Since getting new photography lighting I have been doing a lot of reading and practicing food shots. The first set-up was in my dining room which did not work at all. The table is huge and I couldn’t get the lights close enough to the food. There are too many chairs with too many legs and I couldn’t get the stands placed properly. Lastly, it looked hideous.
My next move was out to the screen room. The first try at using the screen room as a studio didn’t work. Again the table was too big and there were too many chair legs to make make things work without potentially breaking my neck.
So I moved the table from the center of the room to the corner freeing up a lot more space.
I bought a small table and rigged up a frame to hold my backgrounds. I also bought a set of smaller reflectors. The ones that came with the stand are very large for use in taking portraits. Now I can get the lights close to food and move things around when needed. I was also able to clear out half of the tall cabinet in the corner to store the gear between uses. This might not be ideal in the summer heat or bitter cold but for now I like it and I am having fun playing with food!
Here’s some of the stuff I have done. This was done in the kitchen under fluorescent lights. It is a delicious pulled pork michael made in the smoker.
The following day I used the leftover pork to make a tortilla soup. I used my new light kit for this shot.
We smoked salmon the following day.
Yesterday I made a ribeye steak in the middle of the afternoon just to take pictures. Michael was happy.
The most fun were the mornings I played around with fruit.
My favorite so far is this simple shot of an apple, mango, pear and strawberries.
I have found several helpful websites and hope to get better at food photography with a goal of one day getting one of my photos on foodgawker.com or tastespotting.com. An old lady can dream.
Pierre Santoro says
I looked at your pictures and I just felt I was in a studio. The pictures are clear, great and awesome. You really put a lot of effort into this by getting all the equipment and setting it up. Good job on the lighting, especially on the last one. Now, if I can only eat those foods, it’ll be heaven.
Nancy says
Damn you are smoking hot mama – looks just like the expert photos in food magazines.
Ages ago one of the dog food companies used my dogs as models and I got to see the pros shooting food ads etc. They messed around for quite awhile with light meters and so on, and posing food in different ways. I never realized how much work went into the process.
Also found out about hand models – who hold various products for photo shoots. They prefered
‘gender neutral’ models for unisex products.
Really was a mind boggling experience to discover people could have careers as body part models, hands, feet, face, lips. etc. When they need a fingernail biter I’ll be a shoe in.
The Other Mary says
These photos are making me hungry……looking at them….I can almost smell that steak!
Andrea says
The pictures look great Mom. Thanks for coming tonight.
Kathy says
WOW, Mary! You are taking terrific shots! Great job! You go girl!