Food lighting- 50's style

<p>I just saw this photo and really must figure out the lighting. Anyone experienced lighting food-- 50's style?<br>

It's really super lit- maybe one light and then mirrors or reflectors all around to fill? Or more lights you think? Thanks! I'm going to try some of these this week after I shop for gold rimmed plates :)</p>

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<p>Look at where the shadows are in the photos. Although lighting definitely has come a long way since the 50's, these were lit from about the 10:00 position (top photo) and the 1:00 or 2:00 position (bottom photo), much like food is lit today. In modern food photography, which I do, I would use reflectors to eliminate the hard shadows produced in these photos. If you want the hard shadows, however, then don't use reflectors or mirrors. Just place your light at one of the positions I mentioned above, and position the light above and angled down toward your subject. A softbox or umbrella will help to soften "hot spots) on any shiny objects, and a boom arm helps as well. Feel free to email me with questions or sample pics if you try it out and want to discuss any issues you run across!</p>

<p>i think there are more lights used...look at the bottom photo..the spoon has a shadow from a light at 1 :00..but on the right side of the plate, the shadow is from a light at 10:00 or 11:00..and on the coffee plate on the top left the same...</p>

<p>gabriel</p>

<p>I still believe the spoon shadow is coming from the 10:00 position, because it is slightly to the right of the spoon, but it's hard to tell from the angle. I took two classes in food photography and practiced alot of lighting, and these still appear to be one-light photos to me. In any case, if you want the hard shadows, one strong light should suffice unless you're shooting large tablescapes.</p>

<p>Thanks for your replies! It seems really lit to me as well- more than one light, but I'm going to start with one and see how it goes :)<br>

Any guesses as to what film they might have used?</p>

<p>Stacy,<br>

The commercial photographers ( and the portrait photographers too ) of the past created amazing images with what we now consider low tech tools. To possibly shed some light ( pun intended ) on your questions: the film was probably Kodak Ektachrome Type B, process E-3 most likely in 8x10 format, probably stopped down to at least F/64 with a long exposure. The 8x10 Deardorff was the workhorse camera favoured by commercial photographers. Most of the lighting was 3200 Kelvin hot lights. One of the more popular brands was Mole-Richardson. The lights themselves were some of the same types used for the movie industry. Very large flats covered with tissue paper, frosted plastic acetate, bed sheets, or something for diffusion were suspended over the set and were angled by shortening one or more of the suspension ropes at the corners of the flats. I have a couple of these lights with 12" fresnel lenses on boom stands that were made by Photogenic. Smaller spotlights were used for accents and of course small white fill cards and mirrors were used. The unique thing about hot lights, unlike strobes, was the ability to actually " see " how much of the shadow was being filled. <br>

Good luck with your project and post some images.<br>

Warmest regards,<br>

David R. Lewis</p>

<p>David is right.......old time photographers were a very different breed. No auto anything.......no photoshop......they had to know what they were doing.</p>

<p>Thanks David! I hadn't thought about hot lights- I wonder if I could borrow some? I'm going to look around! And sadly- I don't have an 8x10 camera...but I'll use my hasselblad stopped down as much as possible. Good ideas- thank you!</p>