adpo Senior Member Joined: 16 Nov 2011 Posts: 8 Location: San Diego Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Wed Nov 16, 2011, 4:05am Subject: How to best photograph lattes?
Hi, new member here :)
I'm a student at UCSD and have become quite addicted to espresso in the process. I'm also a bit of a photographer in my free time.
Anywho, there are some places where I get the occasional cup of latte art, are there any specific techniques needed to photograph lattes and whatnot? I can never seem to quite get my pictures to look like how the espresso really looks like. Are there any latte art/photography pros here that can help me with my dilemma?
synthsis Senior Member Joined: 15 Nov 2011 Posts: 7 Location: New Jersey Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Breville Cafe Roma Grinder: Cuisinart Vac Pot: vintage sylex Drip: pffft.....drip? Roaster: not yet
Posted Wed Nov 16, 2011, 9:54am Subject: Re: How to best photograph lattes?
I'm also a photographer, and although I have yet to shoot a cup of coffee I can make some general suggestions based on shooting small objects. I would use a 50mm 1.8f lens wide open to get a close depth of field on the surface of the coffee and then some nice vignetting on everything else. Natural light is always best, but you could use a top mounted flash with a diffuser. Maybe this will motivate me to shoot a couple shots next time I make a cup.
adpo Senior Member Joined: 16 Nov 2011 Posts: 8 Location: San Diego Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Nov 17, 2011, 7:42am Subject: Re: How to best photograph lattes?
made myself a latte this morning and gave it a shot. Used light from the window and shot with a 55mm lens at f/2.8 Click Here (a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net)
takeshi Senior Member Joined: 12 Oct 2002 Posts: 731 Location: Houston Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Silvia Grinder: Super Jolly Roaster: Amaya Roasting
Posted Thu Nov 17, 2011, 9:30am Subject: Re: How to best photograph lattes?
adpo Said:
I can never seem to quite get my pictures to look like how the espresso really looks like. Are there any latte art/photography pros here that can help me with my dilemma?
adpo Senior Member Joined: 16 Nov 2011 Posts: 8 Location: San Diego Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Thu Nov 17, 2011, 9:46am Subject: Re: How to best photograph lattes?
one of my issues is that i'm never quite sure what to meter to. When I meter to the cup, the highlights in the foam get blown. If I meter to the foam, the rest of the image is too dark.
another problem i have is getting enough depth of field. If i try to stop down, there's simply not enough light or my iso goes to some crazy level and all i get is a noisy mess.
Phil_In_Ottawa Senior Member Joined: 1 Oct 2010 Posts: 74 Location: Ottawa, ON Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Vibiemme DD Grinder: Baratza Vario Drip: Newco OCS-12
Posted Thu Nov 17, 2011, 11:57am Subject: Re: How to best photograph lattes?
adpo Said:
one of my issues is that i'm never quite sure what to meter to. When I meter to the cup, the highlights in the foam get blown. If I meter to the foam, the rest of the image is too dark.
Try using the Matrix metering mode (or whatever it's called on your camera) so that the whole scene is evaluated, not just the foam or the cup. That should help balance things out.
Or, you can meter on the foam and use a little off-camera fill flash to bring out the darker areas.
Or, you can always adjust the exposure of different areas of the photo in post-processing using masks or control points if you have tools for that.
adpo Said:
another problem i have is getting enough depth of field. If i try to stop down, there's simply not enough light or my iso goes to some crazy level and all i get is a noisy mess.
Use a tripod which will allow you to dial in a smaller aperture to increase the depth of field while using a longer exposure in order to keep your ISO in check.
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