DRAFT Magazine

The art of food photography is mysterious: making dishes look mouth-watering doesn’t just happen. Lately we’ve seen an increasing number of beer pictures that are just as enticing and wonderful. Anyone who has played with a camera in a dimly lit pub knows that it’s no easy chore to take a fabulous sudsy shot whilst sidled up to the bar. Why is it so hard, and are there quick tips we can learn from to help all of us in our hobby bar-shots? To find out, I called one of the experts, Jesse Friedman, of Beer and Nosh to learn more.

taken by Jesse balancing camera on a glass using a point-and-shoot camera

Do you need a thousand-dollar camera to take sexy beer pictures in bars and breweries?

No, but it can certainly help, especially in low light situations. Small point and shoot digital cameras are best suited for outdoor photography — once you bring them inside to a darkened bar, it can be very challenging to get enough light into their small sensors. There are a few tricks you can use to try to overcome these limitations (see below).

I’m on a limited budget, but am interested in upgrading my point and shoot. Is there a used camera that you’d suggest I try out?

Depending on your budget, both Canon & Nikon offer great entry-level single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras for under a thousand dollars. They are aggressively fighting for the market of a mid-level consumer SLR, which means great deals and feature sets for new SLR users. I’d recommend looking at both the new Canon T1i and the Nikon D5000, both of which start at around $900 with the stock lens.

How can I take a picture in a dark bar without using a flash?

Getting a good picture in a dark bar is a function of getting enough light. There are three basic ways to control this: speed (how long the shutter is open), aperture (how big the hole allowing light is), and adding additional light (a flash). A good picture is a combination of these three elements. Since no one likes the jerk taking flash pictures in bar, we don’t want to adjust that.

If you want to increase the time your picture takes, try resting you camera on a pint glass, and telling it to take a long exposure. If it’s a still of a beer, the background will be blurry with action, but the beer will be in sharp [focus]. Try using the timer feature to take the picture, so you don’t have to be touching the camera when you take the picture. (This technique can work with a simple point and shoot camera too!)

If you want to adjust the aperture, that’s a function of the lens attached to the camera. As the aperture gets wider, the depth of field gets shorter. This means that part of the image will be in focus, while other parts will be blurry.

Fun Fact: You already know how to do this with you own eyes. When you squint, you’re making your depth of field bigger by “shrinking the aperture of your eyes” causing them to refocus, and see blurry objects more clearly.

Lastly, you can adjust the ISO, which is the sensitivity of the sensor. But beware — as you turn the sensitivity up, you’ll get more and more of a grainy image. Try playing with it on your camera, since different sensors have different sensitivity levels.

Do you have setting tips for novice beer geeks to get the best pictures from a common camera?

Learn to use the white balance features of your camera, which can easily adjust the overall color tone of your pictures. Since digital film is free, try taking the same picture with each of the settings, then look at them on a computer to see how they affect the final image. Having this set right can save a lot of time and color correcting later. Even the cheapest point and shoot digitals will let you adjust this setting.

For those who have a digital SLR, is there a lens that you consider a “must have,” a lens that will instantly make pictures better?

YES! I highly recommend a portrait prime lens, which is a lens that does not have a zoom. For digital SLRs, this means about a 35mm lens — the equivalent of a 50mm film lens. You’ll end up moving your body to compose the picture instead of zooming in and out, but it’ll allow you to adjust the aperture for shooting in much darker places, and getting higher quality pictures.

Is there an online resource you suggest for learning more about taking great low light pictures?

A: While digital cameras have made photography more and more accessible, there is no substitute for a solid understanding of the basics of a camera. Learning how the interaction of aperture and shutter speed affects your pictures is key for taking your photography “to the next level.”

Lately, I’ve been using Ken Rockwell’s site to help me learn how to use my new camera.

Another great resources is the EXIF data that most digital pictures have. This data records all of the camera’s settings into the picture for recording keeping. When browsing photo-sharing sites like Flickr, you can click the “more properties” link to see just how a photograph was shot, and then try to replicate those settings. Better yet, post a comment and ask the photographer how they got the effect you desire and want to replicate. With digital film’s cost being free, there is no reason not to experiment and learn new techniques wherever you can.

What camera do you use to take the pictures shown on your Web site?

Until a few weeks ago, I was using a first generation Canon Digital Rebel with a 50mm lens, but recently upgraded to a Nikon D90, with a 35mm Nikkor lens. I’m loving my new camera. It has a big screen, making it much easier to evaluate my picture as I shoot, and with its dynamic ISO features and a fixed lens, I’m able to shoot in surprisingly dark places. I’m still learning how to use it, but so far my favorite feature has to be the on-the-fly White Balance settings. I haven’t yet taken it into the San Francisco Toronado to see how it does — they’re my Moby Dick of dark bar photography.