Plate to Pixel Read online

  These carrots were photographed in hard light to render their vivid colors.

  f/3.5, ISO 200, 100mm, Macro L

  Soft Light

  Soft light can come from multiple directions, angles and sources … or from a single broad source. Light softens as it is becomes diffused and reflected. Soft light appears gentle and smooth; it illuminates areas evenly and appears to embrace your subject. Diffused light is also broader than its undiffused counterpart, which means it reaches more places in your frame.

  In the picture on the left, the scallops are placed against back light, which is diffused with a bed sheet. A white foam board was positioned at four or five o’clock to bounce light back to the front and side of the plate … not only the side. The result is a soft and airy look that supports the “light luncheon” message I was trying to convey.

  While you won’t notice abrupt transitions from light to dark areas with soft light, soft light can be just as powerful as hard light. The closer your light source is to your subject, the more powerful it is—hard or soft. The ultimate feel and aesthetics of your photograph will be affected by:

  • Size of the light coming through the window

  • Size of the window through which light is coming

  • Intensity of the light

  • Proximity of the subject to the window

  A nice little rule of thumb here is that light will appear soft if the size of the source is half of the distance of the source to subject. In my studio, for instance, the light coming through a 30-inch window will appear soft if it’s about 60 inches from the subject.

  A plate of roasted scallops is placed in soft light to create an airy atmosphere.

  f/3.5, ISO 250, 100mm, Macro L

  Diffuse and Reflect

  Learning how to diffuse and reflect light, and do it well, is key to photography, especially in natural light. The concept of diffusing allows for light to come through your frame in a softer and ample way than raw light allows. And reflecting light (commonly called bouncing) is yet another way to add dimension and visual interest to a photo. It allows you to fill in darker areas of a scene that may otherwise be heavy and distracting. Diffusing and reflecting techniques offer more ways to get the shot you envision.

  Diffusers

  Placing a diffuser between your main light source and subject allows the source to remain close to the subject and serve as strong soft light—see, strong and soft don’t have to be opposites—even if the source is small to begin with. So if the best light in your house comes from a tiny window, don’t assume you have to use it as it comes.

  There are many things you can use to diffuse window light—from professional scrims and silk screens to thin white bed sheets. Yet all essentially perform the same duty. Diffusers simply filter and soften the light that comes through it.

  Don’t laugh. This is one of my best “equipment” tips. For most of the pictures I shoot in my studio, I cover the main window with a long satin sheet draped on a regular curtain rod. Pretty DIY, but it works great for the strong light that tends to blaze through this window. I wish I had something more sophisticated for you, but there you have it.

  And really, it’s best to have two or three different kinds of diffusers at your service—of varying thickness—to handle different lighting conditions. Double up your bed sheet if more diffusion is needed.

  On the Go

  When I go on-location to shoots close to home, I like to take a 40x60 multi-panel screen that attaches to a stand. It functions as both a reflector and a diffuser. Diffusers come in all sizes and price points, so evaluate your actual needs and budget before shopping around for this.

  To use your diffuser, position it against the window or near it. The nuances are small, but where you position your diffuser can affect your image; it changes the intensity of the light shining through.

  Yet diffusion isn’t the only way to acquire soft light. You can also reflect, or bounce light off a surface and let it fall softly on your subject.

  A small 22-inch white panel can be used as a bounce or diffusing panel.

  f/3.5, ISO 800, 24-70mm, L

  A large 40x60-inch white diffusing panel/ bounce can save the day in many different lighting circumstances.

  f/3.5, ISO 800, 24-70mm, L

  Reflectors

  Along with a diffuser, you may want to add a reflector to your photography toolbox. Reflectors come in all shapes and sizes and are relatively cheap.

  A small 22-inch reflector can be quite helpful in many situations. Usually held in place by two clamps, this reflector has both a silver and a gold surface for reflecting purposes as well as a white one that can be used as a bounce or a diffuser, if needed.

  A gold reflector was used for this dish.

  f/3.5, ISO 1000, 24-700mm, L

  Silver and gold reflectors offer different options for reflecting light into your scene.

  Another handy accessory is a large circular or rectangular panel that is also comprised of three surface options: silver, gold and white. These are great for large setups, and even come with a stand!

  Also consider getting a piece of white foam board (cost is less than $1) to bounce light back onto subjects. And keep in mind that light can be bounced from walls, ceilings, towels, plates and other surfaces as well.

  Experiment … especially because the type of bounce you use might affect the color tone of the light that’s cast on the subject. And almost everyone has a strong opinion about what colors they like best. Play with all the options to find which ones work best for the type of dish you are photographing.

