- This topic is empty.
Studio lighting for food photography
-
The more I research into getting studio lights the more difficult it gets so please HELP!!
Food is what I want to work with and in general its best to avoid flash (or is this rule different with studio lighting?)
Has anyone got a suggestion on what is a good lighting system for food photography, soft boxes seem to way to go but looking though whats out there I need help. The budget is around €1500.00 many thanks all for any help possibleDo you have a food portfolio at the moment? If not, why not start out just using window light. Some of the best food images I’ve seen were taken using window light.
But if you are going to go down the route of using artificial lighting, then flash is the only way to go (rather than trying to avoid it!). Any basic lighting kit should get you going to be honest, even a budget end Elinchrom D-Lite kit. Think about how you are photographing food rather than what you are photographing it with. Add a quality lens and away you go.
By the way, if you haven’t already done so, take a look at some of the great tips at http://www.foodportfolio.com/blog/#blog
Oh, by the way, I just read the intro to your website – “The majority of food imagery is created by highly skilled photographers who have no idea about food and how to make great food look its best.” Be very sure about your facts before making bold statements like that as it could turn prospective clients away. Great food photography isn’t just about great food, it’s about great photography too and at the commercial end of this business, it’s a team effort where not just specialist food photographers are involved, but food stylists. In that regard, it’s no different to a fashion shoot, where multiple skills are employed. There’s an interesting video on Youtube – The Art of Food Photography
Hi Thorsten,
Many thanks for the comments, in regard to the website that is very much a food styling comment as must photographers can not style food very well. Of course the photography is the key element but I have worked with a number of photographers with food shots that simply had not got a clue about food and the resulting images were very poor, the pics were technically great but the food looked wrong. However I agree that the wording needs revising to make this more clear and apologies if this was misunderstood.
In regard to the lighting sunlight is great but can be restrictive, more so in winter, also must kitchens use fluorescent lighting which is not great for food. That’s were a portable studio system comes in. Normal flash kills the food but will a studio flash system act differantly?Never used anything but Bowens lights and they’d always be my first choice when it comes to studio lighting.
As sometimes you may be working quite close in you need lights with enough output to get as much depth of field as possible.
Either that or have a rock steady set-up so you can do multiple flashs.Two lights, large softbox, medium softbox, and a smattering of reflectors should be enough to start you on the road.
Perhaps one 1500w head and a lesser one if budget is tight.I’d agree with Thorsten about that quote on your site.
If you’re going to make bold statements like that then you’re potentially setting yourself up for a fall: there’s no guarantee putting a highly skilled chef behind a camera will automatically lead to better photographs being taken: the food might look right, but it might also look like it was composed and lit by someone who didn’t have a clue about lighting or composition.Rather than be negative about what others do you should concentrate on being positive about what you offer.
If you’re good enough your images will win any argument.Oscar wrote:
In regard to the lighting sunlight is great but can be restrictive, more so in winter, also must kitchens use fluorescent lighting which is not great for food. That’s were a portable studio system comes in.
Sorry, I ought to have clarified, when I suggested window light, I really meant diffused natural light coming through a window rather than sunlight. Of course, natural window light, is by it’s very nature, sunlight. But generally, when people mention sunlight to me, I take generally assume they are talking about direct sun. I realise that may not have been what you were talking about, but nevertheless, I thought it worth a few words to clarify.
I hear what you are saying about window light being restricitive, particularly in winter (but food doesn’t usually move, so using a tripod with long shutter speeds is an option, unlike people photography, where you have to keep shutter speeds up in order to freeze movement in your subject).
A bigger problem, as you say, is flourescent lighting. If daylight balanced tubes are being used and you use a slow enough shutter speed and custom white balance, then you’re halfway there. The only obstacle left then is the direction of the light, which can’t really be changed, so you’re left with using flash.
Oscar wrote:
Normal flash kills the food but will a studio flash system act differantly?
By “normal” flash, I assume you mean hot-shoe flash? Other than the size and power, there’s really no difference between hot-shoe flash and a studio flash head. The key factors you need to consider with both are quality and quantity. Take a look at the Lighting-Essentials site and the Strobist site, to see just what you can do with small, portable hot-shoe flash units. Whilst both of these resources deal mainly with photographing people, the principles remain the same, and I would imagine that one would have an even easier task applying the principles to food photography, given the much smaller size of the subject concerned.
For example, on the Lighting-Essentials site, you will see the author using large 8’x4′ sheets of white foam-core to form “V-Panels” into which to shoot. You can’t get such large sheets of foam-core in Ireland without paying an arm and a leg for them, but you can get smaller A2 size sheets, which should be more than adequate for food photography.
I’d love to get into food photography myself, but just don’t have the subjects to photograph. Whilst I enjoy cooking, I’m a long way from creating a dish that not only tastes great but looks great as well. When one has got a family to cook for, well, one tends to keep it fairly simple on the presentation end of things
:wink:Mick451 wrote:
As sometimes you may be working quite close in you need lights with enough output to get as much depth of field as possible.
I’m not saying you’re right or wrong on that Mick and you did qualify your statement by using the word “sometimes”, but am I correct in saying that the current trend in food photography appears to be to use quite a shallow depth of field, at least when it comes to the artistic rendition of food as opposed to just a record shot (in which case a larger depth of field is more appropriate). Just an observation on my part, rather than any point for discussion (given the fact that a 1500W head is quite a powerful head and may be more than what is required.)
I’ve no idea of the trends in food photography, Thorsten, other than what I see but pay little heed to (just not an area that interests me)
I just know roughly what herself works on. Food & drink isn’t one of her specialties though she does occasional work for Cuisine de France, Irish Distillers & Waterford Stanley…probably others but I don’t pay much attention to what she photographs unless I’m dragged in to retouch something.I do remember her going in very close with the 5×4, bellows extended, lens board tilted and a few lights powered up full cos even at f64 she was struggling to get enough DoF. If you’re close enough, and the angle you’re looking to shoot at is particularly oblique, then I suppose even f64 can appear quite shallow – tilt/shifting the focal plane can help throw stuff that would ‘normally’ be in focus out too. I’m sure you could just move flash heads in closer to get increased light readings, but there’s drawbacks to that – the light’s harsher and the heat generated from the modelling bulbs can be quite hot, especially if in place over extended periods of time. Lots of test shots/polaroids with dummy product in place, though digital has changed that somewhat, and a good food stylist and assistant or two will help things along.
Lighting something properly is one of the hardest things to do; especially if it wilts, melts or dries out.
I’d hope any chef who turns their hand to photography has a better understanding of lighting than herself does of cooking.
;)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
