Profoto has the gear you need to take your food photography to the next level. Explore a few tips and techniques for vibrant food photography with Leslie Grow!
Leslie describes her style as “bright, vibrant, and minimalistic”. And she uses her still life expertise and Profoto lights to make her subjects pop! For these shoots, Lisa utilized the Profoto D2, other Profoto lights such as the B10X and B10X Plus will work great too! Check out Leslie’s images and learn all about how she created these awesome shots!
Lighting up the colorful and frozen berries
First start by Freezing berries the night before shooting. Lay them out on a sheet pan in a single layer and try to make sure they are not touching. Pay special attentions to the sides of the berries that look the best and place them face up!
Set your camera up on a tripod in the overhead position and place a light to the right of your camera. The light should be about 3 feet from your subject. Use a white foam board or white reflective surface, about 1.5-2 feet from your light, to bounce the light back onto your subject. To the left of your camera, use a large black V-Flat to darken the shadows and add contrast. .
You’ll want to work quickly when making positional adjustments to your berries. You’ll only have a little bit of time to capture the frosty look that will appear within a minute after they are removed from the freezer.
Freezing a splash of champagne
With your light placed to the left of your camera, as a side light, set your light to “Freeze Mode” in settings. When capturing action shots, it’s best to keep the power level low for quicker flash durations and recycle times.
Make sure your background is far enough away from the subject so that it is blurred, you’ll want to ensure it won’t compete with the splash you’re trying to capture. Try to keep your aperture around 5.6-8. Fill the shadows in your image with a white reflective surface to the right of your camera.
You’ll want to make sure your light is evenly spread and soft. Use any type of diffusion tool, ideally 4x4 to 6x6 to creative a large light source.
A remote trigger will be useful for capturing that action quickly and continuously.
Emphasize specular highlights in shiny objects
Place a bare bulb light to the left of your camera, 45 degrees behind the subject. This creates hard, dark shadows that will help emphasize highlights on shiny objects within your scene, such as glassware.
You’ll want to choose a depth of field (such as 5.6-8) that brings focus to the main subject without sacrificing important details in the foreground or background. For example, in this image, the branding label on the bottle is blurred while remaining readable. Add to your scene with props. Props can add unique shapes, colors, and textures and increase the visual interest of your image!
*All Images + Shot Breakdowns by Leslie Grow and Profoto