Do you take photos of your food? I love a good mouth-watering food pic and before the pandemic, I photographed almost everything I ate. Scrolling through my instagram feed over the last year, there are zero photos of meals that I didn't prepare myself at home. I am really looking forward to once again dining at a restaurant!
There's definitely an art to capturing a scene with food, and the approach is different depending on which camera you're using. I'm pretty skilled at grabbing a quick snapshot with my phone and not making a big deal about it in public. I try not to draw much attention to myself since a lot of people find it annoying. It's actually kind of a challenge to shoot fast and still capture a good composition. But you really don't want to let the fries cool.
I also love a slightly haphazard shot of a messy table. This photo featuring a half-drunk Bloody Mary with a few crystals of salt left on the rim, beads of condensation on the table which is covered in scratches from years of diners, and a pristine plate of homestyle breakfast just waiting for me to break the runny yoke.
Then there are times when I break out the DSLR at a restaurant — usually when I'm dining alone, not at a popular time of day — and try to capture a magazine worthy-inviting food scene. These french fries were not just delicious but also beautifully crisp, and the weather was warm and breezy at this outdoor table. Plus no one else was around, so why not?
Sitting at a table inside at this UW cafe, I held the camera low and snapped this eggy sandwich without disturbing anyone around me, also achieving a nice bokeh background from the lights and other diners. Stealth food photographers are at large and we are impatiently waiting to return to restaurants.