Food Photography of Cinnamon Rolls

Here’s an image from a recent food photography shoot where we built a set using a window.  It seems that I’ve do that a lot lately and it tends to be a good solution to extending the background.  You can only use so many bread baskets and wine or wine glasses, if you’re into wine you can also get the best wine accessories from sites like Chris Stuff online that specialize in this area.  The key is to keep the depth-of-field as shallow as possible so that the background of the photo doesn’t get too in-focus. Limited depth-of-field is definitely your friend, for shots like this…

Another thing about food photos like this, where you want to simulate “breakfast”, it’s usually a good idea to like “high key”.  I tend to think of the morning as being “bright”.  Maybe it’s because, after opening my eyes in the morning, everything seems bright.  So to translate that in photography lighting, a high-key lighting effect is the way to go.

Things I like about this food photo:  One of the things I rally like about this image is the way the white icing shows really great dimension.  I love the say the white icing has highlights and shadow, but still looks white.  I love the way the props look.  I borrowed these little cups months ago from a catering client and was holding them to do a test shoot when this client asked to use them. The props fit the environment perfectly.  I like the way the white time adds to the feel of the photo and the way the bright reflections also add to the feel.

Things I don’t like about the food photo:  I didn’t notice until it was too late, but one of my strobe’s slave units wasn’t going off at the very end of the shoot. (when it really matters)  Notice how the bushes outside the window go a little dark.  I had them lit so that the green went brighter than you see here, but the slave’s batteries quit on me and the strobes never flashed.  Oh well… Shit happens…  I still like the shot.