Light & Cook the vegan way - test driving for Lupo Lobo

<p>Hi Pnet members, hi Lupo Lobo<br>

I am testdriving at home what will be my mobile (1 bag, transportable by train) 2 flashes based lighting setup for photographing vegan Sushi food, indian dishes and more next week. I did not very well the first time on location since I only had one hammerhead flash above from the left without softener/diffusor and a small cardboard reflector to the right and therefore got strong and harsh shadows and unnatural light overall desite good details of the food due to my macro lens.<br>

I used a slave flash on a stand with a small white shoot trough umbrella from left and slightly behind this time and an automatic flash on the hot shoe bounced away to trigger the slave this time and would like to ask you:<br>

If the lighting is pleasing so far considering the light setup ? I'm well equipped camera/lens wise.<br>

I can add natural light from a window on location in the restaurant and drag the shutter for the flash having the camera on a tripod or monopod for some ambient light, it's night here now so I could not test that at home.<br>

Do you like the silver/gray background for a modern touch or is it too busy especially to the right?<br>

The Sushi itself will be presented on a white plate (the cooks & restaurant owners choice) and lacked a bit of contrast with the white rice in the first shots but the colours where fine.<br>

Thanks for any answers and Lupo for the inspiration with his cooking and presentations here and the helpful answers regarding his light setup. </p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>sample 2<br>

I have and will take the time to read more in this great forum about lighting food, thank you all for your contributions and learning lessons.</p><div></div>

<p>Thinking of Lupo Lupo ( HeHe! Isn't this guy gaining an almost legendary status within photo.net?).</p>

<p>Methinks, you should have an idea of lighting to start of with - you talk of multiple flashes and umbrelllas and weight repstrictions etc..etc.. So i guess you have high expectations. I have no specialist lighting knowledge to speak of - so I should not be respondong to this post in the first place, but your mention of vegan/indian foods got me hooked.<br /> <br /> I just offer two image taken with nothing more than a camera phone. Good Luck and Happy Eating!</p>

<p>And now the images!</p><div></div>

<p>..and the second..</p>

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<p>Markus, your food shots are technically perfect looking. They look good enough to appear in a fine cuisine designer magazine for high priced clientele.</p>

<p>The walnuts and pepper could use a bit of saturation boost but not too much. </p>

<p>Would be interested to see a pic of your flash setup.</p>

<p>Thanks Mike, Lupo and Tim, it's soon time for photo session round two with the addition of some window light and another, less shiny dark background. I will take a photo of my mobile set for you Tim, it's nothing special made of second hand and DIY parts and I try to keep it as transportable as possible. Lupo, your vegan comment makes my day, how funny and true :-) </p>

<p>After reading some of <a href="../photodb/user?user_id=489058">Brooks Short</a> fantastic tutorials on food lighting here (thanks so much) I changed my light setup today by adding ambient and natural light from a window to my 2 flash setup, while the flash on the hot shoe was mainly used to trigger the slave behind the umbrella. The camera and lens was the Pentax K-5 and Pentax FA-50mm macro F2.8 at ISO 80, 1/25-1/30, F11-16, flash in reduced and manual mode. A reflecting piece of fabric was added to the right just out of sight. I lightened up the shadows a bit more in postproduction. As you can see from the photos, the flash/umbrella/stand setup is light and very transportable. Enjoy and critical and honest comments are very welcome. Remember these are just test shots, not the real thing, that will happen at the end of the week in a vegan Sushi restaurant.</p><div></div>

<p>-2-</p><div></div>

<p>-3-</p><div></div>

<p>The Pentax AF500FTZ in slave mode on a light stand with a small white umbrella close to the food.</p><div></div>

<p>Monopod & Linhof head & Pentax AF280T bounced as trigger flash</p><div></div>

<p>Mike, I just add the silver fabric and maybe a small mirror and tape to my bag, the complete lighting setup is quite handy and light. Please come back and look again, the Sushi and indian food will look as beautiful as it has to be for vegan food :-)</p>

Markus, would you please consider the background to be simpler, of lower complexity?

 

Potatoes surfaces have too much of hot spots; walnuts & red peppers also look too bright.

<p>My suggestions:<br />Either reposition your umbrella, and/or use a larger diffuser of some sort, as the obvious catchlight and reflection of your lighting umbrella in the Eggplant is distracting, unatttractive and needs to be removed in post-processing. <br />Perhaps ditch the umbrella and use your flash bounced against a card into the scene with your other diffused flash as fill in. "Aubergine avec un parapluie" isn't on the menu I presume.<br /><br />Take along a Mister-bottle and or glycerine to add a little sparkle to the food items that should...that lime looks dead.<br /><br />Checkout Food Arts magazine for good food shot styling: Shallow depth of field/heavy blur to non essential items, close cropped, rich color saturations, even and non-obvious lighting.<br /><br />Good Luck and make sure its fun too! </p>

<p>Markus, get a few sheets of white foam core board that you can use for fill. I also use a large piece of foam core board as a giant bounce card. I use it handheld and angle it in different directions to make changes to the light. You flash should be pointed up to avoid hotspots. It makes a nice broad light source. The board can also be used for fill reflectors positioned around the food. The photo I am posting is in mixed lighting, there is a large window to the left and I bounced a 580 ex flash off the ceiling with a shutter speed of half a second. I wanted sort of a high key affect. There is foam core to the left and the rear of the subject. </p><div></div>

<p>Thank you all for looking and your helpful comments. This was only my second attempt at food photography and I am still struggling with the light and composition as you have seen well. I hate the idea of having to manipulate the food but a spritz of water or bit of oil for some freshness is okay for the real shooting. Foamcore may work at home but I can not carry it easily, so I will try with a foldable reflector instead, I just ordered a small one. I'm so sorry that I can not invite you to my vegan dinner for your contributions but only show you a quick shot (missing ambient light again) of the "mise en place" and the result without the mixed salad:-)</p><div></div>

<p>and the result</p><div></div>

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<p>One question though - is vegan food always served on penitentiary plates like that ... is it a punishment for being vegan? ;)</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Hehe Lupo!<br>

The food served to us was in a South Indian restaraunt, and that is the 'traditional' form of cutlery in those parts. In fact there would never be a wedding gift list that did not include a full service collection of the most expensively styled 'stainless steel dinner sets'. This would also signify the hope of a long and never-ending marital longevity.</p>

<p>Dinner entry plate tonight, fresh from the oven, you may have a bite Lupo ;-)</p><div></div>

<p>have a chocolate for your soul and tummy ;-)</p><div></div>