Meii Sushi x Iphonobokenography

Sometimes, I only want to take pictures of the food that i am eating, just as to show to some friends what a wonderful time i am having. But then, to bring a giant DSLR around would really frighten the company that i am having dinner with.

I think it would freak the lights of the Chefs if they ever see me with my DSLRs, maybe they will feel stressed enough just to make my plate look more beautiful ? But I wouldn’t really mind if they want to add more ingredients to the food. I was told i think too much….hahahah.

So what happened ? I went from going to a Canon 5d to a Sony Nex 7, which i thought was still too big…..and then to the super portable Sony QX-100. Yes, the gimmicky one where the lens is the body and the body is the lens. You take the picture and swish…..wifi it to your phone, all very troublesome to link and setup. Not to mention how slow the autofocus is.

Why  ? All these in the name of bokeh when taking pictures of food ! I hate it when my steak or spaghetti look flat. That’s just what the iPhone ever does. This thing has no bokeh or whatsoever, no matter the size of its aperture. Heck, even with the iPhone 10 with F1.0, it will still has no bokeh (Proof me wrong Apple ! Put in a full-frame sensor…ahahaha )

Then came along some tilt-shift apps which you can use to adjust the bokeh. But they are all with fixed ranges or shapes meant to create the miniature effects of your landscape photos. Apply that to food, the bokeh just look god damn fake.

Until some one told me about the Bokeh Lens app.

With this little magic app coupled with PS Express app, I was determined to create the food photographs that i love. I was pleasantly surprise with the results !! Ok…its not like its DSLR quality but on the small screen of the iPhone 6 and the unzoomable instagram, this looks perfect !!!

My only gripe was that i need to spend some time doing this but its was like done in 10 mins. Whats 10 mins compared to not hugging the monstrous DSLR around ? 🙂

Here are the few magic steps I took.

1. When taking pictures of food with the iPhone, remember to use the zoom in function. No, it does not help with the Bokeh, but no one really take food pics at 24-35mm wide isn’t it ? So….zoom in, compose and snap.
2. Snap every god-damn food that came to the table and resist the urge to review your pictures. Remember food comes first ! It wouldn’t taste good cold.
3. Leave the restaurant, stand right outside and start reviewing your pictures. Why ? Because you still want to tag the location of the restaurant. (A better idea would just be to sit in the restaurant and order a coffee while you do this.)
4. Open up “Boken Lens”, select the best look picture of the food. Use your finger and colour the areas that you want to be in focus. Yeah, no fixed circles or rectangles. Just use your fingers !
5. Now you have to think a little in 3D. Lets say you want the front of your steak to be in focus and the back a little blurry. You cannot just colour the front of your steak. You have to colour the areas which are on the SAME PLANE as the steak….like that part of the plate, that part of the bowl.
6. Adjust, Adjust till you are happy its DSLR-like and save.
7. Open up PS Express and so doing the normal stuff like saturation, cropping, exposure and add a little dash of sharpness.
8. Magic !!! Its done !

Yay !! No need to bring the gigantic DSLR anymore and I can pay more attention to my date instead of furiously instagramming away !

Meii Sushi just shifted to a new location at Scarlett Hotel. We were there for its opening. Chef Hong has up the stakes….

“No kids below 16”

“No photography” grumbles the man.

What ???? !!!!! But i guess with the iPhone, he is ok about it 🙂

See what i did here ? I coloured the tuna to be in focus as well as the chopsticks all the way to the right. Gotta think 3D. 🙂

 

There….the prawn tail closer to me, should be out of focus. Lets not colour that.

What do you guys think ?!!!!