DMS Photo Lab

Photographer | Author Location: Chicago

I’m usually working hard, but when I’m hardly working, you canfind me…Binge-watching silly TV shows,reading, or spending time with my family.

My favorite photographer is…Francesca Woodman

This one time I was taking a photograph and…I almost set the kitchen on fire (twice). I almost fell off a wobbly chair I shouldn't have been standing on. I accidentally punched myself in the face (Separate occasions, but I'm seeing a pattern here...)

I couldn't make it through the day without…I know it's obvious: coffee.

By: Christina Domingues 

As photographers, we have ample ways to capture food, still life and lifestyle photography. Each shot in an assignment is an opportunity to showcase the subject and the step-by-step process:

Some tips: 

Before shooting, read the assignment and the step-by-step action process closely. What are the main features of the subject? Is there an element of the food or action that needs to be highlighted? Take notes of each action step, and if more than one step is described in the copy for one image section, decide which step is themost important process to convey visually.

Consider the shape of the subject. Which angle is the most flattering? You'll want to take full advantage of the subject's 'best' angle.

Keep the angles simple, and avoid extreme dutch angles: A Dutch tilt or angle is an angle that's deliberately slanted to one side.  

When shooting assignments for Demand, one should focus on clearly representing the content in an “easy to read” angle, and not shoot images with dutch angles that are too dramatic or seem disorienting. When photographing food, a slight angle is fine, but you don’t want all of your food to look like it’s about to slide off the table. If you have to view the image by tilting your head, then you’ve probably created too strong of an angle.  In order to avoid dutch angles, try taking a step back and re-framing to include more of a subject in a photo, or use a shorter focal length for a wider viewing angle.

When in doubt, shoot from different angles. This is particularly helpful when working on food assignments, when it’s harder to recreate a process once a step has been photographed. As you edit down to your final selects, you’ll have more images to pull from.

We are absolutely loving Laura Beth Drilling's most recently completed assignments. Laura has worked really hard on her style and technique and with some help from our Photography Expert, her work has improved greatly. She is now one of our top photographers! Check out some of her amazing work below. 

Shrimp Tempura Rolls

Early Morning Excercises

By: Jennifer Dorn | Photo Community Expert

Here are a few pointers (and some really lovely examples by some of our Studio photographers) on great overview images.  Important - readers should know what the assignment is about just by looking at that one image.  The title of the article shouldn't have to explain it.

Keep it to the point: The overview is to show the final step of the assignment.  If that can't be achieved, or its not the strongest statement, as in the beauty assignment here, use your best judgement as to what sums up the piece the best.  If your editor had to use just one shot of all the ones you created this would be the one remaining.

Angles and props: Again, we really want to see clean balanced images with props, but don't over do it.  The point again is to highlight the finished step.  Don't feel the need to throw in lots of extraneous items just because they are called for later in the assignment.  Ingredients are a great prop to add to a food assignment, but watch out for too many busy backgrounds, shooting with distracting angles and adding too many elements to the image.

Refinery 29 recently posted a curated list of the Best Los Angeles Photography Instagrams. Social media is a great (and necessary) promotional tool for business. Do you utilize Instagram, or any other platforms to help promote your art? 

By: Pamela Follett

Lighting

Pay attention to the light. Good lighting will ensure that you have a correct exposure and once that is in place, the rest of your shoot should be smooth sailing. With the right light, you should have a fast shutter speed, which will help your focus to be clear and sharp. Ideal light in food photography is indirect daylight.

-       Set up your food next to a large window, and photograph so the light is illuminating the side facing you from a slight angle. If you are facing your subject, the light should be coming from slightly behind you, either from the left or the right.

-       DO NOT use an in camera flash. This will create hard shadows. Do not use a harsh overhead light, as this will also create unwanted shadows.

Associate Design Santa Monica, CA

I’m usually working hard, but when I’m hardly working you can find me… around LA doing random things– movies, museums, working out, shopping, eating, drinking, sleeping.

Favorite designer is… It’s impossible to name just one but I’ve recently re-watched my favorite documentary Beautiful Losers. Margaret Kilgallen, Barry McGee and Stephen Powers are just a few of the many amazingly talented artists featured in that film that are a huge inspiration to me.

Favorite design project? The most fun I have designing is when I’m collaging -- cutting paper, drawing, painting, image transferring… using whatever is around me without any limitations or hesitations is the best.

Song you can’t stop listening to… "Before I Ever Met You" - Banks 

One food you just can’t leave without… Sushi!

As fellow photographers and photo editors we understand how important it is to remain current in the photography industry. Whether you're scoping out a newly opened exhibition, snapping casual photos of your favorite pastime, or simply 'messing around' in Photoshop, being involved -- and in the know -- helps further your career.

The DMS Photo Blog exemplifies this notion -- to date, the blog has been a valuable resource for our thriving community, and we'd like to continue to expand its ever-growing web presence. In addition to insightful photo tips, awe-inspiring photographs, and spotlighting our contributors, we're branching out into new territory. In the days/weeks ahead be on the lookout for news articles, trending topics, and more! 

