Many people are intimidated by artificial food photography lighting, but it really can be easy and necessary when we start losing light early in the evening. If you are trying to shoot food and you’re only able to use natural light, this getting dark early thing can be a real drag.
This shot above was taken at 7pm with one light. Easy!
Artificial Food Photography Lighting
I tell all my students that shooting with artificial light is so much easier than natural light a lot of the time. You see, with natural light, your light source is constantly moving all day long.
This movement will change your quality of light, your shadows, your exposure, AND your white balance (color temperature). This can be a huge problem if you’re taking more than one shot and they all have to match.
Introducing an excellent, inexpensive little light that you will come to love. This is called a soft box. What’s nice about this type of soft box is that the front silk comes off very easily so you can conveniently change the bulb and add additional diffusion if you want.
You can put several different kinds of incandescent light bulbs in these soft boxes.
Please note: you will still have to use a tripod with this type of light, or jack up your ISO high enough so that you can hand hold this.
You will also have to set your color balance to match your light, or use Auto White Balance. The type of camera will dictate which white balance settings you have to choose from.
So this box is made for one bulb, is super light weight, and easy to store. Details about the light are at the bottom of this post.
You can also get an adapter to put four LED bulbs in this one soft box – which I suggest you do. Keep reading for links to the blog post showing those products.
This is what the soft box looks like before it’s put together. The soft box part has 4 metal, flexible posts and takes a little coordination to put together.
Inside the box you can see a silver reflective material. This is always the first thing to start breaking down in these boxes. It will start to flake or stick to itself when folded up. The cheaper soft boxes will do this much faster than the ones that cost more money.
You need to make sure that your light stand can support the soft box. You might need to use a sand bag on the stand to keep it stable.
The Lighting
There’s a few ways to work with this light. I’m going to show you the easiest and most common way to use it; as a side light for an overhead shot.
Notice my light is not 100% on the side, meaning it’s not directly to the left of the tangerines. If you were to look at my set from overhead as a clock, the light would be at about 10:00. So the light is coming from the upper left corner in my picture.
I didn’t want my shadows to go straight across my set directly to the right. I wanted my shadows at an angle, so I moved my light up and to the left until I liked where the shadows fell. I also angled the light head down a bit towards the food.
Also notice my light box is not on, or touching my set. You need some space between you and your light source to give you room on your set to put your food where you want it. It is also raised up on its stand so that it is higher than my set. You can control the size of your shadows this way.
I’m using a large fill card opposite the light to bounce light back into the dark shadows.
The shot below has no fill card – see how dark the shadows are?
If you want to make a moody image, dark shadows can do this, then use a dark background too and your food will pop off the page!
Here are two shots side by side so you can see the difference. The image on the right has two fill cards, one on the right side and one on the bottom. The set is below:
These fill cards are just foam core leaning on my set, and of course, my camera is overhead on my large tripod.
The Lighting Equipment
(
Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means we will earn a commission at not cost to you if you make a purchase.
Ok here’s the deal – there are tons of cheap, crappy softboxes on Amazon – like 100’s of them. Most of them come with the large, coiled CFL bulbs, like you see here. I hate these bulbs because they contain mercury powder, are huge and heavy and have a low CRI (color rending index – click here for more info on this).
So what I suggest is to get this kit, which is only $50 and don’t use these CFL bulbs but instead use four high CRI LED bulbs in a quad adapter that I talk about in this post.
So there you have it! Your super easy food photography lighting set up with just one light and a piece of foam core! Check out this post where I show you the side light with a 3/4 view shot on a table.
If you like this post, please share it and don’t miss another one by signing up below – Happy Shooting!
Lauren
Just to clarify, this post is talking about a continuous light source and not a strobe, right? 🙂
Christina Peters
Hi Lauren, the light shown is a continuous light but a strobe would work in that same position with a softbox just as well.
lani roberts paul
i just received my first two lights (Lowel Ego) and they came with flourescent bulbs. should i switch to tungsten? also, wanted to get your thoughts on switching to LED wiht a diffuser instead.
thanks for sharing all this valuable info with us!!
