In this virtual world of food blogging, one doesn't get to touch, smell or eat the food they see in your blog but if it is presented beautifully, it can surely make one drool and ask for more. One can set the mood, tell a story and create a connection with good photography. I wished to do the same and I wished to learn more, that's how the journey with my camera started. And the first step was to Understand and Play with Light
I am not a professional but a self taught amateur and a wannabe freelance photographer who loves every aspect of photography, much more than her shoes or earrings! At least, that's how it's been these days.
It all started almost a year back when my blog was born and eventually made me realize the importance of good food photography. All photography starts with one basic thing - Understand and Play with Light
What makes a good photos?
There was a time when I used to think that only an expensive DSLR could click good photo. The fact is – yes, a DSLR can click good photos but one can MAKE great photos with whatever basic camera one has in hand. All you need to do is guide your camera to make the photo and don't let it click as it wants.
You know what I mean -- click in Manual Mode or at least start with Aperture Priority Mode! Just get away from the Auto Mode.
After receiving many emails and requests, I finally decided to start a series on Photography. It will be difficult to cover all the aspects in just one post. Therefore, a series made more sense. The posts may not come back to back but I promise not to make you wait for long. I would talk about whatever I have learned so far and try to explain in my best possible way.
Before we move to the technicalities like camera modes, setting, composition, RAW, post processing and other different terminology, let’s start with basic --- Understand and Play with Light! Since I only use natural lighting without any flash, that's all I can discuss here. Probably, later I would invite someone to talk about studio lighting.
How do you Understand and Play with Light?
There are different types of lighting! To understand and play with light, you have to figure out what suits best but first you have to know what they are.
Hard Light
Hard Light is direct sunlight that falls on a subject creating a strong shadow and a high contrast. It can help creating a dramatic mood where the texture and shape of the object gets highlighted. I feel that shadow gives life to a subject and removing it completely can make a photo look flat.
In the below photos, I prefer the hard light as the high contrast enhances the texture, the water droplets and the shadow to give a summer-y feeling. This is one of the many way you can play with lights.
Soft Light
When the incoming light is diffused or reflected, which in turn helps to illuminate the entire area and thereby creating a softer tone, is known as soft light. It creates a very airy feeling. On an overcast day, the cloud acts as a natural diffuser and all you need to do is use a reflector to avoid the shadows (if you want to). I personally enjoy photo shooting on a cloudy day, inside or outside.
Diffuser
Helps softening the incoming light and gives a more pleasing effect. Place it in between the subject and the source of light. Depending on how harsh the raw light is, you might have to use a thicker or thinner diffuser.
Reflector
Bounces the incoming light, thereby reducing the shadow and creating a nice well-lit area. You have to place it next to your subject and opposite to the incoming light for reflection; it's pure science.
I use a thin white cloth as my diffuser, which I clip on the window blinds using wooden pinchers. A cheap white foam board will work as a great reflector and jumper cables (worth couple of bucks in any hardware stores) works great to hold the board straight.
Here is an example of same set up with different diffusers (black and white) and no diffuser.
I usually diffuse the incoming light on a sunny day and ignore it on a cloudy day. Depending on how I wish to set the mood, I at times use a reflector and at times I don't. I personally like a little shadow here and there.
Whether using hard light or soft light, it's important to understand the direction of the lighting. My favorite would be side light and once in a while, i prefer back light.
Side Lighting:
This is the kind of lighting that you would see in most of my photos. I shoot by the window and I make the light fall either from left or right, which makes it side lighting. It's said to be the most dependable choice of lighting as it's easy to work with and creates a lovely dimension to your subject. Depending on what you are shooting and what mood you want to set, you could either use a reflector and minimize the shadow or let it stay there! Moving the object too close to the window will create reflection and hard light. Moving it little far away will create a softer tone.
Back Lighting:
When the source of light (e.g.: window) is right in front of you and the light is falling on the subject from behind, it's called back lighting. For me, this is the most challenging kind of lighting and yet, it can work wonders with certain subjects. With back lighting, the background will be more washed out as compared to side lighting.
At times, I like to use both back and sidelight. And depending upon how strong the light is, I either diffuse both sources of light or none.
Front Lighting and Top Lighting
Apart from these, there is also Front Lighting and Top Lighting where as the name suggests; the light would fall on the subject from top or front. I don't use either of these lightings for food photography and don't have much to say on it. I have read in couple of places that both these lightings are not a right option for food photography as they can create distracting shadows. Then again, may be you can create a dramatic one too!
Whether to use hard or soft light, which direction of light to choose from and should you diffuse, reflect or do nothing would completely depend on what kind of subject you are photographing and what mood or story you want to convey. I would say try all the different lightings to understand them better. Find something from your kitchen, grab a bowl or a plate or whatever you prefer and start experimenting with lights!
As I mentioned before, I am still learning and if you think I have missed out any important points on Indoor natural lighting, please email me using the contact form and I would be glad to update it on the post. I would be publishing the next part of series in a couple of weeks and it would be about Camera Modes. We will see how the Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO can play a vital role in photography.
