I was up pretty late last night working on the last bits of my new book, and this is one of the images I created. The setup and Photoshop editing is similar to the “steaming shrimp” photo from this blog post (steam added with a hand-steamer & two images merged together using masking), so take a look at that post for more info on how I created this image.
Here’s a BTS image and list of equipment so you can see my setup:
- Canon Speedlite 430EX
- Lastolite TriGrip Diffuser
- Black foam board for background
- White foam board underneath and also to the left for fill light
- Small reflector for fill light
- Manfrotto Magic Arm to hold fork (w/ Gaffer tape)
Nicole, how are you creating the steam on the pasta ? I see something in the bottom of the setup shot that could be a steamer of sorts but do you have any tips for creating steam on demand for those long shoots when the food is just not warm any more ?
Never mind, I see your note on the hand steamer. Thanks.
Nicole,
I like the way the pasta has a translucency to it. The warm glow effect makes it look very appetizing to me.
It looks as if the black card background acted as a flag to keep the lighting primarily from the top.
Is that a natural twirl on the fork or do you have some technique to keep it there. I have a hard time keeping mine from unwinding!
Thanks for sharing this…
Thanks Richard. :) To get the pasta on the fork I just stuck it in some pasta and swirled it around, then just moved a few pieces so it looked good. No fancy tricks to get it to stay … it kept wanting to slide off the fork during the shoot, and I had to make changes to the noodles since a few of them un-twirled. I would just snip the bottom of the pasta to make it fit the frame when that happened.