Dumb question from a dummy (lighting for food photos)

I'm going to photograph a few plates from our family restaurant. I really like this look:

http://blog.photoshelt​er.com …ads/2013/05/har​issa-4.jpg

Here is the description of how it was done:

Megan Young always brings her Profoto Actute B portable lighting kit with a large softbox, which acts as a big portable window when shooting on a cloudy day. To help give her food photography a fresh and natural perspective, Megan sometimes shoots directly into the light. “Then the dish appears in front of a completely blow out background with lovely rim light,” she says.

I don't have any fancy lighting kits. Can I achieve this look with a shop light? Any other makeshift ideas?

I would like to add that although window lighting would be very nice, it just isn't much of an option here

Do you have any kind of off camera lighting gear? Speedlites and umbrellas?? Someone with more knowledge then me will come in but unless I am way off the same type of effect can be done with a speedlite and umbrealla behind the subject. I don't think there is a need for a powerful strobe with a huge softbox on it.

Yes, I do have a speedlite 420EX and 550EX with diffusers but know nothing about umbrellas or studio lighting.

birder_herper wrote in post #16692483
Yes, I do have a speedlite 420EX and 550EX with diffusers but know nothing about umbrellas or studio lighting.

Neither do I. Lol. The funniest part is experimenting with what works for you. It's quite satisfying for me to tinker with lighting and find something that works and looks good.

And just in case you've never seen this before. A great place to learn from. http://www.strobist.bl​ogspot.ca/

use any light you have... wb balance...and use a tripod.

I think if I had 2 flashes like you do, I would make a cheap lightbox.
http://backtoherroots.​com …r-own-lightbox-for-cheap/

Put a flash on each side and see how it looks (assuming you have triggers). If you don't have a trigger, use lights.

Granted, I could be completely full of .... I have never shot food in a light box, so it might not be appropriate. I helped my friend who is a photographer shoot food in his studio. We had 3 mono lights and softboxes. I recall him telling me with food you want the back slightly brighter than the front of the food. Model lights on the mono lights were a great help to see where the light hits certain points (e.g. leaves in a bowl of soup need a bit of shine).

birder_herper wrote in post #16692455
I would like to add that although window lighting would be very nice, it just isn't much of an option here

are you in prison? :P

i know there's sun in Ohio, even if it's coming through the clouds, I'm assuming you have lots of snow on the ground too, which will help throw more light into the room.

generally you will want your light to be somewhat directional (not coming from all directions) which is why a window works well. Directional light will allow the texture of the food to show up. So you have a main light coming from the window, the window should be off to one side or behind the food, not in front. The shot you posted above is lit from directly behind the subject I'd recommend going to the side. Set up a piece of white foam core or poster board to reflect the light back to the food to fill in a bit.

Absent any window (hope you get out soon) use a white-ish wall to bounce the flash off and fill with a reflector as above. You'll probably want the reflector pretty close to the food but not so close that it makes the lighting flat.


[= window
0 = plate
/ = reflector
4 -= camera

[
	0
		/
	4

birder_herper wrote in post #16692483
Yes, I do have a speedlite 420EX and 550EX with diffusers but know nothing about umbrellas or studio lighting.

don't use any diffuser on the flash if you are going to bounce it. In fact, you may need to flag the flash to keep any direct light from falling on the subject before it gets a chance to bounce.

I did a cookbook with 35 Chefs from Cleveland in 2013 with sunlight and reflectors. You can shoot this style of food photos with shallow DOF, window light, front reflectors, and a tripod. A table against or very close to a window of afternoon sun works best. Camera on a tripod, window light in back and reflector for front fill. Pick a natural focal point of the dish(usually the protein or main food) and use f4 or similar shallow DOF. Tethered shooting is the easiest way to make composition and exposure adjustments.

IMAGE LINK: http://scottspellman.s​mugmug.com …995747&k=KwQkKq​C&lb=1&s=A

Gorgeous work sspellman; can I ask you a question? I hear tilt-shift lens is often times the go-to lens for many foot photographers. Is this true or do you use other lens?

birder_herper wrote in post #16692419
I don't have any fancy lighting kits. Can I achieve this look with a shop light? Any other makeshift ideas?

Lots of links, including some with one light: Food links...

Aki78 wrote in post #16693670
Gorgeous work sspellman; can I ask you a question? I hear tilt-shift lens is often times the go-to lens for many foot photographers. Is this true or do you use other lens?

My go to lens is a Canon 50/2.5 macro. TS lenses can be useful mostly for food packaging shots. I focus on restaurant and magazine food photos where the styling and overall impression is more important. For me, tethered shooting is a better investment than a TS lens.

sspellman wrote in post #16693732
My go to lens is a Canon 50/2.5 macro. TS lenses can be useful mostly for food packaging shots. I focus on restaurant and magazine food photos where the styling and overall impression is more important. For me, tethered shooting is a better investment than a TS lens.

Awesome Thank you for the info!

Never tried tethered shots...