Your light source can be the light shining through a window or the simple desk lamp discussed recently in General Tips for Home Food Photography.

This time we will be reflecting light off our light source onto our food subject. For this, you can use a shiny cookie sheet.

Just hold the flat side against your light source, on the opposite side of your food subject from your light source. Your light source should be casting a light from your subject’s back to almost the front, leaving your subject’s front area darker.

By reflecting the light towards the front of your subject you are balancing out the exposure, but since the reflected light won’t be as intense as your light source from the back, the front of your subject will still be darker thereby keeping the original visual depth created by the manipulation of light and decreasing the contrast to give you better detail.

Other items you can use are cake boards that are white or lined with aluminum foil. You can even use a frying pan’s shiny side as well as it’s lid or a white plastic chopping board. Just about anything white or shiny white. I normally use a white styrofoam (expanded rigid polystyrene plastic) board.

You can use a dining chair as your light stand by taping or tying your shiny kitchen stuff reflectors on it. Once you have your reflectors in the right place, pointed towards your subject in order to cast the reflected light onto the front of your subject and spread out towards the back of your subject, just one reflector, you can shoot away. Just make sure your focus is spot on and the exposure is set for the center of your food subject.

First you need a good light source.

A simple desk lamp will do. Your bulb should be a white (daylight) fluorescent one, as bright as possible. A 15 to 30 watt daylight type fluorescent bulb should give you ample illumination.

Next you need a piece of white translucent paper

Such as Vellum or Tracing paper, about 1 foot by 1 foot square up to about 2 feet by 2 feet square. You will use this to soften your light by placing it in front of your lamp about six inches away from the bulb.

Position your food on a table.

Position the lamp at the back (left, center or right) of your food with the translucent paper about six inches in front of the bulb. Make sure the lamp casts a light from the back to almost the front of your food subject.

Try to keep the center of your food in focus.

Use your auto-focus for this. If you so desire you may want to use manual focus instead. Anything outside your subject can be out of focus to give more attention to your food. With your auto-exposure try to lock-in on your subject’s center. The back may be slightly over exposed, the front darker, richer and the center perfectly exposed.

The result should be something like this…

Or like this.