Tip Thursday: Food Photography Edition
by: Hannah Queen
One of the easiest and cheapest ways you can improve your food shots is a simple piece of white foam board. It’s dirt cheap, a couple of dollars at the most and you can easily purchase it at a store like Target or an art supply store.
This white board bounces the light back onto your shot, filling in any harsh shadows. It’s best to place it opposite your lighting source, like in the picture above, the light is coming in from the left, so the white board is on the right.
without (straight out of camera shot, no editing)
with (straight out of camera also)
As you can see, the harsh shadows are gone, giving the shot an overall brighter appearance. The difference is dramatic!
Here’s the final shot, with post processing (which is another post for another day!)
I encourage you to go try this out yourself, if you do, be sure to add your photos to The Kitchen Generation flickr group!
Tags: How-To, Photography, tip thursday
February 24, 2011 | 
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February 24th, 2011
Nice tip!
I’m very interested in a post about your post processing. :)
February 24th, 2011
ha it took me over a year to figure out 1. what a white foam board was called en français and 2. what type of store to find it in. Now that I have successfully acquired my white foam board en Suisse, I use it in EVERY shot. so incredibly useful to combat those harsh shadows! great advice :)
February 24th, 2011
Off to Target (or Staples) tomorrow! Thanks for this great tip.
February 24th, 2011
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Hannah Queen and preeturheartout, ktchngeneration. ktchngeneration said: New at The Kitchen Generation, a food photography tip from @honeyandjam! http://bit.ly/ei47gF [...]
February 24th, 2011
that’s great! thanks. i’m such a photo moron, and so appreciate any hot tip you’re willing to share! i can’t wait to give it a go!
February 24th, 2011
It is amazing what a simple piece of white board can do!
February 24th, 2011
the white foamcore is a great tip. i like the shot before processing though, it has more depth and texture.
Hannah Queen (Editor) Replied:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:45 pm
i actually do too! i just wanted to show it brightened up a bit more. :)
February 24th, 2011
Thanks for the tip! Running out to buy some foamboard …. TODAY! So what do you do on the non sun shiny days?
Hannah Queen (Editor) Replied:
February 24th, 2011 at 8:46 pm
these were actually taken on a really overcast/rainy day! if you are close to a window, you can still get well lit photos on those days. :)
February 24th, 2011
Thanks a ton for the tip! I’ll have to try it out now!
February 25th, 2011
A piece of card wrapped with tin foil is also a good reflector and will give a different light – slightly brighter
February 25th, 2011
I couldn’t agree more… a white board is so helpful in reflecting some of the light to remove the shadows.
February 25th, 2011
Thanks for the tip! I’m going to get a foam board and try this out!
February 25th, 2011
I agree with candleashes, love the pre-processed shot. Can you include a post about indoor lighting tips? I cook a lot in the evenings and have to shoot after dark. I bought a light which I thought had a good broad-spectrum bulb, but my shots have a lot of blue tones. Still tinkering with camera settings, but I think it would be lovely to get some tips here!
Thanks!
February 25th, 2011
Such a great tip! It really does make a world of difference.
February 25th, 2011
For my birthday all I asked for was a lightbox and foam boards. My dad came through. Now I just need to use them.
February 25th, 2011
what? you have a flickr group?! i’m on it….
(great tutorial hannah! )
February 25th, 2011
thank you so much for the tips
wish I had a good camera eh, but still it’s really good to look at your wonderful pictures
thank you :)
February 25th, 2011
Thanks so much for the tip! I’ve been having issues with harsh shadows and this is so helpful. Gonna pick up some white board soon :).
February 26th, 2011
Such a great tip! I just recently learned about this myself and it’s been making a huge difference. One added tidbit that I learned from Nicole of Nicole’s Classes is to prop the board up using two floral frogs. Works like a charm!
Thanks for sharing…and can’t wait for your post processing tips! xo Ez
March 5th, 2011
thank you so much for the tip. I must try this with my photos soon! hope it makes a difference in it :)
March 10th, 2011
You guys are a generation apart… and are great fun! Love how you hit the nail on the head! Fresh perspective and great insight! Good luck always!
June 16th, 2011
Thank you SO much for this post! I can never seem to get nice natural lit pictures of my food. It’s times like these that I’m glad my mom always has a bunch of art supplies (foam board) lying around the house! I’m trying this tomorrow!
By the way, as a young food blogger, I must say this blog is very inspiring and makes me want to put a lot more time into my blog.
Thank you. You can be sure that I’ve bookmarked this blog and will be returning very soon.