Dark and Moody Food Photography Tutorial
In this video we will be learning how to do dark and moody food photography. Here the purpose will be to restrict the amount of light in the shot in a way that it illuminates only the food items and results in a black background. Here is the video:
This video is from our Food Photography Course, which has 29 videos and 4 hours of content. Use the link below to access the full course on Udemy:
Video Summary
This video demonstrates how to achieve a professional “dark and moody” aesthetic in food photography using a DIY lighting solution and specific camera settings.
Summary of Techniques
- DIY Strip Softbox: The setup features a modified 80cm softbox using chart paper and clamps to create a narrow “strip” of light [00:12]. This creates highly directional lighting that illuminates the subject while allowing the background to fall into complete darkness without needing a physical black backdrop [01:27].
- Shadow Management: To enhance the moody atmosphere, the instructor deliberately avoids using a reflector on the shadow side [02:05]. While there is a high quantity of shadows, the light quality remains soft because the source (the softbox) is large [02:42].
- Camera Settings: * ISO 100 and an aperture of f/1.8 are used for a shallow depth of field [03:11].
- Manual focus is preferred to ensure the main subject (the coffee) is perfectly sharp [04:11].
- Since light meters can be unreliable for dark compositions, the instructor recommends “bracketing”—taking multiple shots at different shutter speeds (e.g., 1/40, 1/50, and 1/60) to find the best exposure [04:55].
- Styling with Props: The scene is composed of dark, matte props like a wooden shopping board and a blue matte-finish coffee mug to prevent unwanted reflections [00:44].
- Advanced Element (Action): The video concludes by introducing the concept of adding action, such as pouring milk into the coffee, to elevate the shot to the next level [05:59].
