Food photography can be very rewarding. I don’t mean those Instagram lunch selfies everyone seems to post from time to time. Not that there’s anything wrong with those pics. What is needed from some businesses is high quality images of food capable of promoting their business.
The best lights for food photography will enable you to make outstanding images for restaurants, chefs, or catering businesses.
Good looking pictures of food can also be used for recipe books, either e-books or on paper. Even local grocers can benefit from the work of a good photographer.
Many stores will use images of wonderful meals that have been made from their produce. And then there’s lunch selfies on Instagram. You could blow up your feed with a series of excellent images.
A good set of lights and a quality camera rig is all you really need to start making great food pictures. You likely already have a good camera. Now, all you need is a good lighting set up and the skills and opportunity to use it.
Natural light vs LEDs vs Softboxes… which is best for food photography?
There is good reason to want to use natural light when we can. Properly exposed, natural light produces very lifelike images of whatever our subject is.
However, natural light is not always available or may not be from the right direction or bright enough. So, we use artificial lights to enhance our picture taking opportunities.
When using artificial light, such as strobes or some continuous light source, there is a reason for concern over how to make the artificial light appear as natural as possible for a pleasing image. Fortunately, photography is full of ways to make artificial light appear natural.
Light modifiers such as umbrellas and softboxes have been employed as a way to change the quality and character of the light source, whether a flash or a continuous light. A softbox is a very effective tool for throwing a large volume of soft light on a subject.
An LED panel light is another effective tool for any type of product photography, which is what food pics actually are.
Straight lights, without any sort of modifiers, are good for some subjects. But food is a specialized subject matter that generally looks better and more appealing with a softer, more diffuse quality of light.
So, for most food photography, a softbox or umbrella is generally going to be the best choice of lighting.
Best lighting arrangement when capturing food photographs
Food photography is basically product photography. You want to make the food as appealing in appearance as possible. Sometimes this may call for a high key or a low key lighting effect, but usually the goal is a natural, but very detailed look.
Basic light set ups can be used for food photography. A couple of lights, placed so as to illuminate evenly, but still provide some modelling for texture and balance.
A reflector or a fill light can help even out deeper shadows while still creating textural separation of the image elements.
A sharply focused image will provide for much of the detail, while the lighting can enhance what elements of the image need to stand out or be minimized. Lights placed at an angle, both in height and from the side, seem to work well most of the time.
With a continuous light source, you can easily previsualize the lighting effect to get what’s desired.
Besides the exposure settings and light quality, you also need to be aware of color temperature. If you are using photo lights designed for a certain color balance, you can adjust your camera to that setting for the most natural color rendition of the subject.
If you shoot in RAW, white balance (color temperature) can be adjusted to a greater degree and with more control.
Another technique to employ is to learn how and when to use a tripod. Tripods are extremely useful for any type of product photography. And then there are the ‘tricks’ of the trade. Decide what works best for your food imaging.
How I found the best lights for food photography
- Number of lights. Most lighting techniques for product photography either require multiple lights or are easier to accomplish with multiple lights. At least two, or a light and a reflector, are used in most lighting arrangements.
- Type of lights. Strobes, CFL, LED, incandescent, all are usable, but there are pros and cons for each type. Specifically for food photography, continuous light is a good choice, especially if just starting out in this specialty.
- Type of light modifiers. You can use softboxes, umbrellas, reflectors, or a combination of any of these. A softbox is often a good choice for food photography.
- Portability. You may need to transport your lighting kit to wherever the food is. If shooting in your own dining room or kitchen, you will need to put the lights out of the way to use your place for cooking and eating after the pics are done.
- Price. Most lighting kits for light or medium duty are usually very reasonably priced. You can always upgrade individual components later.
Top 5 Best Lights For Food Photography + Reviews!
1. StudioFX H9004SB2 2400 Watt SoftBox Review
A three light kit with softboxes and boom just might be the perfect lights for food photography. One of the best things about the boom is the ability to put a light directly above the subject.
This kit has three good quality light stands that extend to about 7 feet tall and are capable of securely holding the lights, softboxes, and boom.
A decent set of stands can make or break your lighting arrangement. It’s never good when your lights tip over while on a photo shoot. Messes up the meal.
