It’s been longer than I’d like since I last wrote a post, but I’ve been developing a relationship with my digital camera. I don’t have a whole lot of photography experience, mind you, so I’ve been feeling the learning curve. Meanwhile, I’ve also been tasting new teas for upcoming classes (listed here plus a new one at Teahouse Kuan Yin on November 5th), and working on some research for the Tea Geek Wiki.
While I do all of this, I’ve been taking pictures of tea, tea, tea. You can check out my pictures that I’ve got on the wiki’s articles on Bai Hao, Tie Guan Yin, and Keemun, and I’ve included some pictures of my samples here. Sometimes it seemed as if my tea (or a gaiwan in this case) were a wild animal, leaping out of the frame at the last moment.
Next time, look for some history on tea in America…I’ve been working on an entry about that one in the background.
Hi Michael,
Evan showed me your wonderful blog about tea! I love tea as well! I wanted to mention that we take lots of pictures of food on our blog as well and we have found that the closer up you can get the better. You want to show the texture and color. Don’t be afraid to have a lot of the tea leaves (in this case) outside the picture. If you are trying to show how long or big the leaves are, use some kind of measurement next to it like a tea cup or a spoon next to it to show perspective. Good Luck! I am looking forward to lots of info about tea!
Thank you!
Rona
Hey, thanks for the tips! I’m finding there’s a balance between getting close for the details, and being *too* close which washes out color with a flash–especially in the brewed tea. And there’s also the depth of the cup for liquor color.
As for the scale, I’ve been considering getting some kind of scientific-looking ruler and putting it in the picture. Geek, you know…
–MJC–