Food Photo Competition 2014 No 4 : Entry Number 18

Judges Comment

Well this was a surprise. How did you get this so sharp absolutely everywhere? Especially clever if we consider the lightning speed of that tongue (if that’s what it’s called). Great work and pretty ingenious too. Come on, please tell us how you did this!

Photographers Comment

Thank you. Reasons for most everything in focus are, I shot at f11, 28mm, and made a pretty decent sized crop....exactly 9MP left from the original 18 of the Canon 7D. Making it square played a roll in the big crop, but I also had it set up with more room on top than I needed for this particular picture because normally he would climb to the top of the handle. Large sheet of photography background paper under and behind the basket. Flash with a diffuser at front middle above. The chameleon tongue is the fastest muscle on the planet, so using a flash set to 1/4 power(1/4000 sec) or faster is a must for sharp tongue shots. After much practice, I am up to nailing about 1 in 4 shots, although, for this one I was a little off my game and I think I went through about 15 worms before I was happy with the results. Everything involved, namely using flashes, it is better to shoot single shot and not burst. Given that and the speed of their tongue, luck does play a factor.
scottcromwell.photography/