Food Photography in Ottawa [General]

2009 Jun 23
hi guys! I love this forum!!

So i'm a photographer, recently relocated to Ottawa, and I have a passion for food and food photography, although i have never done it professionally (mostly a wedding photographer)

How do i get in on the action here in Ottawa? I see a lot of restaurants that have no pictures, or extremely bad pictures, both in print and websites....there;s gotta be a market here for it?

bit of a weird topic i know!

Thanks!
Darren

www.dacreativephotography.com

2009 Jun 23
Huh! I've never thought of that, but you're right: there is a lot of space to improve on some of the pictures that are on web pages and such right now.

I don't have much in the ways of suggestions, except maybe to build up a portfolio of photos of different restaurants and dishes, and then approach places? It is one of those tough situations, where you may not be able to get much traction until you have built up a clientele. Having the portfolio of random places will help.

Heck, if you've got rigging set up in your home, you could even stage your own pictures as examples.

Now I'm feeling all hungry *and* photographic.

2009 Jun 23
this guy beat you to it

www.eatinottawa.com/

this was discussed previously on Ottawa Foodies - it should be noted that since then there haven't been any additions to the site! there's certainly a market for it, but whether or not restaurants are willing to pony up the cash is another thing (especially in this economic environment)

PS - Canon FTW

2009 Jun 23
Paf! Don't get me started. The only way that Canon wins is their f/1.2 50mm lens ;)

Nikon 4-evah.

2009 Jul 8
Nikon love here too. Sorry Monty.

2009 Jul 9
I've often thought the Shawarma places could use some help in their photos.

Great idea, good luck!

2009 Jul 11
You can thank Canon for the photos in the banner at the top of each page here (the good ones anyway). ;-)

For the record, Nikon and Canon leapfrog one another constantly so there's not much point in debating long-term merit of one compared to the other. Most seasoned pros use Canon, but that's for one reason only: Nikon screwed up their first stab at auto-focus 20 years ago while Canon got it right. For a short while, serious photographers bought only Canon and as we all know, once you start investing in lenses you're pretty much stuck with your current brand.

In the end, I think it comes down to whose UI (software and hardware) you prefer. I'm used to Canon and have invested enough in lenses over the years that I'm not likely to change to Nikon within the next few decades.

2009 Jul 11
"once you start investing in lenses you're pretty much stuck with your current brand"

Unless you went with Minolta, who was daft enough 20 years ago to make a different lens attachment for their auto-focus cameras, thus giving all the old-school users a clear path to one of their competitors