Author: rmichals (Page 5 of 11)

Needed

• Camera or cameraphone
• tripod or way to secure the camera
• a main light – can be a clamp light
• a diffuser
• a white card for reflection
• a background material
• some food items
• a few simple props – a plate, a fork, a sprig of herbs, a wooden spoon

Guest Speaker

Jill Keller

Food Stylist

The food stylist shops for the food and prepares the food for the shoot. The food stylist also moves the food on the set and is responsible for making it look as good as possible.

Food Photography Lighting Review

1. Use one main light. Turn of or block other light sources.
2. Diffuse the main light. You can put diffusion in front of the light or bounce the light off a wall. The farther in front of the light the diffusion is placed the more the light will be diffused.
3. Fill the shadows by reflecting the main light into the shadows with a white card.

Lighting an Overhead Shot

Specular Highlights – bright spots of light that are the result of direct reflection

Telling a Story

Start with what you want the photograph to say. It can be something simple like flavor, or fresh, or natural or home comfort or elegance. This will help you figure out the hero of your photo ie what is most important and how to style the photo.

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Basic Composition

1. Pick the background to compliment the food.
2. Odd numbers tend to look better than even.
3. Try off-center placement and/or the rule of thirds
4. Use diagonals
5. Use shallow depth of field
6. If shooting from a three-quarter view, include something that creates perspective either through converging lines or diminishing scale
7. Restrict the palette but select colors to compliment each other

Styling Tips

1. Use herbs or spices as props
2. Keep props simple- a knife or a wooden spoon or other kitchen implement, a fork or spoon, a plate or a napkin, a placemat

3. Use tweezers to move small items on the set.

4. Use a brush to remove extra crumbs you don’t want.

Lab Exercises

Three-quarter view shot

Overhead or flat lay shot

Homework

HW 6 – Telling a Story with Food Photography

Needed for next week

We will be doing a product shot with ingredients. You will need a clean, unopened example of the product and at least one fresh ingredient for that product. You may also want some props – what ever is appropriate for your product.

Needed for this class

• a camera or cameraphone
• a tripod or other way to secure the camera or cameraphone
• a few vegetables
• a light
• a diffuser. It can be made from cardboard and tracing paper
• a white poster board or card
• materials to use as backgrounds. Some suggestions: a cutting board, an old baking tray

Guest Speaker

Carla Georgina Torres

Class Schedule

Oct 27th – Food Photography Lighting Basics

Nov 3rd – Food Photography: Telling a Story, Speaker: Jill Keller, Food Sylist

Nov 10th – Food Photography: A Product and its ingredients
Guest Speaker: Jonathan Lopez

Inspiration

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Food Photography Lighting Basics

Food photography is the art of making food look appetizing for the camera.

The single most important factor is lighting.

The light should come from one direction. Most food photography uses side light or back light.

The main light casts the shadows.

You can buy or make a diffusion panel.

To make one:

• take a piece of cardboard
• cut out the middle so the cardboard is now a frame
• tape several layers of tracing paper or other translucent paper over the middle.

An alternate to diffusion is to face the light away from the subject and bounce it off a white wall on to the food, spreading the light.

The fill light brightens shadows.

We will not use an actual light but instead a piece of white poster board that will reflect the main light into the shadows.

Distance

The distance between the light source and the subject will allow you to control how it looks. This is such an important factor because of the Inverse Square Law.

The Inverse Square Law states that the intensity of the illumination changes in inverse proportion to the square of the distance from the source.

Translation: The light’s brightness drops much faster closer to the light source than further away.

Generally, when working with a clamp light as the main light, set the main light a bit further from the subject to spread out the light. Hold or fasten the diffuser in from of the light. The farther in front of the light the diffusion is set, the softer the light will be.

Set up the white reflector as close to the food as possible and not have it in the frame.

Angle

The two main angles of view used in food photography are: Overhead and three quarters which is between eye level and overhead.

Resource

Lab Exercises

Lighting

Homework

Food Photography Basics