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Food Photography

post #1 of 8
7/28/11 at 12:39am
Thread Starter 

Simply put, I need more light! and I have a hard time not over-saturating with light.  Any tips or suggestions on creating the proper lighting for photographic food?

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post #2 of 8
7/28/11 at 4:57am

I have taken a large piece of white tag board and placed it behind my place setting to help bring out the color of the plates I design. It's kind a like what people who photograph stuff to sell on E-Bay do. Also using plain colored plates helps bring out the colors of the food better.

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post #3 of 8
8/19/11 at 12:47pm

use a defuser on your flash and a reflector toe "bounce" your light onto teh subject instead of direct lighting.

 

 

"If ya ain't got teamwork...ya ain't got didley" Laverne Di Fozzio
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post #4 of 8
8/26/11 at 6:03am

Not a lighting thing per se, but a fish eye lens does wonders for getting food/macro shots.

Invention, my dear friends, is ninety-three percent perspiration, six percent electricity, four percent evaporation, and two percent butterscotch ripple

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post #5 of 8
8/26/11 at 8:33am

First, check your camera's ISO setting, shutter speed, aperture setting, white balance, etc. Make sure all is correct.

 

Get the higest wattage (100 watt, not 100 watt equivalent) CFL, daylight bulb. (Color temperature 5,000 K to 6,000 K.)

 

Go to your kitchen and get the largest translucent plastic container to put over the bulb.

 

You can get these:

 

dcarch

 

shankSV2.jpg

 

greengiant2.jpg

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post #6 of 8
9/13/11 at 9:41am

If you have a tripod, it will come in very handy.  Here are some good tips for lighting and photographing food:

 

  • Use as much natural light as possible.  Open the blinds and get near a window -- do not use your on-camera flash if at all possible.
  • Grab a tri-fold presentation/poster board from Office Depot and use this to bounce light onto your dish.
  • Excellent suggestion for the 5000K color temperature CFL bulbs -- these approximate the color of natural daylight.
  • Ideally, you want a bit more light coming from the back.  This creates subtle shadows, adding depth and texture to your dish.
  • If your camera has a "P" setting, change it to that and set the Aperture as low as possible (e.g. 1.8, 2.8, 4, etc).
  • Get out the tripod and shoot from "fork view."  Get in low and close -- people always look at their food from above, use an interesting perspective.
  • Get in close...  a bit closer.  Just a tiny bit more.  Now, take one more step. :)  Fill the frame with your subject.  The close distance and the low aperture will give you that "tiny bit in focus and a blurry background" look to the photo.  
  • If you're looking to get a product shot, use an aperture of f/8 or f/11 and shoot top-down for a soup or at a less extreme "fork view" to include all of the ingredients.
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post #7 of 8
11/4/11 at 3:34am

deleted


Edited by esquared - 12/6/11 at 5:44pm
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post #8 of 8
11/4/11 at 5:44am

Very nice photo's   clear and no blurr

Chef EdB
Over 50 years in food service business 35 as Ex Chef. Specializing in Volume upscale Catering both on and off premise .(former Exec. Chef in the largest on premise caterer in US  with 17 Million Dollars per year annual volume). 
      Well versed in all facets of Continental Cuisine...
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