What gear do I need for close-up food, flower, and portrait photography with a Nikon D3100?
Asked 11/21/2012
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I use a Nikon D3100 with the 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses, plus extension tubes (12mm/20mm/36mm), a tripod, external flash, umbrellas, and a small softbox. I’m mainly interested in close-up photography, especially food, flowers, and portraits. I often struggle to focus when using the extension tubes.
What equipment is most useful for these kinds of close-up shots, especially food photography? Do I need different lenses, or should I keep things simple and work with a small set of good gear? I also use Lightroom for basic adjustments and prefer to keep editing minimal.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
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For food photography you really don't need so much on the lenses side. It's much more about the background, composition and lighting. I would go for something around 50mm focal length, so both of your lenses should do fine.
Your umbrellas and softboxes should work perfectly for creating a nice soft light, or go for natural lightning, and then combine them.
You didn't mention though what's the F-number of these lenses - that's quite an important characteristic. So I assume you have 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 kit lens and a 55-200mm F/4-5.6 cheapish tele. These are both quite slow lenses with a relatively small aperture - meaning you're not able to get a very shallow depth of field and they don't perform well in low-light situation. So if you want a lens suggestion, then something with a wide aperture like a fixed 50mm F/1.8 would be a great addition to your equipment; not so much for its value in food photography, but in helping you to learn how aperture size really affects the image and what a difference great glass can make.
Originally by user8791. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user8791
13y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
For food photography, your current setup is already enough to get started. The biggest factors are usually lighting, composition, styling, and background—not lots of extra gear.
A focal length around 50mm is often a good fit for food, and your existing lenses can cover that range. Your umbrellas, softbox, tripod, and external flash are all useful for creating soft, flattering light; natural light can work well too.
If you want to add one lens, the most helpful upgrade would be either:
- a fast standard lens for better low-light performance and shallower depth of field, or
- a true macro lens if you want detailed close-ups of flowers or small food elements.
Your extension tubes can work, but focusing becomes harder with them, especially at close distances. A dedicated macro lens is usually easier and more reliable.
For food specifically, think beyond the dish itself: table setting, props, colors, and the overall “stage” help create mood and make the image more appetizing.
Lightroom is enough for basic cropping, white balance, and exposure corrections. Keep the kit simple, learn lighting and styling, and add a good lens only when you know what limitation you’re hitting.
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