Tilt-Shift Food Photography, Family Photography, Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!

I rented Canon’s 90mm Tilt-Shift lens in anticipation of some food photography, as my father always goes big on the holidays. The others were photographed with Canon’s 50mm 1.2 lens, my FAVORITE lens in my bag!

Easter AM, had to bring the dog for a walk.  And play with my tilt-shift lens.  Notice the blur at the top and the bottom of the photo.  By changing the plane-of-focus, I can get an interesting perspective that is very subtle.

My father is the master chef in our family.  I appreciate candid photography for many reasons.  Tilt-shift.

Tilt-shift.   Photographed with available light.  ISO at 800, Aperture wide open.

The cocktail of the evening is a Manhattan, a family favorite, at least between my father, his father, and myself!

Tilt-shift, ISO 800, available light, shot wide open.

Succulent leg of lamb.  Most food photographers have “food stylists”.  My dad is a chef and a stylist all in one!

I decided to pull out my 50mm 1.2 lens and do some family photos.

ISO: 250 F3.5

Like Father, Like Son!

Taking this photo of my step-mother Lisa, I photographed wide open, 1.2, aiming my focus right on her eyes.  The downward camera angle shows off the eyes a little more and creates an interesting perspective.

Me and my girlfriend. 

My cousin, Nick.   Same camera angle, 50mm 1.2 “Wide Open).  At 1.2 you can see that his eyes are in focus, and we have some nice bokeh (blur) even on his shirt.  A benefit to shooting with a super fast lens, like the 1.2

My dinner plate (that’s lasagna, lamb, eggplant parmesan, artichoke heart, roasted potatoes and perfectly toasted bread!).  Tilt-shift, F2.8.

My view across the table.  Tilt shift.

Candid portrait of my father who as we say “got a bit of sand in his eyes”, is always overwhelmed when surrounded with his family.    I really used the tilt-shift lens, which is a manual focus ONLY lens to bring out the eyes in this shot as the sharpest focal point in the image.

The view from the back porch as an April snow shower rolled in!  Tilt-Shift at F4.

Finally, back at home, I pulled out the tilt-shift one last time this morning before I need to return the lens.  I really enjoy the effect that you can get by changing the plane of focus with this lens.  I may have to add this to my camera bag!