# need creative light help



## minister (Dec 18, 2012)

Hi, 

I am doing food photo for one of the local restaurant , and last night they gave some chocolate cake for urgent  shoot. I worked late and completed the shoot.
Thought I am not very happy,but bcoz of urgency and late working hour I gave them 4 images to them and they liked it also. (or may be they need it desperately)

any way the point is , this time and in past also I tried to achieve some creative light but end up getting flat and boring shots , I know ppl say study read light since and magic kinda books and place ur light on back side for food high light and lot's of other thing , 

BUT BUT how to use it creatively, for exp. I want to achieve this feel  

StockFood - The Food Media Agency. Food pictures for professionals.

StockFood - The Food Media Agency. Food pictures for professionals.

but see what I achieved 













I am just so angry with me to not get shot up to my expectation , 
I need ur feed back on the pics and real help which book topic I should hit on, and what need to improve I know it is light 
here is the setup I used 

D90+50mm 1.4 G and tammy 90mm

one 24x24 soft box right side back corner SB600 @ 1/16
one YN 56 at @ 1/8 direct on cake with duffuser (wanted a spot light effect but could not get )


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## tirediron (Dec 18, 2012)

What I'm seeing with your shots are lots of small things, which, IMO contribute to an overall less than stellar image, but no one main bad thing.  In no particular order:  LOSE the yellow plate.  that's really grating, next, move the cake out of the lower right-hand corner (notice, in the images to which you linked the food is much more centered; don't worry about the rule of thirds here), lose the candle, it's a strong visual detractor, and "clean up" the cake; the trees are leaning, Santa is partly obsucred as is the "Merry Christmas" sign.  In the bottom two, TAKE THE OTHER CAKE OUT OF THE PLASTIC PACKAGE!!!  The cropping framing of the third image makes NO sense to me; that's one for the bit-bucket IMO.

In short:  straighten up the trees on the cake, move the "Merry Christmas" sign so it's all visible and put the cake on a white or red plate more central in the image.  Get rid of MOSt of the ornaments around and especially the candle/flame.  Shoot only one product per shot (unless the client specifically wants two) so either the round cake or the loaf, NOT both, and when you shoot the loaf, take it out of the package.

Your lighting seems fine, some slight exposure tweeks in LR to tone down the highlights, and you'll be fine.


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## minister (Dec 18, 2012)

thanks a lot for the constructive comment and suggestions, I did not notice all the thing you just said , It kind of mental block I have then I shot (too much fight with light setup and focus) So I neglate these little small things , 

about the plastic pack , it was special requirement from client he wanted to show "that's what packing you get" 

I think I start tacking liberty to tweaking/cleaning food from now on ,usually I don't tweak food much when I received from client. 

(PLEASE HELP ME WITH THE PLATE THING -almost always I am accused of choosing wrong plate , what's the formula ) white is not very appreciated with my client (INDIA)


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## Brandon Hill (Dec 18, 2012)

Good effort in trying to emulate a look and lighting scheme/feel.  

Another reason it doesn't have the same feel as the reference images is your light power/ambiance.  In your shot, you're light power looks like it's high and too far away, so it's illuminating everything.  You also seem to be adding unnecessary fill light to the bottom of the cake which I don't think is needed or similar to the reference cake shot.  In order to get the feel they have, you'd want to reshoot it, and move the light as close as you can and it will look softer.  (close light = softer light, which sounds wrong but it's not.)  When it's close but too hot, than of course lower the power or close up the aperture.  But that photographer was able to shoot at a shallow aperture by controlling his closer light source.  Hope that helps. 

Also, overall it feels somewhat cold and the cake seems dry.  An experienced food stylist knows all the tricks in making food look moist camera.  I don't shoot extensive food but the stylists are typically the ones who should get at least half the credit of a good food shot.


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## tirediron (Dec 18, 2012)

Okay, if the container is a requirement (I would try and convince the client this is a bad idea; no one really cares what the packaging is like) then you're going to need to light it properly, which is going to be very tricky!  If you can, order a copy of this book:  Light, Science, Magic!  It will explain everying you need to know about families of angles, lighting reflective surfaces, etc.  I'm sure it will be expensive by the time you get it, but it's worth it!

Edit:  You could also have the lid of the container up - that would eliminate a lot of the issues and still show it reasonably well.

As for the plate, read up on colour and colour-wheel theory!  I would chose either a red or green plate for this scene; probably red based on the current layout.


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## minister (Dec 19, 2012)

yes I have rad the light since and magic , and I know how reflection works , 
I will try to solves these problem in my next shoot , and definitely need color combination work out


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## hydroshock (Jan 22, 2013)

I'd prob go with a green plate to even off the red. but that's coming from someone who has no idea how to shoot food lol.


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