Dark Food Photography Setup

Now of course this barely scratches the surface when it comes to food photography so if you want to know more check out my food photography tips and tricks page.

Dark food photography setup. In commercial food photography dark shadows are avoided wherever possible using reflectors but this is not the case in chiaroscuro photography. Speaking of photography in general dark photos can convey moody or sinister associations. To create this dark moody food photography lighting set up you can use anything from a window and tracing paper through to a professional studio lighting kit. It s all about harnessing the light and darks to create thos.

When you decide to make a darker moodier shot there are several things to think about when you prepare the setup. Use global and local adjustments to bring out the best in the food instead of bumping up the exposure in the whole image which can cause your shadows to fall flat. Place the important pieces of food on the side of the set up that will be getting the most light from the window. To set up place negative fill cards around your box to reduce light bounce into the box.

Fluorescent light bulbs have come a long way in recent years. This is easy to use and affordable light setup for any food blogger or amateur photographer. Remember you want that dark and moody feel if you are going overhead make sure all the points of interest are visible from above and is sufficiently lit. This type of photography requires shadows and so the classic setting shown above with main light from the left and fill light from the right is not ideal in this case.

This will also help you get cleaner images. Some prop tips for dark food photography. The set up for shooting in a box to create dark food photography is just a matter of setting your food in the box and surround it by negative fill black foam core. Use the flags to block off light from the background.

Lowel makes a wonderful ego lighting kit that includes diffusion screens and background papers. In food photography it is usually associated with rustic settings and the darker seasons of autumn and winter. As far as settings are concerned go with the base iso of the camera as we are aiming for dark food photography. Settings for dark food photography.

Remember not to take this advice too strictly all of these tips are guidelines not rules. So there you have it. Using the luminance sliders in lightroom or camera raw to brighten colors individually. The right post processing for dark food photography will really make your image pop.

Once you have these basics in place you re ready for some dark food photography.