Not a food photographer - need help

Snowgirl · March 29, 2011

Actually, there aren't any food photographers in my area - hmmm. Anyway, a local German cheese producer is being featured in a regional lifestyle magazine. They need product shots of three different cheeses to accompany the article. The owner can set up the display with other foods to accessorize the cheese. I can have it any way I want including using the full or a cut wheel, etc. This is, as usual, a last minute request. The owner of the cheese place is a client of mine for family portraiture. I explained that I've never done food before, but she wants me (and hey, if there's no one else around here, it could end up being a lucrative adventure for me). What I don't know is how to light the food to make it appealing? Ideas? Suggestions? Help??? Please????????

SimpsonBrothers · March 29, 2011

Here is one (overkill) example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0vEszE-HaY

Another, on a budget
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMqmOQK6odM

Snowgirl · March 29, 2011

SimpsonBrothers wrote: »

Here is one (overkill) example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0vEszE-HaY

Another, on a budget
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMqmOQK6odM

Thanks for the links. Yep, that first one is wild! I'll look at some of the other uTube clips too. Great.

Any other suggestions?

Don Kondra · March 29, 2011

You haven't said what you have available for lighting equipment ?

Very generally speaking I start with a strobe/softbox left side high behind the product, another raking light low and parallel on the right side. Then add reflectors as necessary.

Looking forward to your shots, I like cheese

Cheers, Don

Snowgirl · March 29, 2011

Don Kondra wrote: »

You haven't said what you have available for lighting equipment ?

Very generally speaking I start with a strobe/softbox left side high behind the product, another raking light low and parallel on the right side. Then add reflectors as necessary.

Looking forward to your shots, I like cheese

Cheers, Don

I have one 580EXII, one 480 EX and potentially two hot lights, light stands for each, umbrellas (no soft boxes, sadly), reflectors, mirrors available, tripod of course to go with the 1DMKIV. For lenses I have a choice of 70-200f/2,8IS, 50mm f/1.8, 20mm f/2,8 ultra wide angle, 24-105 f/4. Which would you recommend as the best choice for this adventure? A total learning experience for me AND I have 48 hours to "git 'er done!".

aktse · March 29, 2011

Nicole Young is a istock photographer that has been venturing out into food photography and will have a book published soon on the subject. Her blog has some pull back and tips on various food shots.

Snowgirl · March 29, 2011

aktse wrote: »

Nicole Young is a istock photographer that has been venturing out into food photography and will have a book published soon on the subject. Her blog has some pull back and tips on various food shots.

Thanks. I'll check it out.

divamum · March 29, 2011

This book:
Food Styling for Photographers: A Guide to Creating Your Own Appetizing Art

I saw it at our local library and grabbed it for fun - it's a fascinating read! Many, many tricks on how to set up/style food for photography. There is a LOT more preparation and "cheating" involved than you would expect....

Snowgirl · March 29, 2011

divamum wrote: »

This book:
Food Styling for Photographers: A Guide to Creating Your Own Appetizing Art

I saw it at our local library and grabbed it for fun - it's a fascinating read! Many, many tricks on how to set up/style food for photography. There is a LOT more preparation and "cheating" involved than you would expect....

Thanks!

Don Kondra · March 29, 2011

Snowgirl wrote: »

I have one 580EXII, one 480 EX and potentially two hot lights, light stands for each, umbrellas (no soft boxes, sadly), reflectors, mirrors available, tripod of course to go with the 1DMKIV. For lenses I have a choice of 70-200f/2,8IS, 50mm f/1.8, 20mm f/2,8 ultra wide angle, 24-105 f/4. Which would you recommend as the best choice for this adventure? A total learning experience for me AND I have 48 hours to "git 'er done!".

If the set up allows I would start with the 50mm. I'm not familiar with your brand but I would assume the 70-200mm would be your second choice.

You might want to try a test shot with both lenses to "see" the difference in perspective between the lenses.

Cheers, Don

cdonovan · March 29, 2011

Actually, there is, Corkum Photographics in Moncton does phenomenal job http://www.corkumphoto.com/

Snowgirl · March 30, 2011

cdonovan wrote: »

Actually, there is, Corkum Photographics in Moncton does phenomenal job http://www.corkumphoto.com/

Thanks. Looks like amazing work. I will pass this on to my client so they have the options. I had never heard of him before. I'd like to see the client get the best possible work so I'll give them the info.

