Unnatural Lighting

[gw2424]

I have been doing quite a bit of food work recently (My Proof: Flickr: GabeWisePhotography's Photostream) and decided today to make my own mini studio. I started with a single flash but then transitioned to constant lighting (3x 40w bulbs). I really want to achieve a natural lighting look similar to this one: Ingredients for pie with blueberry | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

At this point I am looking at lighting suggestions in terms of equipment and the layout. I am hoping to complete the lightup it DIY style with a $25ish (+/-) budget.

To give you guys an idea of what I am working with I posted before and after copies.

BTW, the photos were shot in RAW.

After Edit:



Before Edit:

 

[tirediron]

Get a white or grey target so that you can set a custom WB, and add some diffusion to your lights.

 

[gw2424]

At the end of the day, is there a difference between custom white balance and shooting in RAW? By the way, I forgot to add this, the photos were shot in RAW.

 

[pgriz]

Even if you try to fix the WB in RAW, you need to know which item in the image is a neutral colour (ie, white or grey), and that is the one you balance the light to. Putting a grey target in the picture tells both the camera and the PP software what your point of colour reference should be.

 

[Robin_Usagani]

Your problem is more likely mixed lighting instead of WB. I personally dont really care about the WB when shooting with RAW.

If you use a flash, make sure you barely use the ambient light. Meaning, if with the camera setting and flash turned off, the result should be almost black. If you use continuous light, same thing. Make sure the food is almost black without the continuous lighting. If you want to mix it, you have to gel the strobe or light depending on the ambient light.