Last time I told, how to shoot food using mostly ambient light – natural or artificial. This time I'll show you how to shoot food with natural light and hard enough.

At all, if possible, it is better not to use hard light when shooting. It doesn't matter if the flash is a lamp or the sun. Marriage is very likely. You can get overexposure in areas, lit by the sun or something, and loss of detail and noise in the shadows.

But sometimes hard light is used, as a creative technique, And in portrait photography, and in street photography, and in fashion photography. They also use this technique when photographing food.. Not so often, but nonetheless.

Why and when to use hard light in food photography?

Just make a reservation – I'm not a professional food photographer and I shoot food only for stocks. And I am quite aware, that my pictures are more suitable for food blogs, but not as a magazine cover or advertising banner. I.e, as a former chef, I just take pictures of food, I do not create a picture, how food stylists do it.

so, when in my opinion it is worth using hard light when shooting food:

1. If you want to emphasize the naturalness of shooting. This is supposedly filmed without special staging;
2. When you need to focus on the time of day. Shooting with hard light and slightly tweaking the color temperature of the shot, you can create a feeling or morning, or evenings, which is only a plus for such photos
3. Rusticity – term denoting the middle between simple, natural and rustic. By using hard light, complete with a weathered wood backdrop, you accentuate the properties of the food – simple, natural, delicious, cooked in a country house – Grandma's recipe
4. Concept photo – with hard light and contrasting shadows create patterns. Such backgrounds for advertising, magazines and other. These are repeating elements on a contrasting background.. Such works look quite interesting.

There are other ways to use light.. But this is a topic for another material. Now about shooting food for a food blog with natural hard light from the window..

I'll start with, hard light happens and you will not wait. well yes, sometimes there is no bright sun in Moscow for months. Something shines through the clouds – and this is already soft, diffused light, as from the softbox. But then we waited for the bright sun and go ahead to shoot.

Tips – how to shoot food in harsh natural sunlight

1. Taking pictures in the sun, if it's not glass shooting, do not shoot backlit. I.e, don't shoot exactly against the sun. If you shoot like that, You can get too deep shadows in the foreground of the subject with loss of information and overexposure in illuminated areas. And there may be problems with color temperature.
2. Place the dish like this, so that the light falls obliquely at an angle 45 or at an angle 90 degrees to the line from the lens to the object. So you get hard enough shadows, but at the same time avoid loss of information in the shadows and in the light.
3. It's best to use a tripod when shooting like this., if you need a great depth of field. I.e, if you clamp the diaphragm away 10 and more, that is, the probability of shaking. Better to put your camera on a tripod. If you want a shallow depth of field, then you can shoot at aperture 3-6 and then you don't have to use a tripod. Although depending on which lens you have. If long throw and heavy, like mine 80-200, then a tripod is still preferable.
4. Before starting basic shooting, take some test shots. For example with a plate or frying pan, which are you going to use. So you will understand, how best to deliver food, which angle to use, what shutter speed and see if you can shoot handheld or not.
5. Use matte, textured, and non-glossy backgrounds, if their use is not due to creative intent. I.e, it is better to use wood or polished, not polished stone as a background. When shooting a dish, you don't need reflections or anything, what will distract from the main subject of shooting.

I hope, that my advice will help someone and your photos will be at least a little better. As an example, the pictures taken in 18 year.

Shot with Nikon D750 and lens 24-120 f4

Risotto with mushrooms – filmed on a windowsill with natural light