Sam · March 30, 2011

Snowgirl,

While food photography is a specialty and can be very complex, I think with cheese you may be making it more complex than it is.

Making a hot meal with steam, multiple highlights. shadows textures look great can be a real challenge. Cheese and crackers however is more like standard product photography (in my opinion)

As an example here are three food shoots I took. NOTE: No lighting, no set up, no styling, nor prep of any kind,hand held snap..that's it.

I think that with a little effort, tripod, lighting, scrim, reflectors, styling they could be acceptable.

The idea here is to say here is what you can get without any effort, think what you can do with effort.

Snowgirl · March 31, 2011

Thanks Sam. I'm off to shoot the cheese this morning. I'll post a few samples later. Side benefit; I get to eat the props.

cdonovan · April 1, 2011

Snowgirl wrote: »

Thanks. Looks like amazing work. I will pass this on to my client so they have the options. I had never heard of him before. I'd like to see the client get the best possible work so I'll give them the info.

Sorry I hit reply before I wanted, and never got back to finish my thought!

They are a very talented company!

There is a lot of behind the scenes, stuff that happens on these, with the food prep... you'd never want to eat it... although it looks good! Cleaning products to glorify shine and to stop some foods from melting.:D

Snowgirl · April 1, 2011

cdonovan wrote: »

Sorry I hit reply before I wanted, and never got back to finish my thought!

They are a very talented company!

There is a lot of behind the scenes, stuff that happens on these, with the food prep... you'd never want to eat it... although it looks good! Cleaning products to glorify shine and to stop some foods from melting.:D

Good point, Chris. At least I did get to eat my props

I gave the client the info. And showed her their website. She was veryimpressed with their work but decided what she wanted was fairly simple and straight forward so we did it yesterday. My office is being painted as we speak, so when I can get to my computer and download, I'll post a couple.

PrettyKitty · April 5, 2011

Snowgirl wrote: »

Good point, Chris. At least I did get to eat my props

I gave the client the info. And showed her their website. She was veryimpressed with their work but decided what she wanted was fairly simple and straight forward so we did it yesterday. My office is being painted as we speak, so when I can get to my computer and download, I'll post a couple.

Nice- can't wait to see the final pictures! I took a photography class at my local Jr. College a few years ago and one of our guest speakers was a photographer for Raleys (a grocery store.) and they have a periodic magazine "Something extra" where his photos are used. He told us all about their food photography - how alot of it is actually painted or half cooked... definitely not edible - it just looks good! They have food "stylists" and then photographers. You have to work quick since the lights can melt food fast! It's definitely a fascinating type of photography!

Snowgirl · April 6, 2011

Hi. Yes, true food photography requires a lot of set up, lighting, styling etc. along the lines of the amazing studio that cdonovan recommended. It's also very expensive because of the foregoing.

My client has a small family run European-style cheese plant where everything is hand done by her, her husband and her parents - often with her infant son at her feet

(my favourite wee 'boy toy' - other than my own grandson). Since I've never done this before (and I was very honest with her about that), it was a learning experience for me and I chose not to charge her for my learning curve (and I did eat some of the props! - no fake stuff here).

The shoot was done in the client's home kitchen so I had some lighting issues to deal with and colour cast from her walls. But, we got 'er done.

Here's one: hot pepper gouda paired with a fenugreek (tastes like maple syrup) gouda...

This one is a round of mild gouda, with a wedge of smoked gouda (to DIE for!) and the fenugreek gouda.

In both cases I had to cut the image from the original background and put it into a new image with a plain white background. Although I used a white background, I ended up with a strong greeny/greyish/blue colour cast on the original shots.

Like this:

I still have a couple of "production shots" to do at the cheese plant - and those I feel a lot more comfortable about. It's dark in there, but I can manage the lighting with off camera speedlights and umbrellas.

Thanks for all of your suggestions and help. BTW, the owner was the 'food stylist' for this.

Sam · April 6, 2011

Ceci,

I hope you don't mind........I took the liberty of adding a touch of additional processing.

Sam

Snowgirl · April 6, 2011

No problem, Sam. All help and suggestions always appreciated. I hadn't thought of trying to salvage the background.

Not a food photographer - need help

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