Peanut Butter Cookies in the Kitchen

[MikeM]

I've fairly recently acquired a strobe/light stand/umbrella and I wanted to experiment some more in the kitchen doing food shots. I've done some on plain white backgrounds but wanted to get some "natural environment" for the cookies.

I filled a cooling rack with cookies and positioned the mixer behind. Flash is on a stand just to camera left through a white umbrella pushed in just a few inches from the cookies.

From Miscellaneous

f/4
ISO 200
1/15 s
36mm

Comment on whatever you'd like, specifically on lighting strategy and composition.

I like how the shot came out. I might have preferred a bit more depth of field and kept the front cookies in focus. However, that was as close as I could focus. Also, any smaller aperture left the background too sharp so this was the best compromise I think.

I was having trouble with reflections off the mixing bowl and this is the least offensive result. I think the reflection was coming from the overhead light and not the flash. Perhaps a bit of a gobo was in order.

In post, I warmed it up a bit and upped the exposure a tad, maybe a little contrast too.

Thanks!

[Samanax]

For me, the image is a little too yellow/warm and the lighting seems a little flat. What white balance setting did you use? And where was the light positioned? Was the overhead lights on? What kind of lights are they? Could you try the shot with the overhead lights off? The light area behind the mixer keeps drawing my eyes away from the cookies.

[MikeM]

Most of your questions are answered already in the post:
Light was to the left through an umbrella. Overhead light was on (hence the overhead light causing the reflection on the bowl). Warmed it up in post. Ambient is tungsten, flash gelled full CTO. Ambient is underexposed 2 stops then flash to taste.

How would you recommend making the lighting less flat? Make the light from the flash harder? Aim it straight sideways at the cookies rather than from above?

[freezeframe03]

I don't know squat about lighting, so I have to pass on helping with that. I too think the photo is too warmed (too yellow). The background is too busy for me. I'd try to set this up against a plain background with just the mixer. The knife rack or whatever that is is too much as well as the window in the background. If you focus on the front cookie (or no farther back than the front of the second cookie) then compose the rest of the shot and take it, I think you'll have a stronger image.

When I get unwanted reflections, I figure out where they are coming from and cover the source in whatever way works.

[MikeM]

I may run out of cookies before I get to shoot again . I'll also have to check my monitor calibration because it doesn't look very warm at all to me here.

The mixer/knife block were meant to give context, I'll have to try rearranging to do so without distracting from the image.