One of the final shots for Dulcinea
I like to create images that look like they are outside but were really shot in my studio. This was shot for Dulcinea. We were creating a scene as though these were just picked off the farm. I have a garden center right near my studio so we’ll get these kinds of grasses you see in the background from there often.
I had the help of my good friend and prop stylist Amy Paliwoda. Amy and I also teach food photography classes together. So as I’m looking through the camera Amy will move the grasses around, then we take a shot, have a look at the image on my large monitor, then keep moving things around until it’s just how we want it. Notice how much room we need behind the set in order to give the appearance of the grassy field in the background in the main shot.
These grasses always look great out of focus in a background
The green fabric is used to fill in the areas of white that might be seen through the plants that could be distracting.
We use apple boxes (film term not real apple boxes) to raise up the plants in different amounts
I often use a device called a cookaloris in front of the light. The origination of this name is not really known but these “cookies” certainly started being used in the 1920’s when they were just starting to shoot movies. It’s merely a way of breaking up your light in an irregular pattern. Sort of emulating dappled light from a tree.
Here you can see my cookaloris set up to break up the light
I am also shooting tethered to the computer as you can see to the right of the light. You have to shoot tethered so you and your client can see what you’re doing right away when you have fresh food on set.
A variation where we took the branded stickers off of the watermelon
Quite often with shoots like this the client has a hard time deciding if they want to shoot their beautiful product with their stickers on them. So to make sure they are covered, we will do one shot with stickers and one shot without so that down the road they have a choice.
Similar set up with the cookaloris now moved to the left side
We will often have to do a series of shots that look similar, yet have some differences. So in this shot we moved the grasses around, shifted the light, then changed the color that can be seen through the grasses. I really like it when food bloggers will take a series of photos and mix things up a little bit. It keeps you interested in the images as a story. It takes more time to do this but it’s worth it. Otherwise you just have the same set up with different items on it and, well, that can get boring real fast.
A vertical variation of Dulcinea Cantaloupe
One of the fun things about shooting food products is that you can learn so much about them from your clients. With this shoot I learned that Dulcinea aims to get the green part of the melon right under the rind as thin as they can so that there is more yummy melon for us to eat. Same thing with the watermelons – they aim to get the thin light green part just under the rind as thin as possible. Amazing that things can be controlled to that extent in farming.
kieran
Really like the idea of the cooki. Where can you buy these from? I live in the uk
Christina Peters
Hi Kieran, cookis are very expensive to buy. I make mine out of foamcore. I trace random blog patterns and then cut them out with a knife. It takes forever. I usually get an assistant to do it during down time.
Martine
Hi Christina – it’s fascinating to see all your trade secrets and how you created these images. I absolutely would have believed that you were outside in a beautiful field with all the wild grasses and sunshine. It’s genius how you do it. Thanks for all your information and tips. I constantly strive to make big improvements to my photography efforts with your help and guidance. Thank you again!
Christina Peters
Hi Martine! Glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for reading and happy shooting!
Bart
Hi Cristina I enjoyed this post a lot. Could you tell me with cuckaloris, do the shadows show even with strobe lighting or it has to be continuous? I just did not get great results with strobes. And love love love this setup, thanks for sharing.
Christina Peters
Hi Bart, when using a cooki, you have to have a focused light source -meaning a fresnel lens in front of the actual light bulb. So whether it’s strobe or continuous tungsten light, it has to be a fresnel light. The sun will work as well because our atmosphere acts as the fresnel. You also have to learn how to focus the light properly to get sharp shadows. It’s not easy if you haven’t worked with these types of lights before.
Cristina
What a fantastic behind-the-scenes post, Christina! Jaw dropped when I got to the images showing you set up the shot inside the studio. Love that cookaloris (want!).
Christina Peters
Thanks Cristina! Glad I fooled ya! 🙂
Jeanne @JollyTomato
Such a cool post! I would never have guessed that either of those main shots were done inside. Thanks for shedding some “light” on the behind-the-scenes work!
Christina Peters
Thanks Jeanne! And glad to have “fooled” ya!
Erika {In Erika's Kitchen}
This is truly fascinating – I would never have guessed that these shots were taken in a studio. Also, “cookaloris” is now my new favorite word.
Christina Peters
Glad you thought those shots were done outside. When working on them its hard to see them with fresh eyes so its always good to hear we pulled it off! Another great way to create a “cookie” is to just use a tree branch in front of your light source. If your light source is soft you will not see this effect.