#81 – Take your lighting to the next level in food photography

How many times have you heard that light is everything in food photography? It’s a mantra repeated endlessly, and for a good reason.

There is so much fuss about light in food photography because it is light that brings out the texture of food, absolutely essential in creating drool-worthy food photos, also why we take food photos in the first place. Light creates mood and mood transports a viewer into a frame – the sign of a powerful photo.

In this blog post, we’ll dive into two lighting tips for food photography and explore game-changing techniques that can elevate your images to the next level. Whether you’re working with artificial or natural light, soft or harsh light, mastering lighting techniques is crucial for all kinds of food photography.

Tip 1: Create shadows and highlights in the right places

It’s not just about having shadows and highlights; it’s about strategically placing them to bring out the texture of the food. Take a vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting and a raspberry garnish as an example. Understanding where shadows and highlights should fall on each element – the cupcake, buttercream, and berry – is essential.

Both highlights and shadows bring out the texture of food. If we don’t have shadows, our food looks flat and unappetizing. If we don’t have enough highlights, we’ve lost the opportunity to bring out any shine or gloss.

The goal is to intentionally create shadows and highlights on every element of the food subject such that the texture makes the viewer almost taste the food just by looking at the photo, making the photo more dynamic and 3-dimensional.

Tip 2: Create tonal contrast

Tonal contrast, often seen in editing applications like Lightroom, refers to the separation of tones – shadows, blacks, highlights, and whites.

Having a certain level of tonal contrast in photos makes it more impactful. It enhances the colors, the textures and the lighting looks next-level. But to create tonal contrast we have to pay attention to where the shadows are falling, how much are the shadows, where are the highlights and how much they are – taking us back to tip #1 about being intentional with our darks and brights in a photo.

Please remember that every photo is different. Not every photo will have high tonal contrast. It depends on the mood you’re creating and the colors of the photo. For example, if you’re only shooting blacks or only whites or monochromes or very soft shadows, these can have low tonal contrast. So it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution.

But it’s important to be aware of the power of creating enough tonal contrast in your photos in case you’ve not been thinking about it when working with light.

Conclusion

In the world of food photography, lighting is a powerful tool that demands intentional and thoughtful use. The two game-changing tips discussed – creating shadows and highlights with intent, and incorporating tonal contrast – can transform your photos from good to outstanding.

Remember, each food item has a unique opportunity to catch light, and it’s our job as food photographers to identify and use that opportunity to craft stunning and delectable images.

Lighting might seem complex, but it’s about knowing what we want and being specific in our approach. Taking the time to observe the nature of our food subject and manipulating the light intentionally help to create images that are drop-dead-delicious and visually stunning.

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