Does the New York Times have a rich people problems beat reporter? That job has to be so luxurious. Anyway, the latest article about a problem that really isn’t a problem in context: taking pictures of your food at restaurants is getting tacky.
The whole thing’s worth reading, but here’s the most noteworthy part of Helene Stapinski’s piece:
Even Valery Rizzo, who teaches a class in iPhone food photography, thinks the trend has crossed a line.
Someone created a class to teach adults how to take pictures of their food on their smartphone. Having disposable income must be great.
Tired of seeing uncentered, flash-marred photos of indistinguishable glop, Ms. Rizzo taught a course last fall at 3rd Ward in Bushwick, Brooklyn, to try to raise the bar. Ms. Rizzo briefs her students not only on the apps available, like Instagram, Foodie SnapPak and Camera+, but also tries to teach them lessons on composition and lighting. “No. 1 rule is no flash,” she said. “A lot of food photos are hideous because of the flash.”
The idea that adults need a class to learn how to take a picture of their food with their phone is fantastically silly, but besides that, Rizzo raises a good point–when it comes to food photos, flash is the real killer. No one else in the restaurant will be distracted or care about your photography if it doesn’t look like a transformer exploded at your table, and the food looks nicer without an obnoxious light shined on it. So, let’s compromise: turn your flash off before you take your necessary sandwich photo. You can be subtle and no one will complain.
(Photo: Steve Loya/Flickr)