Christina Peters
Hi Lani, I’m not a fan of the Ego lights. In food photography, it’s best to not put your light onto the table that your food is setting on. It creates a strange light on the food that will not look natural. You will need to get some light stands and light stand adapters to put those lights onto stands – like what you see here in this light kit from B & H Photo in NY. I’m quite sure that the bulbs that came with your lights have a very low CRI – which means the light is actually very green and many cameras have a hard time color correcting those types of bulbs. I tried looking up the CRI and Lowel doesn’t mention it anywhere, which usually means it’s very low and don’t want to advertise that. The CRI of any light needs to be 90+. If you are in the US, then switching to tungsten or high CRI LED bulbs would be a much cleaner light. I use LED’s in softboxes and they work very well.
lani
thank you, christina,
it was mostly a space-driven decision (somewhat cramped shooting space) but will look into getting a soft box and light stand with either the 500w tungsten or 90+ LED pronto! is the westcott stand still your reco?
your blog is a lifesaver!
lani
Christina Peters
Hi again, the Westcott stand is great. I have several of those for my softboxes that I use for the classes.
Karissa
Hi, I was thinking of buying the cheaper lighting set you referenced that you say isn’t up to snuff. When will your review be published? I’d really love to get a lighting set soon but wanted to read your opinion first.
Christina Peters
Hi Karissa! I am working on the post right now! Hoping to get it out tomorrow.
Karissa Martindale
Hey Cristina! Thanks, based on that article I purchased the wescott set you mentioned. I just turned it on for the first time and boy is that thing BRIGHT! haha 🙂 the bulb does have more of a yellow tint to it which changing my white balance on my camera appeared to fix. Is that yellow tint typical of these bulbs? Thanks again!
Christina Peters
Hi Karissa, the bulb is a tungsten bulb, which is more “yellow” when compared to a daylight bulb. This is not a tint – that’s implying a color is being added to it. This bulb has a specific color temperature that is nothing like daylight. You can set your camera to either tungsten WB or auto WB and see which color you like better. If you are more of an advanced user, you can always tweak your color in Adobe Lightroom very easily as well. Enjoy the light!
Mike Kenneally
love the whole feel and cover image with graphics
Christina Peters
Thanks Mike!
Shelley Blechar
Christina thank you for another clear, concise and extremely informative post! I will be photographing food in my home kitchen. I would like to have my photography tools as near and ready to go as possible, without impeding my actual cooking. Please let me know your opinion on a photo box tent. If you have to slap my face for asking, please be gentle. 😉
Christina Peters
Hi Shelley, photo box tents are just horrible, in my opinion. You can not make an environment in a photo box tent. They really are just a gimmick. The only way I could see using this is for an extreme macro shot of something on a plate, otherwise you’re going to have the box tent in your shot.
Antonio
As I am trying to “expand” my portfolio and subject matter, I certainly enjoyed the pointers in taking photos of food. I have not had the opportunity yet, nor been offered a “job” as of yet, but, I will certainly bookmark this page for future reference – great tips.
Christina Peters
Thanks for reading Antonio!
Summer
Lovely technique! I am working on my photography skills at the moment. So thanks a lot for this ♥
summerdaisy.net
Christina Peters
You’re welcome Summer!
Wendi
How in the WORLD have I been blogging for over a year and never discovered your site before? You are now right at the top of my “favorites” list and I will be stopping by often! I have a lot of reading to do with your previous posts! Thank you so much!!!
Christina Peters
Thanks Wendi! That’s very sweet. Please share the posts you like to help get the word out 🙂
Buffy Ellen @begoodorganics
Hi Christina
I absolutely love your blog! And had been missing your posts. So welcome back. This one was brilliant – succinct and full of great tips showing exactly how to recreate it at home. Thank you so much for all the info you share! And sorry to hear you’re having digestive issues – if you’re interested in adding more plant-based wholefoods to your diet they would certainly help your digestion, I share lots of healthy plant-based whole foods recipe on my blog begoodorganics.com (with photography slowly improving along the way, but still much to learn). Would love to help you in some way to say thanks for your help to me!
x Buffy
Christina Peters
Hi Buffy! So glad you like the blog and thanks for the kind words. I love plant based foods, sadly many of them don’t love me back. I’d love to get your thoughts on it so I’ll message you outside the blog.
neil@neilshealthymeals.com
Thanks you so much for such an excellent post Christina.
As a food photographer in Scotland I’ve had good days and bad days using my soft box set up that I bought last year, but that has been invaluable due to the dark days and nights we experience here.
One question. What ISO did you photograph at, for your main oranges image?
I generally use an ISO of 800 but even then I’m never that sure if that’s the best. My set up does look like yours though using a white card background to bounce the light off. Although I think I have my light too close.
Thanks for your time in answering my question and again for such a great informative post!
Christina Peters
Hi Neil! I have family in Scotland and boy, you do have short days in the winter. I always shoot on a tripod, therefore I always set my ISO at 100. If you shoot higher than 100 you will get digital noise. My exposure was, F11 for 1/2 second at ISO 100 – the long shutter makes it impossible to hand hold. The only way to hand hold this type of shot indoors with a low ISO is to use flash/strobes. Hope this helps.
