Food Blog Lighting problem

[blondenationmomma]

Hello,

I have a question I need help with. I have started a food blog and I need help with my lighting situation in my kitchen.

I have just a Canon Rebel xsi and the standard lens that came with it, 18-55, which I plan on getting other lenses when I figure out which ones I need for food photos.

My kitchen is really not the right lighting. I have standard recessed lighting and then under cabinet xenon lighting which casts a strange hue. Fine for cooking not so good for pictures.

Could you please take a look at my blog and my pictures and see what I should do to make the pictures better.

I do what I can with what I have. I am doing it all by myself so I will stop in the middle of a step, take a shot, go back to cooking.

I would love to make a home made lighting solution. I don't have really a whole lot of natural light in the kitchen.

Anyway, suggestions?

http://mmmtastethis.blogspot.com/




thanks in advance.

[RecurrentNerve]

This may not be helpful but really your best option is simple: shoot in daylight. An artificial lighting setup will not be cheap and moreover will be a pain to set up and take down every time you want to cook something for your blog!

You are much better off getting a nice large-aperture prime lens (the famous 'nifty fifty', i.e. a 50mm lens) and shooting in the day with as much natural light as possible. Have a look at Smitten Kitchen for an example; the photos are simple, but the combination of shallow depth of field and plenty of natural light makes for great results.

[blondenationmomma]

I love her photos but she has so much more light. I want to blow a hole in my kitchen ceiling. Hmmmm maybe I will. Sky tubes!

[RecurrentNerve]

This is just a shot in the dark because I obviously don't know what your house is like, but could you possibly set up a couple of mirrors to bounce more light into the kitchen? Failing that you could always move the food into a brighter area for shooting; a pain but you'd get better results.

[blondenationmomma]

okay, what about a speed light? Would that make a difference?

[RecurrentNerve]

Not if you want natural looking light, no. Artificial lighting isn't really my strong point, but I believe what you need for natural looking light is a big, soft light source: in other words, a big light with a 'softbox' on it, which diffuses the light and thus softens the shadows.

A speedlight is a small, sharp light source, so you'll get harsh shadows and highlights, especially with glossy things like ceramics, glass, and wet food. While you can get diffusers for speedlights, I think you'll still have problems with that option.

There's a lot you can do with 'DIY' lighting, if you don't mind a little sawing and gluing - check out this article on DIYPhotography.net for an example of a homemade softbox. Of course, for all I know you might be rolling in cash and can go out and buy a proper lighting system, in which case, go for it!

[blondenationmomma]

what about this?I put it on 400 ISO, F4.0 WB for tungsten.

Just fiddling around.

[i speak in math]

Sit down and read (read) these 2 pages from strobist about food photography. There are many great shots here and an explanation of their setups. The same basic principles apply replacing the speedlight with window light.

Strobist: Boot Camp II: Assignment #2

Strobist: Boot Camp II, Assignment 2: Results

[sk66]

The biggest issue I see is that many of the images are underexposed...

You need more light...A faster lens will help, but won't make up for poor lighting. (it will allow you to get a good exposure, but not necessarily a good picture)

Personally, I think a strobe thru a diffuser could help quite a bit...A small food photography "studio" might be best...

[edbayani]

if you have a garden, why not set up a big white cloth to soften the sunlight, that can easily be removed if you want direct sunlight and some white and silver reflectors to add high lights. also have some old planks that can be arranged on top of a table. some old bricks that can also be arranged on the table for your table settings.