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Dolly Sharma
Dear Kankana- Absolutely love this series on photography. Very informative post. I'm going to play around with light and take some pictures using the techniques you have mentioned. Looking forward to your next post. All your clicks here are breathtaking and so professional. Would love to learn a thing or two from You.
Sneh | Cook Republic
A great resource Kankana, beautiful photos too!
wokandspoon
I loved this post. Such handy and informative tips. I always struggle with lighting as I take most of my photos in the evening as I work during the day or I point and click as I have 2 little munchkins climbing over me.
nipponnin
Very pretty. Thank you for the mini lesson but I think you're naturally talented artist. Can't wait for the next post.
Fahad Khan (@Pharaoh
Thank you for staring this series,I started Blogging about an year back.However,since I don't have a SLR Camera,I take pictures from my Digicam.Not too many options in a Digicam,but thankfully I am getting better over a period of time,learning more about shooting with it.
I have a little question,if you could please answer:
"At times, I like to use both back and sidelight." Can you please explain this,perhaps with an example?How can light fall from the back and from the side at the same time?Do you use two different sources,like sunlight from a window and artificial light?
Thank you!:-)
Kankana Saxena
Thanks Fahad for dropping by 🙂
If you look at my blog pics, most of the photos will have both back light and side light and that's because, in my tiny apt I got lucky with windows which makes it a well lit area. I will share some example on this along with the next post of the series. It may not happen immediate, but I will try to make it at the earliest.
The idea is you should have a light coming from behind the food ( around 12 o'clock ish) and another source of light should be on the side .. either left or right ( 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock) and your camera should be placed at 6 o'clock. I am sorry if this explanation sounds stupid LOL.
You could definitely use artificial light if you don't have enough window lights from both back and side. And you could either diffuse both the window light or none or either of them. Hope this helps. Do email me if you need more explanation.
Fahad Khan (@Pharaoh
Oh,it does not sound stupid at all!Thank you so much for explaining!:-) I actually thought so,I knew that the light from back would be at 12'O clock angle,but was not sure how to get a light from the side.I was wondering if it was two windows or something,one for the back light,and one for the side.
Unfortunately,in my case,the window in the kitchen,is no good,there is a very small windowsill,that cannot even support a small plate.Next to it is the sink,hehe.Will shoot by the window of the living room,or lobby,I guess,and use artificial light for the side.
I look forward to the coming posts in this series!Thank you again,you are very kind and helpful!:)
Kankana Saxena
In my previous apt, I used to click by the bedroom window as the light was better. YOu have have to figure out which window gives the best source of light 🙂
Deepa
I just came across your blog and I am floored! It is beautiful!! Very nice pictures and wonderful recipes. One of these days, I wouldn't be surprised to see a cook book with your name at Amazon! Truly beautiful blog!
mjskit
What a great post! Lots of wonderful information and your illustrations are perfect! I'm a huge fan of hard light and dramatic results, which is exactly what most of the food porn sites DON'T like. I guess it goes back to the saying "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I love all of your photography and you shared you knowledge in such a great way. Thank you!
naomi
I'm so excited for this series. I love your photography, so I can't wait to read more.
Allison
Thanks for this post! I'm usually impatient when it comes to learning about photography, as I'd rather just focus on the food... but your explanations and photos made this an enjoyable way to do it!
fruitandcake
Although I come from the RECIPES world, I cannot but admire your beautiful photos. I'll make sure to visit more often. Thanks.
Abi
Thanks for the informative post. luv the first pic. & look forward to other posts in this series.
Anamika@madcooking
Hey, I am really happy to see this post, specially coz I am still struggling with my DSLR and am in the learning phase. Glad you started this series and touched the most important aspect of food photography first.Very informative post…thanks Kankana!!! Looking forward to your future posts:).
dassana
that a helpful post kankana. i love both hard light and soft light. many of my photos are shot in hard light. i also feel that shadows do give the pics a certain character & life and without them they look dull & flat. as a learning photographer it is propping & styling that is always a challenge to me.
Shinta
Fascinating, Kankana. Thanks for this series. Your photographs are testament to the skill and dedication that you have. I'm looking forward to this series.
Asmita
Hi Kankana,
This is such an amazing and useful post! I have always admired your recipes, presentation and photography. I love the way you have shown the same dish with 3 different lighting.
Lighting is key to a good picture.
Thanks so much for sharing these tips.
Debjani
Kankana, you are brilliant at what you do. Taking the time to create a teachable post says a lot about you as well. Thank you so much for this well written post. The first picture is mind blowing. For the first time I on your post I didn't want to eat what was in the picture but keep looking and looking and trying to understand the shot. I hope you will have more for us someday soon.
Eha
This is a post to be filed and seriously studied at leisure. Being but an interested but amateur photographer every tip, every lesson will be of use, and not only in food photography! Thanks Kankana!
Tes
Wow wow! What an informative and beautiful post 🙂 Thanks for the tips 🙂
Lisa H.
Wow this is great Kankana...
Looking forward to many more photography tips/post from you ... 🙂
Thanking you in advance 🙂
Nandita
Lovely post Kankana!!! Despite photographing food for a long time, I have started experimenting with light only recently. So this post is really very helpful for me. Thanks so much for posting this 🙂