P#26 Q3A: The Essential Must-Haves of Commercial Food Photography

Keeping it Simple

Ron Goldman: You really just need a digital or film SLR camera that gives you the ability to change lenses. Obviously you can spend a lot more money and buy higher end camera gear or use medium format or view cameras, but it's not a necessity.

Most people who are just starting out in any area of photography don't have tens of thousands of dollars to invest in something before they know they're going to be making an income out of it, so I really recommend just use the camera that you have. If you have a wide angle, a standard, a zoom lens, perhaps a telephoto and a macro lens, you've really got everything that you need.

Audri Lanford: Is there any special equipment you need for commercial food photography?

Ron Goldman: Again, you can make it as simple or complicated as you want to. It really depends on how much money you have to spend and how much time you're going to put into it. I shot the majority of the images that you've seen on my website with a Canon digital SLR, standard lenses, and I would say half of them were shot with natural light, the other half using studio lighting.

Studio lighting is a lot easier in the fact that you can really control what's going on in the environment so I can shoot any time, day or night. It doesn't matter what the weather is and you've got a lot of flexibility as far as setting up the lighting exactly how you want it. It's not a necessity but it certainly makes things a lot easier.

Shooting with natural light in certain times of the day is obviously much better. Certain angles of light, like early in the morning or later in the afternoon where you've got a stronger sidelight, is much better than shooting in the middle of the day.

The problem with that is you have to be very quick because light doesn't hold still in one spot, so if you're setting up a shot and the lighting's perfect, if you don't get the shot you want, you may have to wait 24 hours before you get that opportunity again.

In Conclusion

So is the equipment list for a food photographer extensive and expensive? It can be, but it doesn't have to be. When you're first starting out in commercial food photography, you can make due with the basics and expand from there once you get some income and experience under your belt.