Curious what those who shoot food/products use for lighting. I was hoping for something small, portable battery powered light that I can setup at a restaurant for food photography.
often rely on diverse lighting setups. For those seeking portable and battery-powered solutions suitable for restaurant environments, several options come to the forefront. Speedlights or flash units, compact and battery-operated, offer versatility for both on-camera and off-camera use. LED lights provide continuous illumination in a portable form, with brands like Aputure and Neewer offering adjustable options. Ring lights, known for their soft and even lighting, prove beneficial in reducing harsh shadows. Portable studio lighting kits, encompassing stands, softboxes, and battery-powered strobes, cater to on-the-go photographers. Lightweight and slim LED lighting panels offer adaptability with adjustable color temperature settings. To enhance flexibility, wireless triggers can be employed for remote control of lighting setups. When selecting equipment, considerations like color accuracy, brightness, and spatial constraints become pivotal. Exploring reviews and recommendations from fellow photographers specializing in food and product photography can guide the choice of the most fitting lighting solution for individual preferences and needs.
The good: the Cube kits contain pretty much everything you need except for support. I use a variety of things for this, and if you're with a friend, the friend could probably hold them for you.
The Panel Pro is a nice, uniform light source with controllable/variable color temperature.
The bad: expensive, and none of them holds a charge in storage. I need to charge mine before each use. The Cubes last about 45 minutes at full brightness; the Panel Pro a bit longer. But that should be enough for your purpose.
The cubes themselves can get warm to the touch, but they don't radiate heat very far, so should be fine for subjects ≥1 foot distant.
Assuming the budget is for a photojourno or blog style shoot, you're likely trying to shoot freshly made plates as fast as the kitchen can send them out. We're not talking about food stylists and superglue. You want a simple 2 light setup that you can set far enough away form the table that no one trips over or bumps into anything. I'd opt for very flat, uniform lighting in that case. Simple setup with 2 big softboxes that are at least as big as the presentation table. 48" table, 60" softboxes. If client wants to show a 12 place banquet, consider that modifier size and talk them down from the ledge.
Helps to bring your own very small table to constrain the surface area the chef has to work with. Single place setting really only needs to be 24x24" max. So 36-48" softboxes would be fine. 400ws lights are plenty assuming your indoors. If you let them use their own typical 48" rounds they're guaranteed to try and fill the whole table.
Totally opinion here, but I feel like finished plates in flat light. Raw ingredients look better with more contrast. So if you're doing any raw ingredient setups like the cliche knife and veg or pile of flour, pull off one softbox or dial down power on one side by 3 or 4 stops.
For a blend of flexibility, value, and power check out the the Amaran COB 60x S. It has a Bowens mount for all the modifiers out there. Can match warm tungsten to daylight. Uses common NF-P batteries.
gregbowers wrote:
often rely on diverse lighting setups. For those seeking portable and battery-powered solutions suitable for restaurant environments, several options come to the forefront. Speedlights or flash units, compact and battery-operated, offer versatility for both on-camera and off-camera use. LED lights provide continuous illumination in a portable form, with brands like Aputure and Neewer offering adjustable options. Ring lights, known for their soft and even lighting, prove beneficial in reducing harsh shadows. Portable studio lighting kits, encompassing stands, softboxes, and battery-powered strobes, cater to on-the-go photographers. Lightweight and slim LED lighting panels offer adaptability with adjustable color temperature settings. To enhance flexibility, wireless triggers can be employed for remote control of lighting setups. When selecting equipment, considerations like color accuracy, brightness, and spatial constraints become pivotal. Exploring reviews and recommendations from fellow photographers specializing in food and product photography can guide the choice of the most fitting lighting solution for individual preferences and needs.
I shot restaurant menus for two years with a little battery powered LED panel and it worked fine until I needed to light a whole table, so my honest advice is to get something with adjustable color temperature and a diffuser rather than chasing raw brightness. A single small light at 45 degrees with a bounce card on the opposite side fixes most dishes, and you can tape a napkin over the panel if it feels harsh. One thing that surprised me is how much heat management matters in food production, since commercial meat cooking equipment relies on precise temperature zones to avoid drying out proteins, and that same logic applies to shooting hot food because steam and wilting happen fast under strong lights. Keep a spray bottle of oil nearby for shine and shoot within two minutes of plating.
I shoot a lot of food photos for a local café, and battery-powered LED panels changed the game for me. I started with a speedlight, but the constant flash was distracting in a busy restaurant and I kept fiddling with settings. Aputure's small LED panels gave me continuous light, so I could see exactly what I was getting before I pressed the shutter. I also picked up a cheap wireless trigger to move the light around without touching it – total game changer for tight spaces.
