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 the list of equipment used with this 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)

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 the list of equipment used with this 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)

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Nicole is a photographer, published author, and educator specializing in Lightroom, Photoshop, and photography. She is best known for her books on food photography but is widely versed in various photographic genres, including landscape, nature, stock, travel, and experimental imagery.

4 Comments

  1. Gregg June 6, 2011 at 1:37 pm - Reply

    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 ?

  2. Gregg June 6, 2011 at 1:38 pm - Reply

    Never mind, I see your note on the hand steamer. Thanks.

  3. Richard Haber June 6, 2011 at 1:46 pm - Reply

    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…

    • Nicole June 6, 2011 at 1:50 pm - Reply

      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.

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