Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Food

The imagery looks great, Bill. I have to say this really shows off the capabilities of the camera, not to mention your excellent work as a DP. The subject matter is real make-it-or-break-it territory and it just renders beautifully.
 
Thanks

Thanks

Wow, thanks for all the kind words guys!

Yes Shane, I have 20+ years in still photography. Lots of it in tabletop and food.
Some of my recent work is on www.billsimonephotography.com if you are interested Thanks!

Justin, most all of this work was prior to my RPP set so it is shot on the
Red 18-50 and 50-150 lenses. I especially like the 18-50 for its close focusing.

Lighting was alot of HMI, but quite a few were done with Tungsten. I'm not afraid of Tungsten if I know the shot wants to have a warm color balance to begin with, (as lots of food does).

I was all over the place with frame rates from 24/4k to 50-60/3k and up to 120/2k. The trick was keeping the HMI's acting nicely and having enough power as the stop is often deeper on TT work than narrative.

I used so many different lighting set ups it would be hard to give a general description. Lighting is quite intuitive for me after so many years of still TT work, but I'd be happy to try to answer any specific questions.

Love my Red! She just got back from MX upgrade and I'm going to be shooting in earnest this weekend after I finish these pesky still jobs I have this week!

Bill
 
Bill - your still work is fantastic! I remember seeing it awhile back.
Do you use HDR techniques?
 
Best RED food work I've seen. I've been talked into 35mm on food spots recently by agencies that don't believe it can look good enough on RED...this is mind blowingly good, and will go a long way to winning those arguments!

Also, shot on your RED lenses flies in the face of people slagging off the 18-50 etc. I love the 18-50, it's a macro, it's light, it's sharp, it's cheap. Yeehaw.

Cal
 
Love it. I have spend yesterday the entire day looking for table top shot on red on reduser :)
 
Bill Simone said:
I'd be happy to try to answer any specific questions.
Click to expand...

Then I'll start with this one:
attachment.php

I love how the glass is lit. Big bounced light from below?
 

Attachments

  • Picture 4.jpg
    Picture 4.jpg
    37.2 KB · Views: 0
lighting

lighting

First thanks Michael for the compliment on the still work. I appreciate that.
Yes I do use HDR technique primarily for the backgrounds. I am assuming you are referring to the people work. Most of that is composited work.

Martin...

4x4 frame covered with a pretty hefty diffusion I use alot in still work called
"trans-lum". It is positioned camera left at an angle matching the angle of the martini glass and pretty close in to the glass. I put a 1.2 Arri HMI thru it sort of biased toward the back of the frame. This is what makes the back edge of the highlight a little hotter and causes the nice falloff as it wraps around the glass. The background is actually a gradated painted background, so it was simply lit with another 1.2 HMI, netted to bring it down to proper levels.
This is really the beauty of RED and Digital in general. It is the best light meter given use of a calibrated set monitor. In the past I had to do this stuff with light meters shooting 8x10 transparency film. Now it is a breeze with a good monitor and a little bit of horse sense.

Thanks Martin!
 
lighting

lighting

It is important to mention that the glass was rigged on a sturdy stand on a "platform" no bigger than the bottom of the glass. So that it is free from unwanted reflections that may occur by sitting it on a surface.

Bill
 
Bravo Bill, best food footage I have seen. I might be working on a food show soon, this is quite inspiring to see. What about when shooting food in locations you dont have the luxury of studio tools and big lights...you recommend LEDs panels? I am not a big fan of them on skin tones but never shot food with them before.

Best
 
TT Dolly/lighting

TT Dolly/lighting

Hi Mark...I have a PS Tech skater dolly which I love for TT work.
I do not have the motor-maybe someday! But I find the ltlle device that places drag on the system is great.

CH-I'm shooting food on location in two weeks, space is adequate and I will just bring my lighting along. I have never used LED panels at all, so I cannot comment on them. The thing is you need lots of power if you intend any overcranking. I've always tried to take my studio methods o the road as much as possible. Try not to compromise.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top