I had a great time in Malaysia and a much needed break from work ; now I'm back and I feel refreshed, not to mention that tonight I am packing the suitcase again and this time I am flying all the way to Tuscany, in Italy ! How lucky am I? I'll share lots of pics from my italian adventures, not so many about Malaysia, unfortunately, as I have licenced the rights to the images to a third party.

But I have learned a few things, in Malaysia, about travel photography, so I thought I'd share some tips with you. Continue reading...

This, in a few words, is my advice to the travelling ( food ) photographer: travel light, bring only the strict necessary ( unless you can afford and also trust people carrying your gear around ); that means, for me: camera, macro lens, zoom lens, reflector, extra batteries, laptop, couple of speed guns, tripod and pocket wizards ( or a cheaper alternative ).

The macro lens is particularly handy to photograph food at busy markets, because it allows you capture the fine details of interesting ingredients, at the same time isolating your subject against confusing backgrounds. I use a Sigma 105 mm f/2.8; it's relatively light and it's pretty cheap - ideal for travelling.

The wide angle zoom lens, on the other hand, is an all-purpose sort of lens: you can use it to shoot people, panoramas, and also food of course. I have an AF-S Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 I am in love with; it's sharp, fast and it's very versatile. But this is a much more expensive lens than the Sigma .

A reflector is your best friends when travelling, take my word for it: in most situations you will probably shoot with available light, and the reflector can really make the difference, filling the shadows in a very natural way.

This being said, I always carry a couple of small flashes with me, because they widen my options in so many ways, especially in low light situations; sometimes the flash is my main light, other times I just bounce it off the walls or ceiling to fill the shadows. With some sort of wireless radio triggers, you can have the flash off camera and be a lot more creative with your lighting.

A tripod is also a must: without it you couldn't take a 20 seconds exposure in a pitch dark cave in the middle of the jungle while 10 people " paint " the rocks with their torches; this is not a great photo, but it was a lot of fun doing it.

All those dark spots on the walls of the cave are bats, mini fruit bats.

Finally, remember to always shoot raw and expose for the highlights: even if your white balance isn't set correctly or your images turn out still too dark, you can easily fix both issues by just moving a slider in post processing; and this is such a great advantage that you wouldn't wanna give it away, would you?

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Posted in Food, Photography

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Sometimes in life you just have to try your hardest and then luck will take care of the rest; so on monday I'll be heading to hot and sunny Malaysia for a 5 days long gastronomic tour that will take my breath away - I can't wait !

Truth to be told I classified only fourth in the Malaysia Kitchen Blogger Summit but, as it happens, someone had to cancel last minute and I didn't mind filling in; I sincerely hope nothing serious about the other person.

The base of our tour will be Kuching ( Cat City ) a medium -sized town on the eastern Island of Borneo, in the state of Sarawak; the program for the five days include cooking classes, visits to local markets, trekking to caves and temples, river cruises and of course�� food, food, and more food.

Bring it on!

I am excited because this is gonna be a 5 days long full immersion travel ( food ) photography thing for me; so I hope you'll follow me along on these pages.

If the Hotel comes with internet connection I'll be posting from there, or else on my return.

Cheers!

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On saturday the 15th of October I'll be teaching a very special Food Photogrtaphy & Food Styling Workshop in the beautiful hills of Casole d' Elsa, kinda half way between Siena and Florence, in Tuscany.

If you are in the area and would like to attend get in touch quick as we only have 12 spots for this one and a few are already gone.

The workshop will be hosted at Centro d' Arte Verrocchio and it will be structured in two sessions, morning and afternoon, during which we'll photograph both with natural light and studio lights.

We gonna have plenty of props and beautiful food to photograph.

Lunch will be at a local restaurant and is included in the total price of Euro 200 for the whole day ( 9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. ).

If you have any questions hit me with an email, or contact Giulia Scarpaleggia at the above address and number; we can help you organize your travel and stay too.

Look forward to it!

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