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Posts Tagged ‘Kitchen’

Weekly Photography Challenge – Kitchen objects

26 Sep

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Kitchen objects appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.

This week it’s simple! We’d love to see you take some regular, everyday object that’s in your kitchen and photograph it! The challenge is to photograph it in a way that adds interest. That might be through perspective (shooting along a bench as I have done with my orange, below) or using a lamp, torch, led light, flash to add some extra atmosphere to your morning coffee.

Use the #dPSKitchenThings hashtag wherever you post!

Here’s that orange! (It wasn’t actually that tasty, it was off the small orange tree, potted, out the back of my house)

Weekly Photography Challenge – Kitchen objects
Sony a7 Mk3 with a 55mm f/1.8 lens at 1.8 for 1/60th ISO 100

Trying to use a knife to add a leading line of sorts, to bring your viewer’s eye into your subject.

Here’s a neat article on food portraits if your object is food! clickety click

Photographing the espresso below, I used the Sony app to trigger my camera remotely and had a little Aputure MW LED light just out of frame to light up the subject but keep the rest of the scene a little darker.

Weekly Photography Challenge – Kitchen objects
Sony a7 Mk3 with a 55mm f/1.8 lens at 1.8 for 1/125th ISO 100

Great! Where do I upload my photos?

Simply upload your shot into the comments field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see. Or, if you’d prefer, upload them to your favourite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them.

Weekly Photography Challenge – Looking Up

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites – tag them as #DPSKitchenThings to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.

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The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Kitchen objects appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sime.


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Weekly Photography Challenge – Kitchen

04 Apr

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Kitchen appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.

Since we are all stuck indoors, this week’s photography challenge topic is the KITCHEN!

Weekly Photography Challenge – Kitchen
Taken in low light with my phone and some macro filters. An empty tin and the pepper shaker. © Caz Nowaczyk

That’s right! Get creative and take some shots of your kitchen. You can use flash or ambient light. Do close-ups of your cutlery draw, tea and coffee canisters, or food in your pantry. Take photos of food preparation and cooking. Photograph the results! Do wide-angle shots of the entire scene too. Blur them out, use intentional camera movement, or whatever you like!

Try creating a series that work together too, if you like.

So, check out these pics to give you some ideas, have fun, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Weekly Photography Challenge – Kitchen
A close-up of my trail mix. Shot with my phone and close-up filters. © Caz Nowaczyk
Weekly Photography Challenge – Kitchen
A grater and knife handle. Try a series and see how they might work together. © Caz Nowaczyk

Check out some of the articles below that give you tips on this week’s challenge.

Tips for photographing the KITCHEN

The 6 Top Photoshop Tools for Still Life Photography

Simple Methods for Creating Better Still Life Images

Tips for Getting Started with Still Life Photography

What is Ambient Light in Photography? An Explanation for Beginner Photographers

How to Practice Your Photography Skills by Getting Creative in the Kitchen

Quick Video Tutorial – 8 DIY Photography Hacks for the Kitchen

Tips for Styling and Photographing Interiors

3 Tips for Photographing Mixed Lighting in Interiors

Blur and Creative Photography – Why Your Images Don’t Need To Be 100% Sharp

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

If you tag your photos on Flickr, Instagram, Twitter or other sites – tag them as #DPSkitchen to help others find them. Linking back to this page might also help others know what you’re doing so that they can share in the fun.

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Kitchen appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Caz Nowaczyk.


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FOB Kitchen, Great New Filipino Hot Spot in Oakland, California

09 Feb

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

I had the pleasure to try FOB Kitchen last night, a hot new Telegraph Avenue Oakland Filipino menu in Oakland (Thanks cristina_thebaker!). 5179 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94609. You would not know it from the unassuming Temescal strip mall setting, but once inside you are treated to an amazing and flavorful Filipino menu from this former San Francisco pop up. The decor and setting make you feel like you are being transported to a swanky tropical beach bar in the Philippines and once you dive into the family style offerings you will be hooked. The friendly service is first rate and definitely take their recommendations when ordering for the first time.

Chef Janice Dulce (right), FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California
FOB Kitchen Chef Janice Dulce (right).

