Saturday Morning Pancakes

Saturday morning - the perfect time for pancakes. We got some outrageously huge and tasty blackberries from the farmer's market and tossed them on top. Scrumptious.

The Photography

This was a pretty straightforward shot, done in the studio on a black cloth. Fairly typical two light lighting for me - 430EX through a reflector behind the food, with 580EX through an umbrella to the right of the food as the main light. Notice the reflections on the syrup caused by the reflector.

For the record, these were some of the best blackberries that I've ever had.

Here's a more boring composition, but still with good reflections and specular highlight (particularly on the blackberries) from the rear light:

Most people like to do these sorts of shots on a white background, but honestly, I think that black highlights the food more, and concentrates the colors.

Lessons Learned

1. Butter is hard to work with and melts fast. Don't put it on the food until the very last second.
2. Syrup soaks into pancakes very quickly. Don't put it on until right before the butter. Chilling the syrup might make it a bit easier to handle and not as runny.
3. Use real butter - margarine (used in this shoot) looks like margarine.