Natural Light for Food Photography
Every month I introduce a fun Instagram food photograph challenge with different themes. To help you create magical images I share some tips here. For more in-depth learning material and Tips sign up to my newsletter.
Natural Light for Food Photography
This is my favorite way of shooting food, even though artificial lighting has a lot of benefits, the natural hue that is created with natural light is unmatched. It makes sense to give you a breakdown of the things you need to consider when you create images with natural light. This article will give you short insight into the equipment you will need to make the best of the natural light available to you.
Your environment
You have to work with what you this means using techniques and strategies according to the underlying conditions. I remember when I used to shoot my pictures in my bedroom with my purple curtains reflected in the color of the images. I would constantly wonder why my images had that wired color. It took a while to understand that it was my curtains that reflected the color in my images.
The Weather
Ohhh the weather, when I tell you how many times, I have forgotten to check the weather, planned a shoot through, bought ingredients, baked and cooked the dishes and when the shoot day came, light conditions where catastrophic, from total darkness in the winter to too much light in summer. Therefore, make sure to check the weather forecast when planning a shot and using natural light.
The Direction of Light
Usually, where the light will come from is crucial to the decisions you will make. Lets start with my absolute favorite, side light.
Side Light
If you know my images, you will know that the direction of light used is side light. It means that the light is coming from the side of the subject.
Hard Light
With hard light we mean light that is not diffused and directly impacts the subject.
Backlight
It means that you subject is illuminated by sunlight from the back. I usually combine backlighting with artificial lighting, because it creates a very luminous and interesting subject whit a great focus on highlights.