Jarek
“They alwas blow right in the middle of shot” – yeah, I guess this happens with the “normal” home-usage bulbs aswell. 0.99$ is not a tragedy though.
Christina Peters
Hi Jarek, to clarify, normal home usage bulbs are not bright enough and are not what I’m using in these studio lights. The bulbs I’m referring to are the 500 watt photo bulbs that are $5-$7 on average. You can see what I’m using at the end of the post in the equipment section. The $.99 bulb has $5 shipping and is 500 watts. These photo bulbs do not last long, probably because of their brightness.
Ieva Kalvane
This is amazing! I will definitely have to try out using more lighting. I have been relying on natural light but it`n not always great but this would totally save my life! Thanks for the tips! xoxo Ieva
Christina Peters
Whew! Glad I was here to help 🙂
Canon Shooter
You got some great advice on lighting here – the thing I struggle with the most. Thank you so much, now time to do some food photo experiments 🙂
Christina Peters
Glad you liked it! Thanks for reading – from one fellow Canon lover to another 🙂
Kristen
Thank you. Your explanation is easy to understand. Simple and helpful.
Christina Peters
Thanks Kristen!
Kevin | Keviniscooking
Hi Christina,
Thanks for this post and the info. We met at Nagi’s Food Blogger Central conference.
I actually do use the Limo Studio light set up that you mentioned as the crazy cheap one. So I need to check and see if my light is fluorescent or tungsten. Thanks!
Christina Peters
Hi Kevin! Nice to hear from you. How long have you had those lights? And I would be interested to know what bulbs they came with.
Kevin | Keviniscooking
They came with the fluorescent, Dave ordered the tungsten for me. I’ll keep you posted on how they work. I have had it for about a year. I usually go for the natural light and have used the lights on several occasions now.
Christina Peters
Ok – just check what the maximum wattage is for that light. It might not be able to hold a tungsten light with 500 watts, hopefully it can 🙂
Kevin | Keviniscooking
Will do, should be here in 2 days.
Christina Peters
Excellent – Thanks Kevin!
Diana Lundin
Ha, Im not a food photographer but I am a big Denise Vivaldo fan so I had to read your blog. It’s funny you mention those lights… I bought two of them for video (I already own two Chimera triolets and some Lowel Omni and Tota lights as well as Einsteins, Canon flashes and Streaklights for photography) and never use them for video but I have been using them for portraits lately and I just love the light on those things! They are very bright, I have a dimmer for them, too. Not the highest build quality but a very nice quality of light, especially for the money. Good to know if I ever go into food photography (I won’t, I’m a pet and portrait photographer, primarily) I can use those lights! Thanks for the article, fun to read.
Christina Peters
Hi Diana, thanks for reading the blog!
Jeff Parker
You are always so timely with these posts! I have literally been looking at lights and lighting setups for two days now… Big difference in length of time and light quality from SoCal to NYC! Thank you, thank you.
Oh BTW, that 100mm macro lens is da bomb!
Christina Peters
Hi Jeff! Boy, you picked the craziest time to move to NY with that snow storm that just hit! I hope you’re doing well. Glad the post was good timing for you too. These little studio lights are awesome backups to have when it’s pitch dark outside. And yeah, love that 100mm macro.
Diana Lundin
Well, if you live in NYC now, Jeff, stop by B&H Photo and Video if you haven’t already. I bought those lights from them and their store is incredible. I love how they put your stuff in a little basket on a conveyor belt.
Christina Peters
That’s right! B & H photo is in NY. I’ve never been able to get there with all the times I’ve been. I used to order from them with mail order forms from the back of photography magazines in the 80’s – ya know, before the internet. Jeff, Diana is right, you need to go there. It’s like Disneyland for photographers.
Jeff Parker
Let me know the next time you are back here. I would be fun to take a day trip to the Hudson Valley or something….
And you’re right, timing wasn’t the best. The way I’m looking at it i that I am getting the first one out of the way while it is new and a novelty. I think if I had spent 9 snowless months here and we got that blizzard, I would have said “screw it” and hightailed it back to SoCal! LOL
Christina Peters
I certainly will let you know when I’m there again. It’s a great town.
Jeff Parker
Also, do you prefer the Tungsten over the florescent?
Christina Peters
I definitely prefer the tungsten over the fluorescent because the tungsten is so much brighter – you need at least 4 fluorescent to equal one 500w tungsten, and I don’t like the color temp of the fluorescent at all.