My favorite dish of the evening was their popular and well regarded Pork Adobo (palm vinegar, soy, garlic, annatto). The succulent chunks of pork go perfectly with the savory sauce which is also perfect to pour over the rice served with dinner. I also enjoyed the cornucopia of flavors in another recommended vegetarian dish the Ensalada Talong (eggplant, jicama, tomato, sea bean, cilantro, scallion, coconut vinegar, soy, rice cracker). I’m a huge brussel sprouts fan and FOB Kitchen prepares theirs perfectly — and as a bonus they also have bok choy as a side as well. Of the three desserts I tried I think I liked the turon the most, which are Filipino fried banana rolls served with ice cream. While these dishes were some of my favorite standouts, I loved everything I tried there.

Beautiful well crafted cocktails, savory regional cuisine and a flight of excellent desserts with family celebrating my second oldests 17th birthday made for a memorable evening. I will definitely be back!

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California

FOB Kitchen, Oakland, California


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How to Practice Your Photography Skills by Getting Creative in the Kitchen

26 Apr

Do you ever get trapped in the marketing frenzy? Is the lack of professional equipment or fancy subjects preventing you from improving your photography? It’s easy to make excuses, but it’s better to get creative.

Keep reading to see that you don’t need to go any further than your own kitchen to practice and level up your photography skills. In this article, I’ll show you some tips and tricks to improve your shooting and lighting using things you find in the kitchen.

Improve photography skills creative food photography tutorial

Exposure settings: f/22, 1/60, ISO 4000, focal length 55m.

The basic knowledge you need to understand and master in photography is exposure. This refers to finding the correct amount of light for your photograph. There are three variables that you need to take into account when making a photograph. They are known as the exposure triangle as they are always connected; they are the aperture, shutter speed, and the ISO.

Since they are linked, when you are adjusting one leg of the triangle you have to compensate with one of the others. Having said this, you can also do the exercises I’m proposing even if you are not yet familiar with shooting in Manual Mode.

Aperture and Depth of Field

As I was saying, the correct exposure depends on three related factors, I’m going to start with aperture, but keep in mind that whatever you move here you need to compensate equally with one of the others.

If you’re not confident yet doing this manually, you can set your camera to Aperture Priority Mode (A or Av) and that way your camera will decide the correct settings to fit the aperture you want.

Aperture refers to a hole in your lens through which the rays of light come together and pass towards the sensor. Obviously, the bigger the hole the more light goes in and vice versa.

However, it also has an impact on the depth of field so you need to learn and practice how to control it.

Improve photography skills creative food photography tutorial depth of field

Left image: f/2.8, 1/2500th, ISO 1600, 55mm
Right image: f/11, 1/125th, ISO 1600, 55mm.

When you are closing the aperture, the f-number goes up (like f/16, f/11) which results in a bigger depth of field. As you can see in the examples.

Improve photography skills creative food photography tutorial depth of field aperture

Left image: f/2.8, 1/1000th, ISO 1600, 55mm.
Right: f/11, 1/60th, ISO 1600, 55mm.

Remember that the distance between the camera and the subject as well as the focal length also impact the depth of field, so try out different settings and keep practicing.

Improve photography skills creative food photography tutorial depth of field fstop

Exposure: f/2.8, 1/250th, ISO 1600, 55mm.

Exercise to practice

Try shooting different objects in your kitchen using different aperture settings. See how it looks at f/2.8 or wide open, compared to using a smaller aperture of f/11 or f/16. You may need a tripod to keep the camera steady.

Shooter Speed and Motion

Another factor is the shutter speed. As its name indicates, it’s the speed at which the shutter opens and closes when you take your photograph. This is more straight-forward to understand than the aperture. The more time the shutter remains open, the more trajectory from the moving object will be captured resulting in a blur. The faster you set your shutter speed, the moving object will be sharper as it will appear frozen.

Improve photography skills creative food photography tutorial shutter speed motion

Left: f/11, 1/640th, ISO 5000, 50mm.
Right: f/11, 1/80th, ISO 400, 50mm.

If you’re not confident shooting in Manual Mode, you can set your camera to Shutter Priority (Tv or S). This way your camera will decide the correct settings to fit the shutter speed of your choice.

Improve photography skills creative food photography tutorial shutter speed

Exposure: f/8, 1/125th, ISO 1600, 50mm.

