Help with lighting my rice please

redbourn · Mar 23, 2016

I have a softbox and big diffuser and tried moving them around, but still ended up with burned out rice.

In the photo and not in the pot ;-)

I didn't eat the meal and have the same setup to shoot it again.

So how to fix the lighting would be much appreciated.

Thank you!

P.S. I will move the food at bottom left. And move the piece of parsley above it higher

tirediron · Mar 23, 2016

Can you post a photo/diagram your set-up so we can see position, modifiers, etc?

redbourn · Mar 23, 2016

tirediron said:
Can you post a photo/diagram your set-up so we can see position, modifiers, etc?

Thanks. I did move the softbox and diffuser around a little but only two or three feet in a few directions.

The rice was furthest from the camera in the actual shot.

The photo that I shot was at f5 but even the ones at f7.1 have the same problem so it's not just a question of depth of field which I first thought it might be.

Have a new system from today and don't know why I didn't think of it before. I always cook for two days and used to photograph the meal and then eat it.

But from now on I will photograph the meal and then put it in the fridge and eat the other portion. That way I will have a 2nd chance at the photo after viewing the results and playing with it.

It's a pity that I can't view the proposed shot

on my big monitor but my camera (Nikon D330) doesn't have the connector.

tirediron · Mar 23, 2016

Try lighting more overhead (not directly, but more than you are now) and getting the light in closer. You're working with a lot of very reflective surfaces, and while the closer light might not be as exciting, it should be "safer".

redbourn · Mar 23, 2016

tirediron said:
Try lighting more overhead (not directly, but more than you are now) and getting the light in closer. You're working with a lot of very reflective surfaces, and while the closer light might not be as exciting, it should be "safer".

Thanks and will try it tomorrow !

Stradawhovious · Mar 23, 2016

Try moving the light 180 degrees. Having your whitest object closest to the light isn't doing you any favors.

Stradawhovious · Mar 23, 2016

Also, what were your settings? Your DOF seems pretty thin. Part of the rice being blown out might be due to it being outside of your DOF as well.

OGsPhotography · Mar 23, 2016

Try moving your light, a lot, all the way around your subject. Any subject, doesnt have to be rice. Strobist.blogspot.com I think its his first exercise. Read the rest of that site.

The rice is over exposed.

Google lighting diagram.

Light it from the front as suggested, your backlighting it; why?

OGsPhotography · Mar 23, 2016

there is too much food on that plate. Use a ramekin to help plate the rice. 4oz rice should be lots.

redbourn · Mar 24, 2016

Stradawhovious said:
Also, what were your settings? Your DOF seems pretty thin. Part of the rice being blown out might be due to it being outside of your DOF as well.

Lesson seems to be that rice doesn't respond well to short DOF

KmH · Mar 24, 2016

You mean shallow DoF?
The height of DoF doesn't change.

redbourn · Mar 24, 2016

OGsPhotography said:
there is too much food on that plate. Use a ramekin to help plate the rice. 4oz rice should be lots.

60z of chicken and 1/2 cup of cooked rice.

How much do you eat? ;-)

redbourn · Mar 24, 2016

OGsPhotography said:
View attachment 118232 Try moving your light, a lot, all the way around your subject. Any subject, doesnt have to be rice. Strobist.blogspot.com I think its his first exercise. Read the rest of that site.

The rice is over exposed.

Google lighting diagram.

Light it from the front as suggested, your backlighting it; why?

Backlighting it ?

About 45 degrees from the back. Can't really have light pointing at camera.

Just took another photo of same food but softbox pointing more down as suggested earlier.

for final basque chicken and veg sauce.jpg

redbourn · Mar 24, 2016

tirediron said:
Try lighting more overhead (not directly, but more than you are now) and getting the light in closer. You're working with a lot of very reflective surfaces, and while the closer light might not be as exciting, it should be "safer".

This is much better I think, but lesson may be that rice doesn't like short dof.