01 November 2013

Intro to Food Photography

In case you hadn't noticed, I have been photographing a lot of food lately. One of my favorite things I have learned in the past month is how to make a mini studio with a seamless background in my kitchen with things I have on hand.

One of my new favorite places for food photography inspiration and tutorials is the food section of fstoppers.com. In this tutorial for a seamless background system, Taylor made it so easy and accessible even for growing food photographers like myself. He uses white foam board, clamps, white poster board and tape. I simplified it even more by using a sturdy cardboard box (diapers!) to tape my white poster board.

Here is my set up: 

I have my mini studio set up at about a 45 degree angle from the natural light streaming in through the window. My tripod is set up also at 45 degrees from the light, this shows where my camera will be for the shot.
 

Opposite angle of the same set up, still at 45 degrees from the light. You can see at the top of the box where I have duct taped my white poster board to hold it in place. You will adjust the height of the poster board depending on the height of your subject. It just takes experimentation.

Wide angle view of where my camera is set up. You will notice that instead of one sheet of poster board I have two. (Meaning the seamless background really isn't seamless! Shhh!)

This is my resulting photograph. If you look closely you can see the where one poster ends and another begins. This could be easily remedied by taping the first poster board to a lower position on the box (making it longer and removing the need for a second sheet), fixing it in Photoshop, or simply buying a larger piece of poster board.


Next I wanted to fill in the shadows of the strawberries by bouncing white light from the opposite side of the window. I used a large piece of white cardboard just out of the view of the photograph.

Interested in learning more about food photography? 

It's the beginning of another month and the perfect time to start 30 Days to Better Food Photography, Day 1. (I won't admit what day I'm on and how long it took me to get there...)

One of my favorite food photographers is Helen Dujardin. I love looking at her fresh and clean work. She truly makes food look like art! While you are waiting for her book, Plate to Pixel, from the library or Amazon check out this tip-filled interview.

5 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this post. I've been trying to learn to photograph clothing at home, since i make kids clothing. This was helpful!:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so welcome! Thanks for stopping by.

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  2. I have a small business with limited funds. This helped a whole lot, thank you.

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  3. This was such a helpful post. Thank you

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  4. food photography in London is on great demand. If you want perfect and quality pictures of food then I would recommend you a professional photographer, Maini Singh. Having the experience of more than 12 years, she has gained a reputed position worldwide.

    ReplyDelete

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