I’ve always wanted to have a crack at those refreshing fruit shots you see everywhere (especially in advertising!) I knew there wasn’t much to it so I set myself up a little home-studio on my kitchen table. The process was fairly simple and if you’d like to have a go yourself, all you’ll need is:
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- Macro lens – you could get away with normal lenses but you won’t be able to fill the frame with the fruit
- A torch (flashlight)
- Piece of glass/clear plastic (failing this, use clingwrap – just stretch it very tight)
- Spray bottle filled with water
- Fruit slices!
- (Optional) Tripod – because I used a macro lens it was necessity, but ditch it if you’re using a normal lens (macro work requires a small aperture and therefore a long shutter speed in order to get everything in focus) It will also make it easier to hold the torch if you don’t have to hold a camera too!
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Once you’re set up, prop up the piece of glass/plastic/clingwrap on two bricks (or something similar) so there’s a gap between the glass and the table underneath. You’re doing this so the table details become completely blurred and aren’t distracting in the photo. The gap also needs to be big enough that you can fit your torch/flashlight under there to create the back-lit effect. Cut up some fruit nice and thin and lay it down on the glass. Using your spray bottle, get some drops happening to really make it look fresh. Holding the bottle at a distance works best; you want tiny little drops of mist, you’re not trying to drown the fruit.
Now to take the photos! Set up your tripod if you’re using one (or just hand-hold the camera) – you want to be directly above the fruit pointing down (a bit of an angle is OK). The camera settings you use will completely depend on the lighting in the room, how bright your flashlight is, etc, so set the camera on manual and play around until you get things perfect. To get different effects, try shining the torch from different angles, moving it around (if you’re doing a long exposure), shining it from above instead of below the fruit, etc. Go nuts!
Hopefully you’ll come away with some good shots. I was happy with most of my photos but wanted to add some punch to them, so I digitally pumped up the saturation of the colours after the photos were taken. I just used the sliders in Adobe Lightroom for Vibrance and Colour Balance. Of course you could go for some really funky colours using Photoshop or similar if you wanted.
Nothing to it! I’d love to see what other people come up with. Give this a crack yourself and feel free to spam your links in the comments below (or, if you’re shy, email me a link!)
(Click each photo for a description on how I set up the shot)
