Canon EOS 5D Mark III + EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro Lens an Appetizing Combo (Shooting Food at ISO 6400)

A couple of days ago, my cousin and I along with our spouses went across the border for our monthly seafood odyssey at New Tanjung Seafood restaurant in Miri. Normally on trips like this, a Canon PowerShot G11 fits the pocket and also fits the purpose — pictures of food which you may have see on Facebook: New Tanjung Seafood, Deep Fried Butter Calamari Rings and Seafood Take-out. With convenience usually comes compromise and the trade-off I am talking about is image quality (IQ) — the visual details that jump out at you, mess with your head and make your day miserable. OK, I admit I have managed to pull that off with a G11 too but only because they’re bite size small like Facebook and blogs.

The original file was shot at ISO 6400, f/2.8. Click on image to view unedited image.

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My cousin's glass of Guinness Stout backdropped by New Tanjung Seafood restaurant's red checked tablecloth. I had one of the cross-type AF focus points locked on the beer head (foam). If you've ever shot with a 5D Mark II's and this delightful macro lens, you may already know that focusing using the non cross-type peripheral AF points is a hit-and-miss affair. The 5D Mark III demonstrated no such problems locking focus.

The point I wanted to make in this post pretty much ends with the Stout. Yum Seng! The pictures below are some of our regular favourites I thought I would share.

The original file was shot at ISO 6400, f/2.8. Click on image to view unedited image.

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The starter we can't do without — a large appetizing order of wild ferns cooked in red wine makes this our huge all time favourite.

Click here to see a 100% cropped view of the centre of the image below

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Delicious cockles we normally just call clams or "see ham" in most understood term by the Chinese community.

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Deep Fried Butter Calamari (Squid) Rings with fragrant garnishes. A recipe that has recently inspired Indonesia restaurant Pondok Sari Wangi in Brunei to create a similar offering.

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Aphrodisiac Overload: Oysters the Food of Love?


Oysters have always been linked with love. Legend has it that when Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, sprang forth from the sea on an oyster shell and promptly gave birth to Eros, the word “aphrodisiac” was born. It is also believed that the dashing lover Casanova also used to start a meal eating 12 dozen oysters. Maybe back then oysters were a lot smaller than what they are today; I simply cannot imagine eating that many in one meal.  In any case, raw oysters are not my thing but I have seen my share of them at restaurants and wholesale cold storage to know that the ones I saw at Jogoya Japanese Buffet Restaurant in Taipei were huge by contrast.

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Aphrodisiac overload? Maybe not but I do know is that these are the largest oysters I have ever come across.

For what oysters promise to deliver, myth or otherwise, they’re a valuable source of minerals, such as Zinc, calcium and copper, and are also rich in iodine and (surprise, surprise) low in cholesterol. If they’re not working for you, perhaps you’re not consuming enough to make a difference (hint: 12 dozens worked for Casanova).

Just in case you're not convinced they're big I included this shot to show their size relative to the plate.