When many friends start to take pictures of food, they will first be entangled in choosing a camera and lens, but first, let’s talk about the conclusion: the camera and lens are secondary, and the lighting equipment for food pictures is the most important, and the ability to have good professional lighting take good pictures.
First, why do you need lighting?
Food pictures require a high degree of color reduction. The reason is straightforward, everyone knows what color vegetables are and what color meat is. If there is a slight difference, everyone will feel very conspicuous. Moving, so you must first have professional photography-level lighting.
The following picture shows the comparison of photos before and after fill light:
The best light is sunlight, which can accurately reproduce all colors. Just like there are two factions of professional photographers shooting food, there are also professional photographers who shoot in natural light, but most of them are female photographers. However, the disadvantage of natural light is that it cannot be photographed in all weathers. The brightness and softness of the light will change in the weather, and the color temperature of sunlight in the morning, evening, and noon is also different. Therefore, it is best to use artificial light sources with high color rendering index to imitate natural lighting. I would like to recommend food photography lighting kit - SIRUI LED spotlight: CRI96, TLCI98, it has a very high color reproduction of light.
Secondly, choosing the best food photography light.
It is best to choose Bi-color lighting for food photography. In the eyes of the vast majority of audiences, warm-toned low-color temperature lighting can give food more pyrotechnic flavor and more warmth and healing, so warm-colored light will be used more, but warm-colored light Although the performance of red is very good, the performance of green is more miserable, so it is better to use warm light to photograph meat dishes. It is best to choose Bi-color lighting for food shooting. In the eyes of the vast majority of audiences, warm-toned low-color temperature lighting can give food more pyrotechnic flavor, more warm and healing, so warm-colored light will be used more, but warm colors Although light is very good for red, it is more miserable for green, so warm light is better for meat dishes.
There are the tips for food photography lighting. For cold dishes such as salads, cakes, baked delicacies, etc., it is better to use white light of about 5500K; for some cold fruits or summer food in summer, it can be appropriately adjusted to cool light to achieve a refreshing and pleasant picture effect. For some foods with a reddish tone like roast chicken, barbecue, and hot pot, you can use a warm light of about 3500-4000K to shoot attractive colors, which are warm and pyrotechnic.
Combined with a variety of color temperature requirements, I recommend the SIRUI Bi-color lighting because it can meet the needs of shooting different food. The color temperature range of SIRUI LED Bi-color lighting is 2800-7000k, which can realize the stepless switching of cold and warm lighting effects, and the cost performance is relatively high.
Finally, how to set the light correctly.
Light is a key factor in getting beautiful images. The scene where the food shoot is conducted may be a home or outside visiting a store, so the light will not be very good, so it is best to use a light source that can be mobile and portable - SIRUI LED lights are dual-powered type, the maximum brightness can last for 2h.
We can make full use of lighting to create artificial light for food photography. The most critical light when photographing food is not to use the front flash. Front flash can make the captured image look too flat and lose the three-dimensional composition. It is best to set the angle of the light source between 30 and 180 degrees towards the camera in order to capture the perfect food structure. The light source can be natural or artificial. To get a professional photo, the best light for photographing food is sunlight, but don't let the light shine directly on the food to avoid harsh shadows. Use a soft sunlight diffuser in the morning and evening for a more evenly lit image. When using natural light, it is better to be as close to the window as possible, so that the light source and the camera are at 90 degrees, so that the picture can form a three-dimensional composition interface, as shown in the figure, the distribution of light on the image is very uniform.
Summarize
Choosing the right lights and lighting for food photography can do less with more. In food photography, the picture is simple, the influence of composition is not great, and many food pictures are the simplest center composition, if other elements are used, they must fit the food, and can not add too much. I hope everyone can take good-looking food pictures according to their own needs, whether it is commercial photography, or daily recording of food and life.