  The gold reflector used in this salad shot cast a golden color onto the dish. The golden hue on the green of the salad and the radishes makes the image look slightly outdated.

  f/3.5, ISO 250, 100mm, Macro L

  Using the silver side of the reflector made a small … but to some, important … difference in the overall color tone. The green of the salad is vibrant and the whites of the radishes are more natural.

  f/3.5, ISO 250, 100mm, Macro L

  These images were shot with a setup that included a small reflector, which was used to bounce light back onto the dish. The light in this scene was coming from a window on the left, and I bounced it on the right. I don’t often use the gold side of my reflector … just a personal preference, but it’s important to figure out your own preferences by shooting the same subject with each side of the reflector (and even without a reflector) to see which one works better for the dish you’re shooting.

  Go Big

  Depending on your available space and the image you need to create, it may be worthwhile to invest in a large reflector. They come mounted on a stand, which gives you greater freedom of movement. The stands are lightweight and the reflectors fold flat, making them easy to store and tote around. Also, a larger reflecting surface bounces more light in a broader way, which is usually quite beneficial.

  Decisions about how much or how little of the light to bounce and with what—a reflector, card board, mirror, etc.—will depend on the ultimate effect you’re trying to achieve. Examining your pictures and playing with different setups will help you decide which bouncing situation works best for you.

  Also, keep in mind that the distance between your bounce and the subject will affect how much light makes it back to your subject and fills the darker areas. I suggest positioning your subject as close as possible to the bounce and then moving the reflector away in small increments until you find the right distance. Notice that shadows become stronger as you position the bounce further from the subject.

  The setup for this shot of the salad is the same as the one used for the previous photos, except a larger (40x60) reflector, mounted on a stand, reflects even more light onto the dish.

  f/3.5, ISO 1000, 24-70mm, L

  Options for Diffusing and Reflecting

  To illustrate how diffusing and bouncing works, let’s go through photographs that were created with different bouncing and diffusing setups.
/>   I placed a few radishes on a table with light coming from the back. I did not diffuse this light or bounce it in the image on the left below. The incoming light creates visible and long shadows around the radishes, which is a bit distracting. They take away focus from the radishes.

  The only thing I changed to the setup for the second shot was to diffuse the light by hanging a bed sheet over the window. This immediately reduced the strength and length of the shadows on the radishes. It also softened the overall light in the frame and brought focus back to the radishes, although the right side of the vegetables are a bit dark.

  The light was coming from behind the radishes. It was left undiffused and unbounced, which created distracting shadows.

  f/3.5, ISO 800, 24-70mm, L

  The light was coming from behind the radishes. Here, it’s diffused but not bounced. This reduced the strength of the shadows.

  f/3.5, ISO 800, 24-70mm, L

  The radishes were still back lit, and the light was diffused. It was also bounced from the right side to reduce the strength of the shadows and add more natural light to the picture.

  f/3.5, ISO 800, 24-70mm, L

  In the final picture of the radishes on the right, I kept the diffusing bed sheet over the window and added a white foam board to the right side of the scene to bounce the light. This evened out the light throughout the frame and diminished the dark areas around the radishes. This was the picture I used for the article I was working on.

  Now, I’m not saying that every shot needs to have diffused and bounced light. The use of this and any other photography technique depends on a variety of factors, including:

  • The type of food you are shooting

  • The quality and quantity of light available

  • The overall effect you’re trying to achieve

  Here are more examples of the effects you can achieve by making the decision to bounce and/ or diffuse the light you have available—or not.

  I wanted to play with the messiness of the cut-open pomegranate—a fruit known to be juicy and messy. I also wanted to play with the strong shadows and highlights given off by the light to help convey that messy feel.

  The pomegranates were shot with side light, which was not bounced or diffused.

  f/3.5, ISO 290, 50mm

  The light was coming from a window on the left, and I intentionally did not diffuse it … in order to take full advantage of the dramatic effect it was already rendering around the fruit. The shadows emphasized the feel of messiness coming from the composition.

  I tried to add a bounce on the right side to fill in the dark areas and lighten the red color of the fruit. But I realized that I liked how dark red it was, so I decided not to bounce the light after all. I wanted to keep everything around the pomegranate very highlighted and almost blown out so the eye would focus only on the fruit.

  Unlike the moody shot of pomegranates, the intent for this picture of ice cream sandwiches was to keep the light soft and balanced throughout in order to let the two-color elements in the shot (the striped straw and chocolate cookies) really stand out. And to retain a feeling of “creamy and airy” for the ice cream, I diffused the incoming light. I then bounced more light onto the sandwiches by positioning a silver reflector on the right.

  These ice cream sandwiches were shot in side light that was bounced and diffused.

  f/3.5, ISO 400, 24-70mm, L

  Finally, one of my personal favorite images for talking about light and storytelling is the one of Provencal Stuffed Squash on the next page. It was such a terrible day for a photo shoot when this was shot. The rain was falling hard, so the light was terrible—low and foreboding. Yet the shoot continued.

