Matching Settings to Your Subject – Shoot delicious-looking pictures of food
Set Picture Control to create more vivid and appealing images of food.
Set Picture Control to create more vivid and appealing images of food.
Selecting Vivid and adjusting contrast makes the roast and side dishes more vivid and appealing.
Photo © Noriko Yamaguchi
The photo above was taken using the Vivid Picture Control with Contrast set to –1 to make the meat appear less greasy.
"Vivid" Versus "Standard"
While Standard produces balanced results, Vivid makes the food look freshly served.
The Vivid control can be modified for a translucent effect.
Photo © Noriko Yamaguchi
The translucent food sample photo was taken using the Vivid Picture Control with Contrast, Brightness, and Saturation set to +1 and Hue to –1 to suppress the blue cast from natural light and bring out the red foods on the plate.
The Modified Versus the Unmodified Picture Control
Although the results still reflect the photographer's original intent, under some lighting conditions the picture will have a blue cast that makes red foods appear more subdued.
"I think the Picture Control system is revolutionary, as it allows the user to easily change settings, like brightness and vividness, depending on the subjects, by simple operation with a few buttons. Shooting food provides a great opportunity to explore all the preset Picture Controls on the camera, as one dish contains several different colors. If you are shooting a dessert in soft, natural tones, select Neutral. Vivid can bring out the beautifully bright hues of yellow bell pepper slices in salad. Landscape and Portrait can be used in food photography too. Landscape is great for shooting green vegetables while Portrait can effectively reproduce the appearance of food with skin-tone colors, such as pizza. The key to taking full advantage of Picture Control, I think, is thoroughly understanding each characteristic of the settings so as to become able to quickly switch from one to another."
Born in Tochigi, Noriko Yamaguchi is a graduate of the Photography Department of the Tokyo Polytechnic University, Junior College Department. Her work frequently appears in fashion and travel magazines, where she is known for her unique, translucent compositions. She received the 2nd Tokyo International Photo Biennial prize for her work, "Men of Istanbul", and the 16th Japan Magazine Photojournalists Association Award for "Street Artists". Her many publications include The Making of the Peninsular Tokyo, Real-G 1/1 Scale GUNDAM Photographs, and photo anthologies such as Arashiyama Kitcho: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter Dining, Vegetable Sushi, Making Hawaiian Leis: The Joy of Floral Decorations, and Discarding and Keeping. She is a member of the Japan Professional Photographers Societyand likes travel, cats, and pudding.