Exercise to practice

Try finding some moving objects in your kitchen; flowing water out of the tap, have a friend pour a liquid into a cup for you, a fan blowing, etc. Shoot it at all kinds of different shutter speeds and see what it looks like at 1/30th versus 1/2000th. Remember to stabilize the camera when using a shutter speed less than your focal length to maintain sharpness.

The last exercises are about controlling the resulting image with the light that you have to work with, but the next step to level up your photography is about manipulating the light. That’s the idea for the next activities.

Quality of light: Hard versus soft

Depending on the distance and size of the light source, as well as the type of bulb or accessories (light modifiers) that you use with it you can have either hard or soft light in your scene.

Hard light is created by direct sunlight, for example. Or if you’re talking about artificial light it refers to small light bulbs with no light modifiers that are placed farther from your subject. It results in dark shadows with clearly defined edges as well as contrasted colors. It’s not necessarily flattering for portraits, but in still life scenes, it can create a very special mood.

Improve photography skills creative food photography tutorial hard light

Exposure: f/8, 1/30th, ISO 400, 50mm. Notice the hard, well-defined shadows of the kitchen tools here. This is hard lighting.

Soft light is therefor the opposite. It casts diffused shadows that fade away gradually instead of having a defined edge. When you’re working with natural light this is what you get on a cloudy day because the clouds work as a giant diffuser.

However, when you are working with artificial light there are many different ways to soften it. You can move the light closer to the subject or use a bigger light source (or modifier). But talking about hacks you can do in your kitchen, you can simply put a sheet of oven paper (also known as baking paper) in front of your light like I did here to spread out the light (diffuse it) and make it softer.

Improve photography skills creative food photography tutorial soft light

Exposure: f/8, 1/15th, ISO 400, 50mm. Notice the lack of well-defined shadows here, this is soft lighting.

Exercise to practice

Pick a subject in your kitchen and photograph it using both hard and soft light. Window light through curtains or which is not direct sunlight is a good source for soft light. A flashlight or bare light bulb can make for a hard light source – try both.

Lighting style – high key

While on this subject, there is a particular style of lighting with soft light called high key. These are images with mostly light colors and white with soft or no shadows in the image. You can also overexpose the white background a bit to enhance the effect.

A quick trick from your kitchen to achieve this look is to use the light from the extractor hood above your stove. Most stoves have one and it usually gives a diffused gentle light. I find this very useful to do high key images:

Improve photography skills creative food photography tutorial high key lighting

Exposure: f/22, 1/125th, ISO 100, 167mm.

Try creating a high key look at home with items in your kitchen.

Reflection

Another way of diffusing light is by using reflectors, however, they can also serve other purposes. In this case, I was using the natural light from the window coming in from behind the bottle and placed a chopping board as a black background, this brings out the contours of glass objects.

The problem was that the lime wasn’t getting much light and this flattened the entire image. By using an aluminum BBQ-oven cooking tray I bounced the light back into the front of the lime and gave the final result that subtle, but needed punch. Look at this before and after.

Improve photography skills creative food photography tutorial reflector

Left: f/8, 1/30th, ISO 400, 50mm.
Right: f/8, 1/30th, ISO 400, 50mm.

Try it at home

So try a few of these in your own kitchen and see what you can learn by playing around and practicing.

As you can see you don’t need any professional equipment or even cooking skills, you only need to be creative! These are just some examples of what you can do but you can also work on your composition, cropping, colors, contrast and much more.

Share any other kitchen hacks or exercises that help you improve your photography in the comments section below.

The post How to Practice Your Photography Skills by Getting Creative in the Kitchen appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Quick Video Tutorial – 8 DIY Photography Hacks for the Kitchen

09 Dec

Here is another fun video from the team over at COOPH. This time they’re playing with ordinary household items found in your kitchen.

Here are 8 DIY photography hacks you can do at home

Watch as they play with some eggs, kitchen utensils, have fun with a cheese grater, make a DIY softbox for a flash, play with reflective surfaces, flour, and some fruit!

Get cracking (pun intended) and see what you can come up with trying these tips out.

The post Quick Video Tutorial – 8 DIY Photography Hacks for the Kitchen by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Brown Sugar Kitchen, Great Chicken and Waffles in Oakland, California

24 Jul

Brown Sugar Kitchen, West Oakland
Chicken and waffles at Brown Sugar Kitchen

Brown Sugar Kitchen
2534 Mandela Parkway
Oakland, CA 94607

If you haven’t had breakfast/lunch at Brown Sugar Kitchen in West Oakland yet you are missing out. Having eaten here several times now I’ll make some observations.