We’re excited to announce a brand new tool for our photography community: the Photo Resource Center. Our goal was to create a simple one-stop shop for everything a DMS contributor needs to succeed. Want to check something in the guidelines? Not sure how to start photo editing? We have you covered. Just click on the Resources button at the top of your screen and you’ll be sent directly to the new Resource Center. What can you find in the Resource Center?

New Contributor Tools – instructions for the Studio roles and introductions to our team.

Guidelines – for the Studio in general and for specific partners and assignment formats.

Photography Tips – our curated list of the things every contributor should know.

Get Connected – follow us on social media and see the best photos from the Studio.

Location: Portland Oregon Job: Photo Editor & Photographer

I’m usually working hard, but when I’m hardly working, you can find me… cycling through the countryside.

My favorite photographer is… Andreas Gursky

This one time I was taking a photograph and… I was questioned by the Police (more than once actually).

I couldn't make it through the day without… coffee.

As content creators we strive to produce high-quality content that is not only helpful but also beautiful! We look toward our photographers and photo editors to help us produce the best content possible. This is not always so easy-- sometimes we have to produce photography for unpleasant titles like "How to Treat a Pimple with Natural Products" or content that isn't necessarily that visual like "How to Balance a Check Book." 

We are always so impressed to see how our photographers approach titles like these, with some thought there are a bunch of creative approaches to difficult titles. Case in point: "How to Treat a Pimple with Natural Products." Instead of a close up of a pimple, why not compose a great portrait of the subject holding a compress to her skin in a nicely styled bathroom? Or perhaps shoot a beautifully composed still life of the remedies mentioned in the text. 

We look to you, our Photographers and Photo Editors, to find creative solutions to not only the difficult titles but to all of the assignments in the Studio. From the environment you chose to shoot in to how you want to shoot it, it's up to you. And if you're ever feeling stuck and need some inspiration or advice- we are here to help! Email us at [email protected].  

Cropping an image can help to further define the focal point of an image, level a horizon line, or remove a distracting element or unneeded extra space from an image. 

Ideally, you would want to frame your final image by cropping within the camera, but at times you may determine that you'll need to crop an image after the fact. 

  Cropping in Photoshop:

First, open the image you want to crop in Photoshop. The crop tools in Photoshop CC and Photoshop CS6 are non-destructive, which means you can choose to retain cropped pixels rather then remove them completely. Once you've opened your image, you'll need to select the Crop Tool from the toolbar. 

You can either draw a new cropping area by clicking and dragging where you want it to be, or you can drag the corner and edge handles to resize the crop area from the area automatically chosen when you switched to the Crop Tool.

Rotate your image with cropping:

When you drag the crop marquee over an image, you can rotate it by letting go the mouse button and drag on one of the corners of the marquee to rotate it. This can be used to level the horizon line in an image. When you double click you will rotate and crop the image at the one time.

The steps outlined here are somewhat similar when using Photoshop Elements and Adobe Lightroom.

How to Create Selective Focus While Photographing:

Selective focus is created when you focus on the specific part of a subject you want to emphasize, and you “ignore” the rest, letting it fall into the blur of the background or foreground. Selective focus is often used for still life images, to draw attention to part of a subject.

In order to create selective focus, one must create shallow depth of field. Depth of field is the distance in front of a subject and behind (or beyond in any direction) a subject that is in clear focus. There are three main factors that influence depth of field.

1. F-stop – high f-stops (small apertures) create greater depth of field. In cases where focal length and shooting distance are constants, depth of field is far shallower at f/2.0 compared to f/11.

2. Focal Length – A lens of with a shorter focal length will create greater depth of field than longer focal lengths. For example, a 28mm lens will generate more depth of field than a 85mm lens when used at the same distance from the subject.

3. Distance – The closer you are to the subject, the less depth of field will be created.

 Next time you’ve got your camera handy, practice focusing on different parts of a scene to see how depth of field influences focus.  In order to create selective focus on your subject matter and draw attention to that certain area, you can follow these steps:

1. Choose an aperture that is the widest (or largest). Depending on your     lens it could be in the range of f2.8 to f5.6.

2. For portraits: Focus on the person and blur the background if there are distracting elements behind your subject. The wide aperture will help to achieve this shallow depth of field.

Location: Jersey City, NJ Job: Writer and Photographer

I’m usually working hard, but when I’m hardly working, you can find me... Singing duets with people all across the world using the Smule Sing! app on my smartphone (username iAm_Kyria).

My favorite photographer is…Tim Walker. His work is so elaborate and lush.

This one time I was taking a photograph and…My tripod collapsed while taking a photo of the Hell's Gate bridge and an old Canon A-1 35mm went sailing over the rocks in Astoria Park down to the water. Best part: it still worked!

I couldn’t make it through the day without… Cute answer: A big hug from my dog Toby. The real answer: My ADD medication.