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Recently I started a cooking blog so I have been taking pictures of what I have been baking…but I have no experience with taking these kinds of photos so some tips would be much appreciated
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Overall a great start.
1. All underexposed by 1/3 to 2/3 of a stop or more.
2. Avoid harsh light, the brown cookie photo. use a sheet or reflector to create soft light.
3. Adjust your color balance to be consistent. The images are too warm
4. Depth of field looks OK, play with your focus plane some and pick the best ones.
5. bump up your clarity, maybe?I want a desert now.
Hi @tashavk,
Good job on the nice background bokeh. In all your pictures, that is a really nice element. Well done!
@timtam said:3. Adjust your color balance…The images are too warm
I agree. They mostly look as though they were taken in candle-light. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea, to put one in! But still, do your white balance corrections very intentionally. What feel, what story, are you trying to communicate with the picture? Just something to think about.
The other thing I noticed was the perspective; in all the shots, you used a (quite typical) downwards-pointing angle. But you could add a lot of creativity by playing around with that, especially by using a somewhat lower, more eyelevel perspective, and provide more space on the kitchen counter for your elements. As is, they’re a little crowded in the space they’re given. The attached images are provided for reference only, and are just pulled off the web.
I actually like the contrasty effect given by the strong sunlight in IMG_4111.jpg. It’s true, as @timtam said, that the lighting is very direct, but again, it depends on the story you’re trying to tell. Whatever you choose, choose intentionally.
Keep experimenting, and keep up the good work,
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Ya that is the only nice looking counter in our kitchen and the lighting is not good at all…the reason they are so crowded is because there is almost no room on the counter because the sink is right there
@tashavk, wow those look really tasty!! Very nice.
Similar to what others have said, I believe the two main things to think about in shooting these photos is
1. Lighting
2. Clean backgrounds
Just a quick note, and I’m sure others could give more expert advice on lighting, but here are two resources here on Lenspiration that might be helpful: Lighting for Still Life Photography (video), and How to Use Bounce Flash (article with videos). Another thought would be to set up by a window and use natural light. Just be careful with different color casts in the same scene.
You mentioned the kitchen counter being crowded and not offering very good lighting, so I thought I’d share a couple things I’ve done in the past when taking photos in my own home.
– Photo #1 (rolling pin in action)
For this shot, I used the kitchen table and had two sisters holding a tan blanket behind it in the background. This gave me a nice simple background instead of seeing the kitchen sink back there. 🙂– Photo #2 (chocolate cake with hearts on top)
Again, I set up on the kitchen table, zoomed in close on the subject and used a wide aperture to blur out the background. Here’s a fantastic video on How to Create Beautiful Background Blur, with the same concept in mind. Notice the angle that I took as well. It made the cake really stand out and kept the photo simple.– Photo #3 & #4 (teacup & hands holding teacup)
Here, I set up on my grandmother’s old hope chest in front of a glass door with a sheer white curtain hanging on it. The door provided a nice clean, bright background with natural light, and then I set up some white lights (make sure they’ll provide the same White Balance as the natural light) with diffusing umbrellas to brighten the subject from the front. Again, note the angles.– Photo #5 & #6 (earthen look with honey, and hands on mug)
I took our large pastry board to use for the wooden background here. In the first of these two photos, I placed the items on a table with a tan top, and stood up the pastry board behind the items for a wooden, rustic background. The second of those two, I placed the pastry board on the table and then set up the shot on top of that. This was in front of a large window to provide plenty of natural light, and then I used bounce flash for fill light.So anyways, just thought I’d throw out those examples to prompt some creative ways to set up various areas for these types of photos! 🙂
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Thanks for the tips…there is a window by the counter…but it is behind me and I don’t do backdrops because none of my siblings are willing to help me…so I try to make do by myself…
I forgot to mention that most of those photos I posted as examples where not taken in our kitchen. Some were in the living room and others in the family room. I’ve also taken photos in my bedroom sometimes. You just have to find what works for you in your situation and with what you have! 🙂 I once rigged up a backdrop in the middle of the kitchen for a photo I was taking. My brother was doing his math on the one side of the table and I was shooting photos on the other side of this blanket I had stretched across the room. 😀
Either way, find what works for you and then work with it! I think finding ways to take control of your lighting situation will really be beneficial in this case.
I do also like how you incorporated ornaments and other elements like that in your backgrounds. Very creative; it looks really nice.
Hi @tashavk!
Great job on those pictures! I can’t really give any tips on food photography as I haven’t tried it much, but some friends of mine have a food blog. Here is the link: http://www.savortheflavour.com I know it can be helpful to look at other people’s pictures and ideas, so I thought I’d pass this along!
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