Buchanan Studios Blog

Photographic Term of the Week: Chiaroscuro

stevebuchanan — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:57:43 +0000

Chiaroscuro is an Italian term that literally means light-dark. It refers to the tonal contrasts that give a represented object shape and definition or greater dramatic representation.

See this wonderful example from the National Gallery in London

Martinis, kind of

stevebuchanan — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:33:46 +0000

It seems that anything put into a martini glass qualifies as a martini, regardless of it’s gin content (or lack thereof.) But then again, they look nice.

Food styling: Harry McMann

Photographic Term of the Week: Color Temperature

stevebuchanan — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:46:29 +0000

Color Temperature is the description of the color of a light source. Expressed in degrees Kelvin, it’s based on an ideal radiator of light at a particular temperature. Daylight is usually thought of as 5500˚K, incandescent usually 3200˚ or 3400˚ Perceptually, our brains don’t see this difference in color easily, but photographic sensors and films do. Manual or automatic color balance is fairly easily achieved with digital still and video cameras, but situations with differing light sources and therefore differing color temperatures can present challenges.

Photographic Term of the Week: Bellows Factor

stevebuchanan — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:27:38 +0000

Bellows factor is the degree which exposure is lessened due to the lens being focused beyond it’s focal length. Practically speaking – its the degree which we need to increase our exposure when we focus close. Bellows factors of 4 (2 stops) are not uncommon when shooting close work.

The focus mechanisms in our lenses effectively move the lens farther from the image plane as we focus closer to the subject. As we focus closer and the lens moves farther away from the plane, light falloff from the lens to the plane becomes apparent. This is rarely an issue in everyday photography, but in closeup work it’s very apparent. When working with available light and an in camera light meter, this effect is compensated for by the meter. But when using studio lighting the bellows factor must be manually accounted for.

Recipe shots from Potomac Fine Foods

stevebuchanan — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:07:41 +0000

We recently completed a project with the team at Potomac Fine foods and the chef from Cava Mezze restaurants in the DC area.

Photographic Term of the Week: Chromatic Aberration

stevebuchanan — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:25:51 +0000

This week we begin a new series of defining photographic terms. This week…

Chromatic Aberration – (aka Achromatism) is a shortcoming of lenses where different colors of light are focused onto different planes. IE Blue wavelengths focusing nearer than red. Since all colors we see are made up of combinations of differing wavelengths of light chromatic aberration will cause a loss of sharpness in the color transitions occur. Generally speaking, higher end lenses reduce CA to the point where it’s not detectable with current camera systems.

Image by Stan Zurek

Other lens shortcomings (aberrations) include spherical aberrations, distortion and curvature of field.

Winter Soups

stevebuchanan — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:08:09 +0000

The latest installment from our Good Tastes column with Binny Macnamara…

New images for new fast casual eatery

stevebuchanan — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:31:03 +0000

In our last post we talked about how it’s been the autumn of fast casual – case in point… New eatery from our friends at Glory Days Grill – Fanfare.

Tex Mex for Fast Casual

stevebuchanan — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:38:01 +0000

Yet another of our clients is opening a fast casual concept! It’s been the autumn of fast casual. Some selected image below…

Holiday food gifts

stevebuchanan — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:21:53 +0000

These are from a column we did in Baltimore Style working with food writer Binny MacNamara.