Many of us have a craving for food and drink. Sometimes I like to photograph a memorable dinner. Here’s a simple tip that can help make your food shots shine.

Lighten Up
When photographing food, the texture and details may become obscured when the lighting isn’t perfect. Here the light was coming from the back (backlit) which makes the meat appear quite dark.	Here, I’ve popped up the camera’s flash to bring out the food details. When using the flash to provide fill light, you may want to adjust the camera exposure so that the flash does not overexpose the food.

When the fluffy clouds appear overhead I often think it’s time to grab the camera. There’s something magical about capturing these soft tufts of cotton. It’s easy to capture those puff balls.

Dial Back
Here I framed the large cloud formation using the lovely hanging willow branches. Although the clouds show up with lots of detail, I’d like to see a more dramatic effect.	To add impact, I simply decreased the exposure slightly. You can do this easily by adjusting the camera’s exposure compensation by -1 stop. For an even more dramatic effect, you can reduce the exposure by – 2 stops.

Bright lights against a dark background often create attractive and exciting scenes. Here’s a simple tip for making your nightlife photos appear tack sharp.

Bright Lights of Broadway (or elsewhere)
You may be surprised to know that many night scenes have an abundance of light. A dark background can often fool us and the camera’s exposure metering too. In this photo, the haze surrounding the marquee is caused by overexposure.	To make the scene and theater marquee appear without the haze, I’ve used the camera adjustments to provide less exposure. For this shot, I’ve dialed back the exposure by -2 stops, making the lettering appear sharp.