Another major consideration for food photography lighting setup is the angle of the light. There are several angles to consider. Among these are side lighting, backlighting and side backlighting, but you also have to consider what doesn’t work well.
To some degree, the angle of the light depends on the food you are photographing, but it’s also important to consider the mood you want to create. Here are some of the things to think about when considering the different lighting angles.
Side lighting is by far the most common angle used in food photography setup. But, on which side should you put the light?
Our eyes tend to gravitate to the brightest part of an image, and in the Western world, we read from left to right. Therefore, most often it makes sense to have the light source coming from the left. Your eyes will start on the left of the image and travel across to the right side as you do when reading. If, on the other hand, you were shooting for someone in a country where they read from right to left, lighting on the right might be preferable.
This is not, however, a hard and fast rule. In general this works well, but it really depends on your composition. If in doubt, you can always take an image with the light on the right and compare it to the same image with the light on the left. Then, you can choose which works best for your setup.
You also have the option of backlighting. This is particularly good for liquids, such as soups and beverages. It adds sheen and highlights the liquid properties of the food.
While backlighting can work well, it can also result in uneven lighting. The back of the image can have too much light and the front can be too dark. Or, you might try to compensate by adding more light and just wash out the entire image.
To help prevent the uneven distribution of light, you can try putting your diffuser between the table and your light source. Also, be sure to put reflectors around the sides of your scene. You might even place bounce cards on the table right around your subject.
You can have the best of both worlds with side backlighting, which can also be done on either side. You get the surface shine that is appealing with backlighting without overexposing the back of the image. That means you won’t have to reflect as much light onto the front of the food.
With side backlighting, it will help to play around with the height of your light source. That will allow you to change the way the shadows fall on your scene.
One important consideration with food photography angles is what doesn’t work. Front lighting–common with portraiture–does not work for food photography. It casts unwanted shadows and makes your images look flat. The same is true for overhead lighting. Unless there is some compelling reason to use these lighting angles, they are best avoided.
1. The key element to creating tantalizing food images is the lighting setup. You want natural lighting, but it often doesn’t cooperate with your schedule or location. Therefore, you need an artificial light source, such as strobe lights, to enhance or recreate natural lighting effects. You’ll also need props, such as diffusers and reflectors to sculpt the perfect light for your image.
2. Scene props are also important for your image, but you have to watch out for shine coming off the props. A polarizing filter can help with this as can simply moving the prop. And, you’ll want a dark background so you don’t end up with a grey image.
3. Getting the angle of the lighting right is also important. Side and backlighting are best, whereas front and overhead lighting angles do not work well for food photography setup.
Finally, post-production processing can help with problems like restoring the vibrancy of colors to washed out images, but if you don’t turn off indoor lights, even post-production processing may not be able to help. If you utilize these essential food photography lighting tips, you should be able to capture mouth-watering food images that will have people clamoring for a bite.
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