Penny De Los Santos
Food | Last Updated: April 4, 2024
My photography centers around food and still life images. I am a firm believer that a photograph should tell a story and the best ones tell a story and make you feel something at the same time. Whether I am shooting a plate of mussels or a beautiful beauty image that is my goal.
I started shooting with a Hasselblad and a PhaseOne back last year and it changed my photography completely, it made me better. This is the gear I use when shooting in the studio. I try not to get overwhelmed with too much stuff, my goal is to focus on composition, light and capturing the perfect moment. (not pictured: lighting kit, tripod, monitor, diffusion and all the bells and whistles that come with a studio)
Hasselblad H2
I used to shoot with a Canon 5D Mark II and decided it was time to upgrade my tools I use in my photography so I got a Hasselblad H2. The image quality is unbelievable with the Hasselblad and the Phase One, without a doubt this camera has taken my photography to the next level.
Digital Back
The Phase One P45 digital back has breathed new life into the way I make photographs and with 7216×5412 active pixels, it gives me a beautiful crisp image.
Lens
The Hasselblad HC Macro 120mm is the lens is my go to lens and gets the job done every time for me.
Color Checker
I use the X-rite color checker passport to color balance my photographs and I always white balance in camera to save me that extra step in post-production.
Level
It doesn’t hurt to have an extra level on set, it helps me keep the camera and surface on the same plane, so when the client sees it live on a monitor on set there are no surprises.
Hard drives
I keep two 1TB Seagate Hard drives with me at all times. I back up everything as I shoot throughout the day and then me and an assistant each take one home for safe keeping until it is backed up on the main drive.
Batteries
I always have extra batteries for my camera and for the radio slave-you can never have too many of these, ever. Ever!
Speaker
I like to keep my clients comfortable so there is always music happening in the studio, just to loosen things up a bit and to keep all of us in a good mood.
Laptop
I use a Mac Book Pro Retina display with 16GB of onboard memory and 512GB of flash storage to run Capture One. I don’t store anything on this computer I only use it for photo shoots. When the shoot is over we back up files to the main drive and do any other work from a different dedicated office computer.
Monitor Calibrator
I use x-rite i1 display calibrator for every photo-shoot. I always want to make sure that the colors I’m looking at in the monitor are true to what I’m looking at on the set.
Flash Drives
I keep a couple of 64GB flash drives with me so that I can immediately give my clients the images that they need.
Chicken Wishbone
I keep one around at all times for good luck, who doesn’t need good luck? What’s that saying, “opportunity happens when luck and preparedness collide.”
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