I am often asked how I take such nice photos. It’s part equipment and part post-processing (and hopefully a little bit of skill). It’s also interesting how often I am told “Nice camera” when dining (this even happened from 3 different people working at Cyrus in one meal). My camera is also often mistaken for a film camera, probably because of the retro two-tone color scheme.

My current setup (as of late 2024) is:

• Sony A7c full frame mirrorless
• Tamron 35/2.8
• Lightroom Classic

I use this setup because it is compact (and in the past I have been that guy with a full sized DSLR) with a pretty fast lens with a relatively short focusing distance (6-inches). Using a full frame camera was key for me since many dining rooms are quite dim or the lighting is at not optimal (and I don’t want to be that guy using a handheld LED light in a restaurant) and I of course shoot RAW + JPEG. 24 megapixels is plenty enough for what I am doing (although I there are some features on an a Sony A7c II or A7cr that I would certainly benefit from).

The short focusing distance is key on the camera too. I have used other full frame cameras and lenses in the past (my first DSLR was a Canon 10D, although I wasn’t photographing food much. I was quite glad to have my Canon 6D with me at a restaurant in 2012), but it was awkward because one, the camera is bigger, the lens may be bigger, and the focusing distance is longer which all made for awkward photography. Perhaps a rangefinder is in my future (e.g. Leica Q2/Q3 or maybe even a Fuji GFX100RF if I get really curious about medium format). Even though the camera “eats first” when I am photographing, I really try not to spend much time taking photos because at the end of the day it is about the food and the company.

I do take advantage of the de-noise in Lightroom and often make significant adjustments to white balance, bringing up shadow levels, etc.