Hungry anyone?  It is time to shoot food!  In preparation for my upcoming Food and Product Photography workshop for my Professional Imaging class, I have been testing various lighting techinques and lightbox setups for shooting food and products. This is a becoming a huge business, along with the increased amount of food blogs, food networks and need for good product photos on websites, ads and other promotional materials.

I would love to hear what you think?  The first half are straight images taken with the Neewer Continuous Dimmable lights, positioned at each side to balance the light and control shadows. The last seven images are HDR Food photos… which means I took three different bracketed exposures of the setup, then blended them in Photomatix to get the High Dynamic Range. Food photography is a blast. I like it because it combines two of my favorite things.. gourmet cooking, artful culinary display and photography. 🙂  I think I like both these styles equally well.

Which image and style do you like best: Straight (the first 7) or HDR (the last 7)?

Food & Product Photography Mix – Italian Sodas – Caryn Esplin

Pomegranate-Avocado Salsa – A holiday treat! Food Photography – Caryn Esplin

Oriental Snack Mix – Created a shadow, by reducing the light coming from the left side.

Food and Product lighting setup – Caryn Esplin

Catering Appetizers – Caryn Esplin – Food Photography

Product Photography – Caryn Esplin

Focus Stacking – Food Photography – Caryn Esplin

The remaining images are HDR, (High Dynamic Range). What do you think?

HDR: Snack Bowl – Food Photography – Caryn Esplin

HDR Food Photography – Pomegranate Salsa – Caryn Esplin

HDR: Shrimp Appetizer – Food Photography – Caryn Esplin

HDR Product Photography – DaVinci Italian Soda Syrups – Caryn Esplin

HDR Fancy Mini Desserts – Caryn Esplin – Food Photography

HDR Beef Appetizer – Food Photography – Caryn Esplin

HDR Caramel Pretzel Logs – Caryn Esplin –

Three original images used in the HDR Process