Pizza Time!

This will be the last post for about a week, since I'll be off visiting my parents. Tempted to take the 5D Mk II and some lights with me, but that'd just be a big hassle.

Last week Jhan made a wonderful pizza, rolled the crust herself. Mushrooms, red onions, sausage, and black olives. Literally one of the most delicious pizzas I've ever eaten. That means I had to photograph it, right?!

Of course it did!

Overall, these are OK photos, but the lighting and colors need work.

I'm not terribly pleased overall with the lighting in these photos. I placed the main light to the left of the pizza, and put a paper snoot on the flash to direct the light. I put a plastic shopping bag over the light just to soften the sharp edges of the direct light a touch (the really just takes the edge off the direct light). That part I like, but I also put a fill light behind the pizza, shot through a reflector that I think dulled the overall lighting.

I wish I had had more time to play with the lighting. I might have moved the back light significantly to insure a bit more dimensionality to the pizza. As it is, it looks a bit flat.

I'm also not really happy with the color pallete in the images; they came out much more monchromatically red/yellow than the pizza was in real life. I need to add something green to provide contrast.

Lessons Learned

1. A plastic shopping bag can be a useful lighting modifier
2. An effective snoot can be a piece of paper held on with masking tape
3. Color contrasts with food are essential to prevent dull, monochromatic images
4. Once again, if there aren't any specular highlights in your food, a back light isn't going to do you much good. Find a different place for it.
5. I still have a lot to learn about light placement