Food Photo Contest Winner: Wilson Ng

With the Tamron SP 17-50mm lens, California photographer Wilson Ng captured the flavors and textures of Chinese tapas.

Article by Jenn Gidman

Images by Wilson Ng

Wilson shot the entire tapas series with the Tamron SP 17-50mm lens. "Tamron did a great job with this lens," he says. "The quality and sharpness of the 17-50 is amazing, and distortion is well-controlled. What I really like about that lens is the constant F/2.8 aperture, which allows me to easily control depth-of-field."

Wilson's goal when shooting these Chinese delicacies was to make them look absolutely delicious. "I want viewers to feel hungry when they look at the pictures," he says. "If I can do that, I've succeeded. One of the key ways I do that is to get the colors to look as close to natural as possible, which comes down to natural lighting. It's really nice if I'm able to position the dish next to a window to get some directional light. That also helps with the color temperature - early morning or noontime light seems to work best for this."

Because he was traveling for this particular shoot and didn't know what the light would be like in the restaurant, Wilson brought some supplemental lighting. "For most, if not all, of my serious indoor shoots, I prefer to use one or two flashes, an umbrella or softbox, and a reflector," he says. "That way, I have better control of the lighting, regardless of the time of day the shoot's taking place or the amount of light coming from each direction. Plus, this helps me control shadow contrast so the details of the food don't get compromised. For this shoot, I also gelled my flash so not too much ambient light was absorbed."

Before he starts shooting food like this, Wilson thinks about the big picture and how to best showcase the gourmet fare in front of him. "Lighting, table arrangement, and matching accessories are all important in making the final image look appealing," he says. "A lot of people don't think about presentation, and it's really important. For this shoot, I coordinated with the restaurant's chef before I did the plating. We did one dish at a time, so it took an entire afternoon."

Figuring out how to shoot each particular dish depends on the arrangement and texture of the food in front of Wilson's lens. "I try to find the angle at which the food will look the most appealing," he says. "For example, noodles inside a bowl are best shot from above - it's hard to shoot something like that from the side. But for the fried rice arranged in a pyramid, it was better to shoot from eye level."

Whether Wilson shoots a close-up or a wide-angle image is dictated by the most appetizing aspect of the dish. "When I look at food, I consider what the most appealing thing about it is," he says. "With the beef rolls, for instance, the most appealing part was the crispiness of the rolls themselves. For something like that, it's better to do a close-up - from far away, they would look flat and not too appetizing."

Using the wide end of the 17-50 worked with larger dishes and when Wilson wanted to impart a grander perspective. "I'll use the wider end of the lens so you can see the whole arrangement of the table," Wilson says. "By doing this, I give viewers the feeling they're about to actually sit down at the table to eat."

Wilson generally uses Lightroom and Photoshop for post-production (for this shoot he added Capture NX), generally for light touch-up only. "Because the environment for these food shoots is usually so well-controlled, I try to get the composition right as I'm shooting," he says. "I look at the extra elements and eliminate those in my frame so I don't have to do a lot of cropping afterward."

While shooting food in general can be challenging, photographing Chinese food has its own particular issues. "Many Chinese dishes have lots of sauce," Wilson explains. "The sauce covers up the texture of the meats and other ingredients and can make it hard for the viewer to recognize what the food underneath is."

Working quickly with these types of dishes is critical. "The sauce can form a thin, hardened layer on top if it's sitting for too long, which can make the dish look stale," Wilson says. "You have to arrange everything fast and get most of the setup done before doing the shoot, then add the sauce right before you start taking pictures."

For his winning entry, Wilson won the Tamron AF 18-270mm VC PZD lens. "I hope it's waiting for me when I get back home to California from my visit to Hong Kong," he says. "I'm excited to try it out!"

To see more of Wilson Ng's work, go to wilsonngphotography.blogspot.com.