Food Photography Pull-Back: Monkey Bread

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Last month, I shared with you my first food photography pull-back. A pull-back is a behind the scenes look at how I style my recipes for the blog. Basically, I am inviting you into my kitchen (or living room or backyard) and sharing my top secret tips on how to get an awesome shot.

You may have seen my recipe for Monkey Bread a few weeks ago. I took these pictures on a Sunday morning. I had to shoot this one quick because my family was waiting to dive into Monkey Bread. 

While the Monkey Bread was cooking in the oven, I set up my shot. Here is what I used:

White Cake Plate
Green Table Runner
Chalkboard Mug
White Plates
White Pallet Backdrop
Ceramic Pitcher with Fresh Flowers

The white plates and mugs that you see in almost all of my food photography are my family’s every day dishes. I rarely will use a color or patterned plate. If I do, I use it for contrast. You don’t want to take away from the food! Remember, the food is the star of the show.

As always, I am using my Nikon D7000 and 35mm f/ 1.8 lens. No flash or lighting was required. Now onto the set-up!

So while the Monkey Bread was in the oven, I set up my overhead shot. This was the photo I had in my mind that I absolutely had to take. Instead of setting up in my kitchen, I chose to set up in my dining room on my bay windows. The kitchen is too dark in the mornings. The bay windows bring in a lot of light and I can easily tone it down if I need to.

Let’s break down the set up. My light source is coming from the side through one of the windows. I proped up the white board for the overhead shots to help bounce more light onto the setup. There are some glares on the Monkey Bread from the light which I could have toned down more by blocking out more of the light. However, I was going for a bright and airy look in my photo so the blown out whites don’t bother me that much.

Settings: ISO 200 | f/ 2 | 1/640 sec

After I got that shot out of the way, I need to work on some angled shots. I kept the white board propped up to act as the backdrop. Again, I am using side-lighting from the window and shooting straight on instead of above.

Settings: ISO 200 | f/ 2 | 1/640 sec

By using an f/ 2 in this photo, I can really create some depth of field and make my plate pop! When you are working with little room, this can also help create space and depth in your photo.

There you have it! Your food photography setups don’t have to be overly complicated. In fact, it’s best to keep it simple!