Plan on waiting a long time to get a seat. Every time I’ve been to breakfast/lunch at Brown Sugar Kitchen I’ve had to wait at least 30 – 60 minutes — this is on Saturday or Sunday mornings though. I suspect weekday the wait is not as long. This is fine if you plan to make it a full weekend morning event, but be aware that you are in for a long wait time. I always love photographing around West Oakland, so I really don’t mind so much. I just put my name on the list and set a timer for how long I’m supposed to wait and go walk around and shoot some local street art. American Steel Studios is just down the street and there usually are interesting things to photograph around down there.

Of course the thing to order here is the chicken and waffles. The waffles are cornmeal waffles and taste delightful. They come with an apple cider based syrup but I recommend paying the $ 2 extra for real maple syrup. It’s worth it. The chicken is a buttermilk fried chicken and is equally delicious.

Most everything is good here, but other standouts for me include the mac and cheese (only available at noon or later), the breakfast potatoes, the pork hash and the cheesy grits.

Definitely order the coffee — it’s Bicycle Coffee and is one of the best tasting local brews I’ve had anywhere for breakfast. They also sell it by the bag if you want to take some to go.

Obviously with wait times being as long as there at Brown Sugar Kitchen it’s nice to know that they are in the process of opening up a second location (inside the old space where Pican was before they closed down in Uptown on Broadway). No word yet on the timing, but the sooner the better as far as I’m concerned.

Enjoy some photos of breakfast at Brown Sugar and some of the local West Oakland street art below.

Brown Sugar Kitchen, West Oakland
Chicken and waffles, cheesy grits, pork hash at Brown Sugar Kitchen

Brown Sugar Kitchen, West Oakland
Poached eggs and pork hash at Brown Sugar Kitchen

Jamaica the Artist
A mural by Jamaica the Artist at American Steel Studios down the street from Brown Sugar Kitchen

Brown Sugar Kitchen, West Oakland
Artwork on the wall at Brown Sugar Kitchen

For Dave Johnson
A mural by Gats at American Steel Studios

Brown Sugar Kitchen, West Oakland
Homemade pop tarts, Brown Sugar Kitchen


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Not Your Grandma’s Kitchen: 17 Modern Designs for the Discerning Cook

12 Jan

[ By SA Rogers in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

futuristic-kitchen-ora-1

If these designs are any indication, the kitchen of the future is modular, minimalist, mobile and so unobtrusive that it can practically blend into the furniture in your living room. Whether you love a more rustic handcrafted aesthetic or want your house to look like the interior of a spaceship, these modern kitchen designs radically depart from contemporary interiors for the sake of both looks and functionality.

 

Invisible Kitchen by i29 Architects

invisible-kitchen-2

invisible-kitchen-3

invisible-kitchen-4

When it’s not needed, the kitchen in this historic Parisian apartment disappears altogether, blending into the wall. The top surface of the center island measures just about an inch thick to add to the sense of lightness, making the room’s classic woodwork its focal point. Dutch firm i29 Architects developed the ‘Invisible Kitchen’ system to be adaptable, so the front facade always mimics another wall in the room.

Aquarium Kitchen Island by Robert Kolenik

aquarium-kitchen

aquarium-kitchen-2

The ‘Ocean’ kitchen island by Robert Kolenik not only places an island countertop on an oversized aquarium, but also includes a mechanism that lifts the top vertically to provide access to the tank for feeding and maintenance.

Transparent Cookspace by Tokujin Yoshioka

transparent-kitchen

transparent-kitchen-2

transparent-kitchen-3

transparent-kitchen-4

Cooking implements, tableware and other small objects are partially visible yet still obscured in a translucent cook space by Tokujin Yoshioka, developed for Toyo Kitchen Style.

Sculptural ICE Kitchen by Tom Dixon

ice-kitchen

ice-kitchen-2

ice-kitchen-3

Departing radically from the look of a typical contemporary kitchen, ICE by Tom Dixon consists of monolithic triangular prisms in various shapes and sizes that form the base of a luxurious kitchen made of ‘caesarstone’ premium quartz surfaces.

