Food photography lighting is critical if you want to get beautiful food images. Your goal is to create an image of food that is appealing, even mouth-watering.
To get that image, natural light is usually the preferred source of light, but unfortunately, it doesn’t always cooperate with your schedule or the location. And, there are tricks to shaping the light in order to capture those tantalizing shots.
So, what do you do to get the right light? Well, here are the most essential tips for food photography lighting setup that can help you create food images that will leave you salivating!
The big consideration here is whether to use natural or artificial light sources. However, one thing to be aware of with your lighting setup, whether it’s natural or artificial, is that bright light tends to wash out the image, and that decreases the color saturation of your subject.
You should keep in mind that you might have to correct for this by increasing the vibrancy of the colors and their clarity in post-production processing. With that in mind, which is better–natural or artificial light?
Most food photography experts want natural lighting setup, or they want to be able to create a natural light appearance. But, there is more to natural light than meets the eye.
The best advice anyone can give you is to study the light in your area. Notice how it changes throughout the day. You’ll see changes in color, intensity, and of course, direction. Once you understand those changes, you can begin to sculpt and tame the natural light beast to create the mood you want for your images.
Direct light shining through the window gives you a constant natural light source. This is an advantage, because you can see how the light and shadows fall across the scene. But, it’s also often a hard light that creates sharply-defined shadows. That means you will need to shape the light with some of the tools, such as reflectors and diffusers, in your kit.
Even if you have great natural light at your location, you’re likely going to want some artificial light sources. The natural light might only provide optimal lighting for a very short time during the day or the shoot might have to be at night, and thus, some kind of artificial light is a must.
The first rule of artificial light is NEVER use kitchen lights. It will not end well for you if you do. In fact, you should turn off any indoor lights. These will contaminate your images with color casts that will be difficult to correct in post-production. So, what kind of artificial light should you use?
Well, strobe lights are standard equipment for food photographers. A strobe light is more powerful than most constant light sources, and the monohead strobes have a modelling lamp built into the head, which provides a small source of constant light.
For most shoots, you’ll need at least 300 watts of power on your strobes, but 500 watts is preferable. They’re not inexpensive, but it’s money well-spent. Strobe lights illuminate the entire lighting for food photography, thereby allowing you to capture exquisite detail in your image.
Strobe light bursts, however, create light that doesn’t fall off quickly, so you’ll want to pair your strobe lights with a softbox diffuser, which is among the most common food photography props. But, even that might not be enough. You might need extra diffusers at the edge of your table to further soften the light.
In order to get that perfect image, you’re going to need a few props. You’ll need props that can help you get that soft light glow as well as scene props to accent the food you’re photographing.
With the proper use of these props, you can shape the light you are using (whether natural or artificial), and you can better accentuate the properties of the food you’re photographing.
For modifying your light sources, whether natural or artificial, you’ll need some basic tools. Most of these aren’t expensive or elaborate. A basic kit to get a soft, glowing light for your images includes the following:
A reflector can be used to bounce light back onto the setup. This will soften the shadows and cause them to appear feathered, and while the highlights will be bright and light, they will still be tamed to just the right degree. A white foam board should only cost you a couple of dollars at the craft store.
An important consideration for food photography setup is the placement of reflectors. Wherever the source of your light is located, you would have the reflector on the opposite side. You might also like to play around with setting up small reflectors, called bounce cards, to help with light distribution.
Sometimes, you want a harder light to create a more dramatic image. A black foam board can be used to take some of the light away from the scene, which has the effect of deepening the shadows and adding more contrast. Whether you desire to do this or not is based on the mood you want to create. Again, a black foam board is available at any craft store for a comfortable price.
This can be something as simple as parchment paper (i.e., baking paper) or a muslin cloth secured across the window to diffuse the hard light coming through. It scatters the light and leaves you with a soft glow for your image. Both parchment paper and muslin cloth are readily available and inexpensive.
Parchment paper and muslin cloth can work, but a softbox will give you more flexibility. It is the most common light diffuser used for food photography. It is not expensive and it’s worth it to get as part of the basic equipment in your food photography lighting setup kit.
Scene props are the items you will display with the food. These would include plates, glasses, napkins, silverware, placemats and tablecloths. They enhance the image, but there are some things you’ll want to consider.
Watch out for shine coming from some of your scene props. If you’re using artificial light, there is a tendency for it to catch the shine on shooting surfaces. You can try playing with prop placement or you can use a polarizing filter fitted to your lens to prevent this.
With regard to tablecloths or other background surfaces, dark surfaces are easier for one-light setups.
Until you get the hang of getting the height of your light just right, white surfaces can cause your image to look grey. You will, however, want something white in the image to help with adjusting your white balance–perhaps something as simple as a napkin placed to one side or underneath the plate.
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