Ok I admit it, I like food – ok now that you are done laughing and making snide comments – I mean shooting food.
A lot of food photography I see is either 1. Over lit or; 2. Lit very flat – showing no shape in the food. And if it doesn’t look good, why eat it?
The first two years of college, I studied commercial photography, spending hours in the studio setting up products, shooting still life and of course food.
I learned a lot by trail and error, but back in those days, it was film, so if I messed up, it could get expensive – especially shooting on 4×5 chrome, which we had to in school. So I learned how to see light quickly and learn what it did.
Through the years since, I have also begun backing off more and more on the aperture to make the food “pop” away from the surroundings. Also to move in as close as possible but still far enough away so it’s not abstract.
For me, the challenge is always showing the different shapes in the food, much like when doing landscapes – light shows the shape.
For me it’s usually one or two of my Whitelightning mono blocks with either 2 softboxes or a softbox and a grid spot plus a silver reflector or two. At other times, it’s just natural light coming through a window and a reflector. Camera-wise it’s always a Nikon D3 and either a 28-70 f:2.8 or a 70-200 f:2.8 lens.
On a recent food shoot to go with a review on Chi Pan Asian in the Baldwin Park area of Orlando, I used a Whiteligtning 1600 with a 24 x 36 softbox and a silver reflector.
I had a shot list of four dishes each with different textures and colors to deal with, so I looked for and area with a fairly neutral background to shoot, but not just plain black. After setting up on a table near the front of the restaurant, the dishes started rolling out.
Another trick I learned long ago is to prop the plate up in the back slightly to I can shoot from a low angle to put the viewer into the food, sort of a food at eye level look and allowing whomever is looking at the photos to see the textures and colors of the food like they are right in front of the dish. It also makes the dish of food look a little grander.
Of course that is not always the case, at other times I go a little higher to provide a different visual of a dish, especially when low angle just doesn’t look right. So I go slightly high, never shooting straight down, and of course with a shallow area of focus.
Even with the tricks and cameras the best part is I get to eat some of the food.