March, 2015

Learn to create dark, moody and dramatic food photos

Thank you for checking out my eBook all about shooting dark food photography. Many readers have asked me for behind-the-scenes photos and info about my bright food, dark shadows, moody and dramatic food photos and I have all that and more in this book.

What is this food photography eBook about?

This eBook takes you behind the scenes and teaches you how to create dark and dramatic food photos that showcase bright, colorful food in dark and rustic settings. It’s a detailed look at how to create the particular style of dark food photography.

What types of light sources are covered in the book?

This eBook covers both natural light and artificial light sources. It doesn’t matter whether you light your photos with sunlight coming through a window or with an artificial light source, such as the Lowel Ego Digital Imaging Fluorescent Light or a strobe. I show you how to use each of them, step-by-step and with clear behind-the-scenes photos, such as the one below:

What all is inside this eBook?

I start the 71-page book with an overview of the food photography process in general, show you the equipment I use and explain the concepts of idea and story, prop styling, composition, lighting, food styling, camera settings and editing. Three example pages of that section of the book are below.

After that, I dive into three separate case studies in which I explain in detail how I created the three dark food photos you see below. I lit one photo with one Hensel Integra Pro Plus 500 strobe, one with a Lowel Ego Digital Imaging Fluorescent Light, and one with window light.

I walk you through each shoot from start to finish. Each case study begins with a description of my conceptual and artistic thought process with respect to styling and lighting. Then I document the practical steps I took to set up the scene, style the food, and light the set. I tell you exactly what I did and show you clear behind-the-scenes photos for each setup.

Lastly I walk you through the editing process and show you what I did to each photo during post-processing (two example pages of the editing section are below).

I hope you enjoy the book and have fun learning to shoot dark, moody and dramatic food photos! Thank you so much for making The Spice Train such a fun and rewarding journey for me.

–nicole