Little cook in action

[nas-matko]

Decoding lighting set-ups is always interesting!

That's true, I like to play with this too.

 

[cgw]

That's true, I like to play with this too.

Maybe old news but Lindsay Adler's tutorials are worth a look:

 

[smoke665]

Copyright issue with the image. This hopefully is OK:

Alison Roman’s “Nothing Fancy” and the Art of the Unpretentious Dinner Party

Lots of cookbooks promise to help you entertain with ease, but “Nothing Fancy” makes that idea briny, tangy, funky, and a little polarizing.

www.newyorker.com

This seems to me a good example of an environmental shot. I'm guessing big diffused light on her right--the shadows of the stove-top kettle and sauce pan on the fridge on the far right hint at that. Decoding lighting set-ups is always interesting!

Thanks for sharing the linked image. Sometimes decoding lighting isn't simple. Maintaining continuity of shadows is hard, and easily missed. In the photo you caught the shadows on the refrigerator directly right of the pots,stove, and knobs on stove, there's also a shadow to the right of the pan on the counter camera left. Your assumption that there was a diffused light on camera left fits, but how do you explain the shadows behind the paper towel holder and under the slightly open cabinet door, or the reflections in the glass ware on the counter and the glass in the cabinet door? Or the diffused fill on the subject, camera right?

I have my suspicions on the setup, but I'm curious what you and @nas-matko think, after all this is a learning thread.

 

[cgw]

This is her old place where the kitchen was small, all white with a tall window camera left--south facing? For me, among the puzzlements, is the lighting on her. Recall a tall-ish white ceiling. But where are the shadows on and around her and her workspace. Post? Doubtful. Flash fired into the ceiling with reflector panels near her? Think that back wall was made a bit hot to serve as a light source reflected onto her and the counter. Dunno...

 

[smoke665]

@cgw forgot to mention earlier this is a good example for the OP's project and illustrates the difficulties of creating an environmental shot in studio vs shooting on site.

On the lighting, the reflections in the glass bowls on the counter appear to be large windows camera left and either even with or slightly behind the camera, which could account for the shadow behind the paper towel holder. The reflection in the open glass cabinet door looks very much like an octabox, placed high pointed down camera right for fill. That would also account for the shadow under the cabinet door. Based on the shadows on the refrigerator I suspect your original assumption of a light camera left was also used.

I agree the background, camera left is a little hot, I'm guessing that's mostly from the windows and the supplemental lighting was used to offset the ambient. Notice the right side isn't nearly as bright.