  Home Goods

  A lot of reflector/ diffuser kits like the ones I use start around $30-50. However, money invested in photo equipment can tally up fast. Thankfully there are plenty of items that you already have on hand to get you started in the world of diffusing. Use bed sheets or any cloth you may have for diffusion and small mirrors, glass bottles, white dinner plates and foil-covered cardboard for reflection.

  The photograph shows a popular dish of Provence in France. It is true comfort food and a traditional item for Provencal families—the kind of dish that makes any gloomy and rainy day feel a bit less drab. I chose to use the dark ambient light instead of enhancing it with artificial lights so that the image could convey the cozy feeling of preparing warm soup on a dark or rainy cold day. The composition supports this feeling as well.

  The natural light was not diffused, because I didn’t want to interfere with the very specific silver … almost electric … quality that natural light takes on during a rainstorm. This led to greater highlights than would have appeared with diffused light, but these highlights add a pleasing drama to the frame. Nor did I bounce the shadows on the right. This was to retain the feel of moodiness in the shot.

  The Provencal Stuffed Squash was photographed with side light, and it was not bounced or diffused.

  f/3.5, ISO 400, 24-70mm, L

  Natural Light Sources

  Photographs shot under natural light, whether from the sun or through a window, are usually more natural to the human eye that those created with lighting setups. But natural light sources are not constant; the light changes by the hour and with the seasons, and it’s different according to the weather and your location. Each of these variables alter shapes, tones and colors.

  For instance, in Western Europe and North America, wintry days bring about hazy or crisp blue skies with silver tones, whereas summer days produce a warmer light with more pronounced golden and green hues. If you were to stay in a single position while shooting throughout the course of a full day, you’d see that the direction of the light changes as the sun moves, and this alters the shape and texture of the subject you’re photographing. To achieve the look you want, you need to know what effect different light orientations produce.

  To select a natural light source that will best enhance the dish you want to photograph, here are some things to consider.

  Outdoor Light

  As a beginner, I figured the light on my outdoor patio would be the best. I mean, it was the sun and the sky! What broader and more readily available light can we find, right? Well, unfortunately, in most instances, you’ll find that shooting outdoors does not mean that you will automatically have the proper light for your photograph. Just because the sun is out there and shining strong doesn’t mean that light will work with the photograph you’re trying to create.

  Strong direct sunlight is actually quite a challenge for most photo situations. It’s hard on your subject, and it creates strong shadows and equally strong highlights. Colors are more pronounced in this kind of light, and whites tend to become blown out more easily. All of this makes your job as a light whisperer that much tougher.

  The picture on the right was shot as an outdoor snack board. It was the middle of a very sunny summer day when this composition was created, but I decided to wait for the latter part of the afternoon to take pictures. Among the benefits of waiting was the softer shadows produced by the afternoon light (versus the high contrast produced by strong noon-day sun). This helped me keep the subject well-defined and not masked by large dark areas.

  The sun was on my left, and I chose not to bounce the light on the right with a reflector. This is why dark areas remain under the egg bowl in the background and the fig basket in the middle ground. Yet this works because the cheese plate on the far left is very highlighted due to the sunlight, creating a nice balance.

  I love the feel and mood of this setup—a little afternoon spent relaxing on the deck—but the challenges presented by direct, non-diffused/ non-reflected light can be difficult to manage. Fortunately, the colors in this shot were muted, so only the whites threatened to become overpowering. I controlled this by keeping whites to a minimum. The three places they appear in the frame (cheese, milk and sugar) are separated, so they do not become one large source of white.

  A table-
setting shot outdoors one late afternoon presented a few challenges due to that gorgeous sun!

  f/3.5, ISO 100, 100mm, Macro L

  If this setup had included strong colors, such as bright reds and oranges, it would have been even more difficult. Indeed, the sun would have made them even stronger, distracting the eyes away from the rest of the elements. If this had been my shooting situation, I would have tried to diffuse the light first and, if that didn’t help, I would have considered shooting at another time of day. I may have even moved this whole scene indoors.

  Cloudy days provide a terrific environment for photography. The clouds create a natural diffuser for outdoor light, which leads to softer shadows and less blown-out edges. The light on an overcast day will wrap around your subject and fall more evenly than they do under strong direct sunlight.

  There are so many different textures and heights that appear in the dessert table image. The soft quality of the light helped keep the look very smooth without dramatic highlights. And the inclusion of different heights and shapes keep the image from appearing stale. This visual variety adds movement to the photograph and breaks the even nature of the light. Find more information on setting up your scene in Chapter 5 (Composition).

  If you don’t have a diffuser (or even a homemade stand-in, as described earlier) and need to soften your outdoor light, try setting up under an awning, a deck, a parasol or a porch.