. Cluttered or noisy backgrounds can ruin an otherwise great photo. Below are a few things to remember next time you're photographing food. The images below were shot with a variety of cameras to include my Fuji x100, x100s, X-Pro1, and my iPhone 6 Plus.
Breakfast at Hale Noa Cafe
This weekend my family and I tried the new Hale Noa Cafe in Chatan. The cafe is located near the entrance to Araha Beach, and next door to the Okinawan chain restaurant Chirugwa. My wife had driven by a couple days earlier, noticed Salted Caramel French Toast on their weekly special board outside, and we had to try it out. I'm so glad we did too as it turned out to be a great little breakfast spot, something that is in short supply here in Okinawa.
Amazing Japanese Magic Towelettes (Oshibori)
Japan is famous for it's high tech toys and gadgets, and I am always finding cool stuff that seems to only exist here. Recently I discovered something new, or at least new to me. In Japan small towels called Oshibori are given to customers at restaurants to clean your hands before eating. A local ramen restaurant here in Okinawa called Motonari offers a slightly newer, high tech version of the simple towel. Tablets in a jar that expand to a full-size towelette with water. And they are disposable. So cool! Ok, maybe I'm a little too excited, but I do think it's a cool idea. They look like large Alka-Seltzer or breath mints. Good thing I didn't try to eat one. :)
Shooting with the iPhone 6 Plus Part 1
Anyone who knows me knows that I love my iPhone, but since I got my iPhone 6 Plus I've also started to love taking photos with it. I've always taken shots here and there with my iPhones, but there's something about the new 6 Plus that's got me using it more than I used to.