Stuffed Peppers

One of the biggest problems I'm having is getting that bright even light you see in a lot of food photos - the kind of even soft light you get from a north-facing window or a very large reflector lit by very large lights.

I don't have that kind of equipment, so I have to be creative. The only light 'sources' I have that are that size are walls and ceilings - I can bounce flash off of them to create the impression of a large light source.

So that's what I was attempting in this photo of some stuffed peppers that Jhan made one night.

Notice the even, though slightly directional lighting. I accomplished this by bouncing one flash off the ceiling and shooting one flash through an umbrella, but placing it close enough to the wall that there was significant bounceback from there to add a bit more light. I finished the set up with a reflector on the other side of the food to reflect a little to fill in the shadows a bit.

Lessons Learned

1. Little lights have a hard time providing big light sources
2. Use whatever you have to get the size light source you want
3. More flashes would help