Jeff Parker
Hey Diana! Thanks for the info. I will definitely go check it out. I am just beginning to ramp up my photo taking abilities and could use all the resources I can get.
How’s things? 🙂
Laura @ Family Spice
You mentioned the amazon links, but I do not see them set up on the equipment you mentioned. Are you going to put them in? I was going to order one of the light boxes and lightbulb and wanted to give you commission for it!
Christina Peters
Hi! I put them on the images of the equipment but I’ll add text links now – thanks Laura!
Cathy | She Paused 4 Thought
Another great article. Thanks for breaking down lighting in an understandable way.
Christina Peters
Thanks Cathy! I’ll be doing more lighting posts soon.
Marilyn Johnson
What a great post, once again! I love seeing your set-ups. They’re very helpful and I always come away with ideas I hadn’t thought of before. I have two large octagonal lights with 5 pigtail lights in each that I can switch on or off individually. I really haven’t used them because I am intimidated by them! They were a gift when I began my blog years ago but after reading your post I’m going to give them another try. I’d love to know more about your overhead tripod. How do you focus when it’s in the head position?
Christina Peters
Hi Marilyn! What a fabulous gift! Those are great lights. Try using one light first. I will posting about using two lights down the road. So for now, make it easy on yourself and just start with one light and a fill card. You can do it! OK, now for the focus question – I have really bad eye sight. I always use the auto focus feature on my lenses. This is where camera quality makes a big difference. I use a Canon 5D Miii – this has 61 focus points, those little red dots you see when looking through your camera. This means I have many option to control where I put my focus. So to use my tangerine shot as an example I set my focus to be on the top of the tangerine, not the leaves. This way at F 11 I got my whole set in focus with the depth of field. When the camera is way up there, I use a ladder to look into it and move that focus point around to where I want it. Hope that helps.
Bita
Hi Christina, thank you for the tips. I’m always chasing the sun! Can be a challenge even with using the handy app’s like Lumy. For example today is super cloudy and rainy – tough to do outdoor pics. You make nice and simple to set up an indoor operation. I’m ready!
Christina Peters
Hi Bita! Chasing the sun is a royal pain however, you mentioned a super cloudy day and rain. Rainy days actually have beautiful light quality. The clouds soften the sun’s light. They also obviously cut down on the brightness so you have to use a tripod. A cloudy day is like the world’s biggest diffusion panel on the sun! If you have a tripod, set up your camera so that your shutter speeds is slowed down and start taking shots, seeing what they look like (exposure) and slowing down the shutter speed until you get a nice bright exposure. You’ll be amazed. Or, ditch that idea and get a studio light 🙂
Grant
Great post and beautiful images. As for the inexpensive set of soft boxes you mentioned at the end of your post I bought a set of two similar soft boxes from the well known online auction site for around €52 with bulbs about 2-3 years ago and they are still going strong today, even with the same bulbs.
They may not be exactly the same as the ones above. Mine are 40cm x 60cm and are perfect for my small room table top studio. So I would recommend to anyone looking to try out soft boxes to go for an inexpensive set first. I call them inexpensive and not ‘cheap’ because the build quality is really very good and suit my needs 100%.
Christina Peters
Hi Grant – thanks for responding. What brand are the lights you have? Are they the LimoStudio brand? That’s an amazing price you paid and could be a great solution for folks starting out.
Jessica Cummins
Hi! Thank you so much for sharing this! I currently use an AB400 with a 50×50 westcott and am not 100% in love with my shots. It uses a “modeling lamp bulb”. I used this setup when I was shooting newborns and kept it when I found a love for food photography. I’ve been looking at the Lowel Ego but they seem to be backordered everywhere. Do you think my shots would better with a smaller soft box/octobox? It could also be that modeling lamp bulb too though…
Christina Peters
Hi Jessica! The light you mentioned is a strobe light, are you using the strobe or are you only using the tungsten modeling light instead of the strobe? If you are only using the modeling light, that would explain why you don’t like it. The modeling light is only for a rough example of what the strobe will be doing. Also, that light box is very large in comparison to the light head. This means you’ll probably have a hot spot in your light source. This means the center will be much brighter than the edges. You could try your light on a smaller soft box and see what that looks like. Now, about the Lowel Egos. I hate these lights. When ever you put your light directly on the surface of what you are shooting, you will get strange, unnatural shadows. You have to have room between your light source and your food. Several bloggers say they use these lights and now they have become gospel for food bloggers. Drives me nuts! Save your money and just get a regular studio light instead of those Lowel Egos. Let me know if you are using your light as a strobe or as a hot light with the modeling light.