Food Photography and food styling can be tricky at times, especially when you have to deal with highly reflective surfaces and objects; but i always enjoy the challenge and I always learn something new myself.

I posted an article on Bright Field Photography in July 2010 ( here it is ) with a few sample images and a lighting diagram that illustrates the setup I used for this particular technique. This post is a sort of follow up to that article; I spent the past few days photographying my new collection of retro-vintage 1950's hand-blown harlequin crystal glasses and I wanted to share some images with you - imagine drinking some nice wine out of these flutes?   

The great thing about the bright field technique is that it really captures the shape and textures of your glass objects; in my opinion it is the best way to photograph a glass since it also allows you to get rid of all reflections. One hundred per cent backlighting and one hundred per cent flash in my case.

 

The glasses are sitting on a sheet of black perspex which gives a lovely specular reflection; and you have to make sure there's enough separation between the subject and the background ( a plain white wall in these pictures ).

It's also important to shoot raw files so it's easier to recover the glass colour in case it appears a bit washed out. And everything must be absolutely simmetrical and aligned: tripod, perspex, wall, the glass with the camera and the black cardboard sheets perfectly equidistant .

 

I had a lot of fun taking these pictures; at the end of the day all you need, gear wise, is a speedlight, a black perspex and a white wall - totally doable right?

I am considering introducing a bright field lighting tutorial as part of my next round of Food Photography and Food Styling Workshops in Sydney and Melbourne next month ( follow the link for detailed info ); if youb were to attend would you be interested in learning more about this technique?

 

From Sydney, Dario Milano

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Posted in bright field photography, bright field lighting, food photography, food photography sydney, food photography melbourne, props for food photography, prop hire online, dario milano, Food photography workshop, glass photography, vintage glasses

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