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Not Your Grandmas Kitchen 17 Modern Designs For The Discerning Cook

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Origami Spoon: Flat-Folding Kitchen Tool Adjusts to Measure Multiple Sizes

25 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

four-sizes

A clever domestic design to eliminate ungainly collections of measuring spoons and cups, Polygons is an ingenious cooking multi-tool that measures different amounts on demand and packs flat when not in use.

polygons

kitchenmultitool

The key to the device is its flexibility, and not just in terms of measuring. Its creators claim it can flex up to 100,000 times without breaking thanks to TPR-based hinges.

four-configurations

spreading-stuff

Each tool (a teaspoon and tablespoon variant) has four different measuring configurations and can also be used to spread things in its flat formation.

kitchen-tool-powder

The creators claim it works equally well with runny and viscous liquids as well as powders, then wash easily to avoid stains and smells.

kitchen-measuring-device

If the material science side of the project holds it could have a lot more applications as well for everyday-use objects that need to bend without extraneous hinging mechanisms (which add bulk to a product as well as a point of failure and cracks for dirt and debris).

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Meal of Worms: Kitchen Farm for Growing Edible Insects at Home

22 Nov

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

insect meal worms

Helping you grow and harvest edible mealworms right on your kitchen counter, the world’s first desktop-sized insect hive aims to aid a rebranding of an unpopular but nutrient-rich source of protein.

edible insect farm

The Livin Farm by Katharina Unger and Julia Kaisinger is just a few two feet tall and contains eight shelves for housing mealworms at various stages of growth, from egg and pupae to beetle.

meal worm diagram

The pupae mature in the top drawer, turning into egg-laying beetles. The eggs in turn fall through holes in the floor and grow into worms.

insect feeding time

The key to the whole operation is a customized micro-climate within the case as well as a fan, filter and ventilation system. The insects themselves can subsist on vegetable scraps and other kitchen waste.

insect in salad

insect food protien

A button on the box vibrates the operation, separating insects from waste automatically rather than the conventional and less appealing way: sorting by hand. These are chilled in the bottom drawer for storage or can be frozen before being minced and boiled into meals.

meal worm benefits

Each harvest yields a few hundred grams with protein amounts roughly equivalent to similar weights of meat. The inputs are where the real savings is: less space, water and energy are needed for this system to work.

livin kitchen farm

insect kitchen counter

If the ‘yuck factor’ seems tough to overcome, consider for a moment the foods that have become popular over time across cultures, including the rise of sushi (raw fish and seaweed) in the United States and elsewhere.

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IKEA 2025: Futuristic Modular Kitchen Caters to Food Drones

29 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

futuristic interactive surface design

In a world of increasing automation but decreasing resources, these kitchen concepts include interactive surfaces, flexible storage for on-demand food and responsive innovations to teach people how best to cook, prepare and store meals either made at home or delivered by drone.

Each premise of IKEA’s Concept Kitchen 2025 seems like a sound extrapolation of current trends: easy-to-order ingredients and automated meals mean less need for conventional storage space and greater attention to rising demand for modular storage, water use and recycling.

temporary futuristic kitchen design

Fast (sharing economy or drone) delivery of food and automated repurchasing means pantries can be slimmer, reducing spatial as well as energy needs. At the core of the design is a multi-functional kitchen surface that includes an induction cooking element and other fancy features: “as the world changes, so will our needs. That means that the table of the future will be designed to do so much more: it’s our preparation surface, hob, dining table, work bench and children’s play area.”

responsive kitchen tabletop design

It is not too much of a stretch to imagine a Kinect-like device hovering over your kitchen island, sensing and responding to your movements below, whether you are in the process of cooking, working or playing with your kids.

kitchen overview

graywater system

It also seems like a logical extension of current conditions and technology to assume kitchens will be better equipped to sort out our recycling and help save water through graywater systems and other measures.

kitchen trash concept

futuristic kitchen pantry concept

Presented in Milan for Design Week in collaboration with IDEO and dozens of industrial design students, this IKEA “exhibition is just one part of an ongoing investigation by IKEA into how people’s relationship to food is changing. It serves to tangibly show what we might be doing in 2025: how we’ll be growing our food, storing it; how we’ll be cooking, eating, living and working in the kitchen.”

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