Digital Food Photography Workshop with Lou Manna: June 22, 2008

On Sunday, June 22, 2008, Lou Manna, food photographer and author of the book Digital Food Photography, is offering a full-day class entitled: Digital Food Photography: Creating Delectable Images.

A few months ago, I had an opportunity to take a very similar full-day workshop at the same location (Lou Manna’s studio), and it was fantastic. Lou shares so many secrets of how to get great images of food, in a no-nonsense, easy to understand way. The huge Sony Flatscreen TV he uses to show and describe the lighting behind so much of his work, really makes it an interactive experience.

By the way, the gourmet Italian lunch, made by a chef in his studio for the class, was fantastic. We essentially learned by photographing the leftovers! There were many different props (plates, cloth napkins, product boxes, etc) that allowed everyone to create a unique image.

If you are interested in learning how to take photographs of food, I would highly recommend this class. The lighting instruction will also be of use for anyone who wants to learn more about still life photography. I know that Lou Manna generally offers this course a few times each year, so if you’d like to keep updated, I recommend signing up for e-mail updates on the left side of Adorama’s site.

The registration deadline for this Workshop is June 15, 2008. For more information or to register, visit this page.

Related Link: The Companion Site for Lou Manna’s book: www.digitalfoodphotos.com.

Another Very Good Review of the Canon EOS Rebel XSi

I just logged onto CreativePro.com and came across a new review of the Canon EOS Rebel XSi by Ben Long. One of the most interesting parts of the review is when Long covers the XSi’s live view features, including a photo from an event shot at 1600ISO. The article can be found here.

Ben Long is the author of a number of successful books about digital photography, including Complete Digital Photography, and Getting Stated with Camera Raw. His website, Complete Digital Photography, has a wealth of information about digital photography, Apple Aperture, Photoshop, Photoshop Lightroom, Plug-ins and much more.

Very Good Reviews of the Canon EOS Rebel XSi (aka EOS 450D/Kiss X2 Digital)

I just read the review posted on popphoto.com for the Canon EOS Rebel XSi (aka EOS 450D/Kiss X2 Digital). The review gives a good overview with some testing results that I found very interesting. The writer also describes how the camera differs in a few ways from past Rebels, as well as the Canon EOS-40D. The camera’s new 12.2 megapixel sensor and dust reduction sensor look very interesting as well. I had a chance to play with one at a camera store a few weeks ago and really like the 3-inch display and overall feel of the camera.

Another site that I often consult for reviews, imaging-resource.com, also has a very good review of the camera. Their review also has many downloadable sample images photographed with the camera, as well as a nice overview of the camera controls.

I came across another site, www.the-digital-picture.com, which has another very good review of the Rebel XSi. I especially like the site’s collection of “hover-able” image tests (that must have taken a while to compile). I also like how the author lists the estimated shutter life of a number of DSLR’s. According to the author, Canon has not published the estimated shutter life of the Rebel XSi.

Last but not least, dpreview.com, another site I often consult for camera reviews, has a very good overview of the Rebel XSi, as well as a number of “real world” test images. You can view their gallery of Canon Rebel XSi images here.

Links to reviews of the Canon Rebel XSi referenced above:
PopPhoto.com’s review
Imaging-Resource.com’s review
the-digital-picture.com’s review
dpreview.com’s review

Canon’s main EOS page for Canon DSLR’s, Lenses, Lighting and Accessories