This blog is about my own process for selecting images to use for social media. It also contains a collection of stock images. Most of my social media images are taken from set photography sessions.

In my own marketing strategy, I like to plan yearly food days, health days, and holidays into my calendar so that I can upload a photo.

This blog is about - SPRING ONIONS & AVOCADO

When researching both types of vegetables, the main photo setups are styled or white/black background photography.

After researching and looking through these visuals, I intend to take two forms of setup.

1. Styled/lifestyle to resemble home cooking, this form of photography can be taken with natural or flash lighting. This is a simple lighting setup with one light source and a reflector to add fill light.

2. Clean white studio photography. This is the type of lighting that uses more than one light source, and is set up in a studio.

Here is a list of the equipment in this home studio

• Nikon cameras

• Variety of Nikon lenses

• Tripods

• A badass overhead setup

• High power strobes + continuous lights + speed lights

• Soft boxes, beauty dishes, grids, diffusion papers

• Foam core GALORE, V-flats, etc.

• Food styling equipment & kits

• Variety of light and dark surfaces & backdrops

• A variety of props

• Digital kit includes 27″ iMac, Capture One, Lightroom & Adobe Creative Suite

My own images from this shoot are seen below. I would like to take a styled image and then images for stock agencies with a white background.

This image is the styled version, where I used natural lighting and a reflector. A neutral background, complementary to the vegetable's green.

I have cut up some spring onions to indicate cooking preparation.

These three white background images have been taken with either a clear white background or a white wooden background. I have kept to the style shown in the stock images I found via Google and shown in the above visuals.

The lighting is two studio lights to light the vegetable from both sides per picture.

ADVOCADO’S

For this vegetable, I tried both white and black backgrounds. I felt this vegetable needed to look clean and have a clean stone in each picture. After completing the spring onion set of images, I decided to continue with set photography pictures.

The two light setups used for the white background and spring onions are the same setup and process for the avocado. However, I cut the avocado in half.

Tip for preventing avocado browning - Brush lemon or lime juice across the avocado flesh.

Here are the white background examples

An issue that occurs when photographing the avocado from either the top or side is the size of this vegetable. This causes a large shadow. So I played with a white reflector to bounce and reduce the shadow, and then edited the shadow further in Lightroom.

Here are three versions of the same shot.

WHICH DO YOU PREFER?

I perfected the white background images, and now I wanted to shoot this vegetable on a black background. This type of photography is called ‘Dark MOODY Food Photography'.

Theory - Dark moody food photography means “light-dark” and refers to the contrast between shadows and light in an image.

To take this type of photography, the setup is different from bright food photography. The differences are how the setup is lit and what props are used. To take a dark picture, collect dark backgrounds and props. You can set these images up with natural or flash lighting. Lighting the setup is the most important part.

To the right is a picture of how I set up the lighting for both images I took from the top and side angle. See below my own dark moody pictures of this vegetable.

I used a studio light for my setup, but most photographers recommend natural lighting, rather than studio or flash, for this type of lighting setup.

I would always recommend natural light for food photography, as this lighting brings out the wonderful colour in each food ingredient per dish or food product.

Take a look at my #behindthescenes for this set photography shoot. I used a studio light source. The key to dark moody photography is to use foam boards or black cardboard to block the light source. This is to diffuse the light and ensure its focus in a certain place. This then causes a darker image with high contrast shadows.

Here are some key tips to consider.

• Don't let unnecessary light leak into your frame

• Use non-reflective surfaces or cookware.

• DO NOT use negative space

• Don't overcrowd the frame

READ MORE ON THESE DO’S & DON’TS - The Dos and Don'ts of Moody Food Photography

In summary, I have discussed set coloured backgrounds for stock photography in this blog. I mentioned the use of complementary colours when styling a food setup and using multiple light sources.

The main segment included a brief explanation of dark moody food photography.

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