A low-Key Thanksgiving: Focus on the details

For the past several years, our Thanksgiving has been pretty low-key as a family. We sleep in, watch football and eat turkey. Needless to say, there’s not much activity…unless you’re in the kitchen.

And while we’ve all seen tons of cooked turkey photos, I challenge you this Thanksgiving to go beyond the “arm’s length” typical turkey feast photograph. Instead, focus on the details.

Get creative

While capturing the turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie is great, it can get a little boring. Muted tan and brown colors don’t exactly scream excitement, especially when it comes to food. So instead, I focus on the elements that make up our meal, putting on a low-aperture lens like the Lumix Leica 42.5mm f/1.2 prime offering. This allows me to get a really shallow depth of field, and just make a couple of the details pop.

Take this image of red peppercorns on a sheet of parchment paper. As a viewer, you have to think twice before you realize that those round red objects are actually peppercorns. It’s a minor element, but one that’s used greatly in our meals.

For your turkey photos, focus on individual elements of the turkey. For us, we cook turkey breast, but we do so with some fresh herbs. By focusing on those herbs and putting the turkey in the background, I can highlight a different viewpoint of our main course.

Not all about the food

…OK, that’s a big part of it. But if you do have family in town, encourage them to throw the football around outside. Here, the same rules apply. Focus on the details. Instead of capturing the wide scene, you might zoom in on the lineman’s hands as they touch the ground. Or the center getting ready to toss the football back to the quarterback.

Regardless of the subject, focusing on the details can get you some interesting shots that will give an interesting viewpoint to your holiday.