Lighting Cakes/Food shoot

Scott F

Scott F

Pug Life
Last minute request here....

I'm doing a small commercial shoot on Monday 3/23 for a bakery. Primary focus will be wedding cakes. Any tips for lighting (what I assume) will be primarily cakes with white frosting?

(My lighting guru won't be available for this shoot, welcome to the new economy, right?)

In the past for food shoots, we've done setups with bounce cards rather than direct light. That worked well, but I honestly can't remember the exact light placement the gaffer used.
I'm working with Arri fresnels, 150s, 300's and 650's. Shooting with an HVX.

Any ideas appreciated.

thanks,
Scott
 
I've shot food for an internet food network for the last year and a half. Generally, I would just stay away from hard light sources, unless you want to see texture. If your aim is a softer, even look to the cakes, I would definitely diffuse/bounce your fresnels and place them near the camera. You may also want to top light as well. Are the cakes going to be eaten? If not, you may want to dull the white ones a bit (with dulling spray, or if you can find something organic/edible that would be preferable)... If you have more details that would help.
Good Luck.
 
Ugggh..I think some of the cakes may be "fake", so I'm not sure the degree of realism. Hopefully I'll be able to pull it off. Someone did a spot for these guys previously and everything seemed to look real.

I do have plenty of diffusion and a 1K with Chimera.

This is a fairly low-pressure gig, so I'm looking to have some fun and get creative. If I was to use a top light, what would you recommend? I suppose I could swing something overhead with a C-stand if the cakes aren't too big.

Another detail I forgot is the client is providing me with white tablecloths for the table and background. So I guess I will be keeping everything white & bright.

thanks for the response.
 
Hmm... White tablecloths AND background. Could be a bit of a white wash. You may want to create some separation using color on the background by gelling a fresnel (pink or purple?) In terms of overhead, you could hang a china ball (from the ceiling or boom/c-stand), or just a light on a stand if the composition permits.
In any case sounds like a low pressure gig, so have fun and play it by ear!
 
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