Setting up a boom arm is fairly straightforward. A sandbag is provided as a counterweight for whatever is attached to the other end. You have to find your own sand, though.
Also included are three rectangular 16 by 24 inch softboxes. Putting the softbox together is probably the hardest part of using a light kit like this. It gets easier to put together the more times you do it.
The lamps hold four bulbs each, standard screw mounts. You can turn on all or a couple of the sockets. That way, you have the ability to change up the light intensity and the camera exposure without moving the lights.
Twelve daylight balanced CFL bulbs come with the kit and they emit a lot of light. The entire package is very reasonably priced under $150.
2. Fovitec – 3x 20″x28″ Softbox Continuous Lighting Kit Review
In this three lamp kit, two of the lamps hold five bulbs each, and one lamp has a single socket. In a portrait lighting arrangement, you would probably use the single socket lamp as a hair light mounted on the boom arm that is included in the kit.
For product and food photography, using one of five socket lamps as the boom mounted lamp as a main light is a valid option.
Each of the five sockets has a standard screw mount for using just about any type of bulb. 45 watt CFL bulbs come with the kit.
These supplied bulbs are daylight color balanced and have a CRI of 90. CRI is a measurement of how natural the light makes colors appear. 90 is pretty good for inexpensive lights.
You can turn on the lights in the five socket lamps in any combination of 1 to 5 by means of the separate on off switches. That way, you can easily adjust light output to get the results you are looking for.
The softboxes are 20 by 28 inches rectangular and are put together like most softboxes are. You could also leave the softbox off of the lamp and attach an umbrella with the umbrella mount.
A large boom arm comes with the three seven foot tall light stands, allowing a wide variety of lighting arrangements to be used.
A soft carrying bag is also included in this fine kit which costs less than $200. All you’re missing is the attractive plate of food.
3. LimoStudio 3meter x 2.6meter Umbrella Softbox Review
Around $150 is a great price for what essentially counts as a complete photography studio. In this kit, you get four lights, modifiers, and even a background system.
With the four lights, two of them are mounted inside a collapsible 24 inch square softbox, and two are separate with umbrella mounts for attaching the 33 inch white umbrellas. The softboxes collapse similarly to an umbrella, making set up and tear down quick and easy.
There is no boom with this kit, but having four separate lights allows for all sorts of lighting configurations. With light stands that adjust up to 7 feet or so, a lot of placement combinations are possible.
A very nice background system is included. The stand is 8.5 by 10 feet and holds any of the 6 x 9 foot muslin backdrops. A series of heavy duty clamps attach the backdrop to the crossbar of the background stand.
Daylight balanced CFL come included, making this a complete lighting studio in a bag. Oh yeah, they provide the bag as well.
4. Fancierstudio Lighting Kit 2400 Watt Lighting Kit Review
Another fine three lamp kit with a boom arm, this one comes in at a price under $125. Three tall light stands and a 5 foot boom arm allow for a whole lot of lighting options.
All three of the lamps have four standard screw mount bulb sockets, and this kit supplies 12 CFL daylight bulbs for them. You can turn on all of the bulbs at once or two at a time for a wide range of exposure options.
Softboxes include one 16 inch square and two 16 X 24 inch rectangular. They all use standard method of set up, so like all the rest, it takes a little work to get them going at first.
Its boom arm is very useful for all kinds of product photography, so this kit is a great choice as one of the best lights for food photography. The light stands that come in this kit only raise up to six feet. This may limit some portrait lighting arrangements, but shouldn’t have too much of an impact on your food photography.
5. LimoStudio 700W Photography Softbox Light Lighting Kit Review
This is probably the simplest light kit you could use for easy food photography. It’s only two lights and stands with softboxes and a carrying bag. Priced in the $75 range, it’s hard to go wrong with it.
Each of the 24 inch square softboxes are permanently attached to a light socket and they fold up like an umbrella for rapid set up, no assembly and disassembly required. The sockets use standard base bulbs, two daylight CFLs included with kit.
Daylight balanced CFLs complete the package. All of it can be readily carried in the supplied bag. If the cords were longer than 6 feet, there wouldn’t be much else needed, but since they are short, you will need some extension cords or a power strip.
Getting started in food photography is simple and is within the reach of most modest budgets with any of these 5 best lights for food photography.