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Headcase650
17th of March 2005 (Thu), 19:53
This isnt my regular thing.
My Sister in laws boyfriend has started his owne small Advertizing company and asked me if I would do some food photography for one of his clients to be placed on a slide show viewed on a LCD tv in a bar and grill promoting the bars food to their customers. Ive been looking at every food add Ive been getting in the mail and comercials I see on TV. My conclusion is the most are shot at about a 45 degree angle or less filling the frame with the food. Main lighting is from behind off angle from the camera or off to the side and some fill light from one side of the camera. My lighting equipment is a few vivitar 283's, couple light stands, shoot through and silver umbrellas. I also have a couple 500w photofloods that I could use. He is telling me the client wants all the food in sharp focus but almost all the adds Ive seen are not this way, Very shallow depth of field, Front of the plate is tack sharp but the food on the back side is alread out of focus.

What lighting? Should I use my hotlights for ease of metering and adjusting apiture so I can show the client many different depths of field with out the fuss of having to change flash output for every apiture. What kind of light modifiers, many adds look like direct main lighting with dramatic shadows lightened by a large fill source.

Tips to make the food look better that I have read. Lemon juice makes fruits and vegitables last longer. Cooking spray makes fried foods look better. Hair spray can remove glare and hotspots from plates or reflective tables.
Can anyone add to this?

Pricing- I told him $75 an hr pluss $50 ber image and the images can only be used for in store advertizing, this will be in my release. He is wanting about 11 images. For print adds there would be an additional usage fee. He is just starting out so He doesnt have a huge budget. I feel these prices are fair considering my lack of experience in this type of photography, Im hopeing it may open new opertunities for me.

Thanks,
Adrian

PhotosGuy
17th of March 2005 (Thu), 21:23
I’m not sure where to start here. The best food guy I knew took a full day to setup a complex shoot. I’d suggest that you hire a food stylist but you don’t seem to have the $s.

Some things to think about:

Will the BF provide layouts or tear sheets?

Will he be on-set to provide help/ideas & help you CYA?

Who’s going to select the food? Pick out the settings? Cook it? Arrange it on the plates?

Just barely cook the food for best colors.

Use stand-ins for the set-ups to get the lighting & arrangement you want, & freshly cooked food for the shot.

Keep the lighting fairly simple – you’ll have enough other stuff to think about. Here’s a few shots of a simple one light setup, just as an “starting point” example. Set the main light first, then add accents. FYI, this shot would never make it as a food ad. It's far from perfect.

For Gods sake, shoot RAW!

Good luck!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/PhotosGuy/Forum%20Junk/Cherries_Setup_11.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/PhotosGuy/Forum%20Junk/Cherries_105_06A.jpg