Photography Natural Light
Photography Natural Light
Natural light is key in photography, and that is especially true for food photography. When you understand lighting, you understand one of the most vital parts of photography.
Photography birth pains
When I started this blog I knew nothing about food Photography. It was a big heartache for me at first. I wanted my photos to look like all those blogs out there, that that I admired and wish I knew what their secrets were..
Things changed significantly for me when I bought my DSLR Camera. Before that I used a Canon digital camera. Now you could definitely start off the same way I did and save up some money for a DSLR but if you´re serious about making money while blogging, I would suggest to bite the bullet and buy the DSLR of your choice asap!
All I can tell you is that once my photos improved, so did my readership. Great photography is super necessary if you have a food related blog. People read with their eyes and if the photos looks good, they believe the recipe is good too! When I got serious about my photography I bought the Tasty Food Photography and the Plate to Pixel: Digital Food Photography and Styling books and I have never looked back!
You light up my world!
By you, I mean daylight! Bright, indirect daylight is key for food photography! You could shoot either outside in the shade (wich I love and I have had my best results in this way) or in front of a big window. Make sure you have your back to the window though.
I hardly ever use my flash for my food (dessert) photography. Although, if I had more knowledge on the matter, using a flash could enhance the mood (according to experts that say “skillful use of flash is not instinctive and is a skill that has to be studied, learned and cultivated and could enchance the mood of a photograph”).
However I´m still investigating this and will be sharing more on this in the near future. Perhaps then I will change my point of view but for now I´m sticking to what I believe and that is that natural light photography is the best!
I love this photo above that I took of my son Luca´s 4th Soccer Birthday Party. It was taken outside, in the shade, in natural daylight. I think the grade of “depht of field” in this photo is just perfect. This shows you what natural light can do for your photos. The photo is by no means perfect but it´s real close!
If you´re interested in learning more (or sharing) about Blogging, Photography, Social Networking, SEO, etc, please feel free to join the Dessert Blogging 101 Facebook and Pinterest groups! We would love to have you there!
I love this article about Making the most of Natural Light from Cambridge in Color. They share about the three factors that influence how natural light renders a subject:
- Time of day
- Camera direction and
- Weather.
Please leave a comment to let me know if you prefer working with natural light and feel free to share any tips you have learnt!
Johlene
xoxo
I prefer to work with light that will give me the look I want, when I want it on many occasions that means working with studio strobes… There is a steep learning curve with them but when that is overcome the final image is indistinguishable from ‘natural’ light sources if you want it to be 🙂
Totally agree about the !steep learning curve” part. I prefer to work with natural light but I also have been experimenting with studio lights. As a food blogger, there is so much to learn. Thanks for stopping by!
Great post. I definitely need to work on my photography skills and this info was really helpful!
Thanks for linking up with #ShareTheWealthSunday and I hope you’ll come back and party with us when we go live at 7 tonight!
xoxo
Lisa
Thanks Lisa, I´m looking forward to being a regular at your Blog Party!
Great tips- happy to have found you at the Mom Blogs Party!
Cheers,
Kathy Shea Mormino
The Chicken Chick®
Thanks & Welcome Kathy!
I could not agree with you more. Natural light is the best light for photography. I recently started my own photography business and I aim to take all my photographs with natural light. From time to time I have to use a flash or light stands but I try to limit it as much as possible.
Me too 🙂 There are times, especially during winter that there is hardly any light, that´s when I use my light boxes but I prefer to work with natural light.