Food photography.

bass_junkie83

bass_junkie83

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I have been contacted by a restaurant who want some new images of some dishes to use on posters and flyers.

However as they are only looking for 3-4 dishes to be photographed so wont be a big earner, so I am reluctant to spend out too much on additional equipment should I need any.

So a bit of advice would be helpful to me deciding whether to bother with it or not.

The food is good old honest English grub, full breakfasts, jacket potatoes etc, nothing fancy at all.

I am thinking overhead softbox off a boom arm, then an additional light with a reflector and maybe a honeycomb.
Choice of reflectors i am not sure on. At my disposal I currently have a 55degree 'standard reflector', an umbrella reflector or a 40" beauty dish. If something else will be more suitable I can look into getting that.

A third light is available, but I am sure just a reflector will be adequate if needed.


I am thinking of treating myself to a new shooting table, either
http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/eng/product/calumet_desktop_shooting_table/rm1017
or
http://www.lencarta.com/lighting-st...oduct-shot-solutions-1/product-shooting-table

Should be big enough, I can't imagine there will be anything bigger than a 12" plate.

And maybe a new boom arm, as I think mine is a bit knackered.
http://www.lencarta.com/lighting-st...product-shot-solutions-1/home-studio-boom-arm


Have I got all bases covered, or am I missing anything drastic?
 
You're more or less there, the Lencarta quick setup shooting table is low, but a lot higher than the Calumet one. But I question whether you need a shooting table at all, you might be better photographing these dishes on an actual table - the advantages of a shooting table will be lost unless you want either a semi reflection or a pure white background, which will require more lighting than you have.

A good starting point will be an overhead softbox on a boom arm, but you will probably end up using both the 70cm beauty dish (fitted with a honeycomb) and a 10 degree honeycomb in your standard reflector as well. The overhead softbox will provide overall illumination/fill and the honeycombs will create both highlights and texture where needed.

Your biggest challenge will be the food itself, food photography isn't an easy genre and you have no chance of getting good results unless the ingredients, the cooking and the plating has been done perfectly.

My standard method of adding shine is to brush on small amounts of baby oil. Cooking oil can also be used and it tastes better:)
 
Yeah I do know food photography is said to be a real PITA. I have a total of 5 lights readily available, could get more if needed but that would be a bit excessive I think!

You say a 70cm beauty dish and the standard reflector together? So a three light setup would be the minimum required for this?

Also been looking up on the use of motor/baby oil, spray bottles, brushes etc.
 
If the photographs are for display (ie advertising) you need to be very careful about what you use to enhance the food for imaging. Trading Standards take a rather dim view of 'artificial additives'.

If it's purely for non advertising (eg recipe shots for a book) then it's not as important.

Dig out the McDonalds Big Mac photography thread on here (about two months ago) which has got a great video about food prep for pics.
 
Yeah I watched that, actually made it seem less daunting.
 
You first step should be to decide on background. Are the shots to just show the food in isolation or do you want atmosphere included; ie laid table, accompanying drink, OOF punters in the background etc - and how much of that you want to show?

If it's 'just' a product shot, then I'd be tempted to use a light tent with a white or chroma background and a perspex floor.
 
DemiLion said:
If the photographs are for display (ie advertising) you need to be very careful about what you use to enhance the food for imaging. Trading Standards take a rather dim view of 'artificial additives'.

If it's purely for non advertising (eg recipe shots for a book) then it's not as important.

Dig out the McDonalds Big Mac photography thread on here (about two months ago) which has got a great video about food prep for pics.
Click to expand...

Dont remember that thread any chance of a link please, had a search but cant find it
 
Just Dave said:
Dont remember that thread any chance of a link please, had a search but cant find it
Click to expand...

If I had a link I would have posted it. :)
 
bass_junkie83 said:
You say a 70cm beauty dish and the standard reflector together? So a three light setup would be the minimum required for this?
Click to expand...
It's impossible to say, every shot is different and needs different lighting, but most dishes will need 3 lights.

Personally I would avoid using a light tent like the plague, unless of course you want the food to look like it's suffering from plague.

Yes, there are ASA rules about these things, but the ASA reminds me of a toothless old spaniel. I'm not sure where trading standards comes into it, but they remind me of a toothless old poodle... Obviously you will only use tools to enhance the appearance of excellent products and won't use them to deceive people, and my own view is that unless the quangos do something to stop PS being used, they are doing nothing useful - every trade uses their skills and tools to make their work look good.
 
Just Dave said:
Just a though can you remember the title or who started the thread please
Click to expand...
A quick forum search of 'mcdonalds'.
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=415964&highlight=mcdonalds

Garry Edwards said:
It's impossible to say, every shot is different and needs different lighting, but most dishes will need 3 lights.

Personally I would avoid using a light tent like the plague, unless of course you want the food to look like it's suffering from plague.

Yes, there are ASA rules about these things, but the ASA reminds me of a toothless old spaniel. I'm not sure where trading standards comes into it, but they remind me of a toothless old poodle... Obviously you will only use tools to enhance the appearance of excellent products and won't use them to deceive people, and my own view is that unless the quangos do something to stop PS being used, they are doing nothing useful - every trade uses their skills and tools to make their work look good.
Click to expand...
Thanks Garry!
 
Being a chef and keen amateur photographer i obviously appreciate a bit of food prawn, porn, prawn porn.
Anyway, well shot food can get the tastebuds going and definite drooling, however badly shot images of food can turn you the other way.
Restaurant menus on the whole won't have pictures, pubs do but the more "gastro" (god i hate that tag) they get the better the images and again some have none. kebab shops are in a league of their own, perhaps its a pre requisite that the images have to be high key high saturation images shot from the perspective of the diner as most customers frequent being three sheets to the wind.
The latter is something you need avoid, even if its chicken dinosaurs lol
As its a pub, then try and match the ambience of the pub in the images, is it traditional, modern? Light and fresh, dim and cosy?
Work with the chef, its in his/hers interest to make sure the food is bang on, presentation is king and while normal plating up is adequate for service an OCD approach is needed for product images. Keep a bowl of iced water to crisp up any garnish just pre shot, leaves that bounce off the plate will obviously appeal over ones turning brown under your lights. Sauces will develop a skin over time, things will dry out, pools of grease will appear.
Compose carefully and treat the plate as a landscape image, you have adequate light to create stunning scenes, tight framed shallow depth of field shots can help steer you away from the more matter of fact document shots. We all know what a sausage looks like, so sometimes just the suggestion of sausage is enough!
And always ALWAYS polish your plates!
 
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A large amount of food photography is done entirely in natural light... Of in doubt, just find a big window...
 
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