Shooting food with limited equipment

Hi,

I was asked to shoot a menu for a freind in a few weeks. I only have a 580EX and a reflector. I know that I can make reflectors out of other things, so I'm not too concerned about that but I need to get the best use out of the flash. I don't know were I will be shooting, so I would like to rely on things that I can bring with me. I did a search and found some good stuff on basic things to keep in mind when shooting food, but I was wondering if anyone has experience with the things that I have available to me. Details on any and all of your setups will be greatly apreciated. I'd like to get some practice in before hand because I will probably only have one chance at the shoot due to scheduling conflicts. FWIW, it's Chinese food. And of course, I will be using a tripod.

Thanks in advance everyone.
Adam

I'm pretty much an amateur when it comes to food photography as it can be very specialised. However...I did some shots for a friend who's hubby runs a catering business and they were very pleased with the results.

All I did on this occasion was to bounce the flash from a low ceiling and use quite a shallow DOF like you see in food magazines, combined with the available light the images were strong. The results were damn good once I had adjusted the colour balance a little and sharpened them up. I used the 24-70L like the one you have for the entire evening and it worked a treat. Definitely a tripod job so you'll be fine there.

As I say I'm no expert in food photography but it was good fun and I'd love to do a bit more at some stage so best of luck to you.

Try putting the flash at a 45 degree angle to the back so it just skims the food. Put the reflector at the front to fill, & do some test shots.
If you want more options, look on ebay for cheap, manual strobes. I got an A/C -battery one with a bad PC cord recently for $5. Just right for a hairlight.

Tasteful Food Photography
How_to_take_mouth_wate​ring_photos_of_food

Foodgeeks Picture Taking Tips
http://foodgeeks.com …picture_taking_​tips.phtml

Food Photography Blog

Silverace Photogenic Food Photography
http://www.silverace.c​om …0204/foodphotog​raphy.html

Fast Food: Pictures of the Ads vs. Reality
http://www.thewvsr.com​/adsvsreality.htm

Thank you. I'll be reading.

I think I might try a foam core board in the rear or to the dark side of the food. This foam core really works well to even out a dark side.

Be careful of white balance in this situation. if you are only using one point of flask, the ambient light will most likely influence the set.