For this shoot I wanted to try something a bit different lighting-wise. I wanted to go high key to blend the white bowl with the background and help the colorful food stand out.
To do this, I placed both flashes close to the subject, and bumped them both up one full stop in exposure.
The white tabletop and white background contributed to a very even soft light, along with the reflector and umbrella.
Here's another, similar shot that's just different enough to be interesting. I like the lower, frame-filling angle that makes it seem like the food is right in your lap.
Lessons Learned
- I've got to pay more attention to depth of field. Here, it was too shallow on most shots.
- Hand-holding the camera for shoots like this (I only used the tripod to test the set up) allows you to work much faster than working with a tripod.
- I still have work to do to get the exact high key effect that I wanted.
- My wife and I need to communicate better on preparing the food. She was going to microwave the bacon!
I like the short depth of field in the last photo. The toast isn't the main feature of the plate, and it's in focus enough to still recognize. The change adds an interesting dynamic that having everything in focus would have killed. It's also fun to see the focus sharpen as you move down the bacon. Couse that picture could also be one of the better ones, not an example of the shallowness you mentioned, in which case this is a waste of a comment, so I shall add this:
ReplyDeleteYour blog makes me really hungry. Yet I keep coming back!