Digital Photographer - UK (2019-12)

Difficulty level: Intermediate

Time taken: Half a day

Claire Gillo reveals how to set

your camera and flashes up for

some messy food dropping

What you’ll need

DSLR or mirrorless camera

Lens – something with

a focal length between

24mm to 50mm

Flashgun x2

Diffuser panel

Food to be thrown (we

used crisps)

Props and/or food in

the foreground

Backdrop

Photoshop

the foreground

Backdrop

Photoshop

Falling food

By pressing the shutter at

the same time as dropping a

handful of crisps we were able

to achieve this effective result

Food glorious food! And it gets even

better when you start throwing it around

the place! For this creative photo project

we are going to talk you through the necessary

steps to take an action image of food in flight. We

captured crisps floating gracefully down into a bowl

placed below – but the food or drink (although it

will get messier when liquids are involved) can be

anything, so use your imagination.

You may think you need lots of fancy equipment,

including a camera trigger, to make this work, but

this simply isn’t the case. Here, we timed our shot

and released the crisps as we pressed the shutter.

A ‘try and see how it goes’ approach is the way to

go about it. We then picked three shots from the

pack and merged them together at the editing

stage in Photoshop. This last part is optional, as

you may even capture a winner in one shot.

All images © Claire Gillo

FAST

FOOD

Difficultylevel:Intermediate

Timetaken:Halfa day

ClaireGillorevealshowtoset

yourcameraandflashesupfor

somemessyfooddropping

Whatyou’llneed

DSLRormirrorlesscamera

Lens– somethingwith

a focallengthbetween

24mmto50mm

Flashgunx2

Diffuserpanel

Foodtobethrown(we

usedcrisps)

Propsand/orfoodin

ththefforegroundd

Backdrop

Photoshop

Fallingfood

Bypressingtheshutterat

thesametimeasdroppinga

handfulofcrispswewereable

toachievethiseffectiveresult

Foodgloriousfood!Andit getseven

betterwhenyoustartthrowingit around

theplace!Forthiscreativephotoproject

wearegoingtotalkyouthroughthenecessary

stepstotakeanactionimageoffoodinflight.We

capturedcrispsfloatinggracefullydownintoa bowl

placedbelow– butthefoodordrink(althoughit

willgetmessierwhenliquidsareinvolved)canbe

anything,souseyourimagination.

Youmaythinkyouneedlotsoffancyequipment,

includinga cameratrigger,tomakethiswork,but

thissimplyisn’tthecase.Here,wetimedourshot

andreleasedthecrispsaswepressedtheshutter.

A ‘tryandseehowit goes’approachisthewayto

goaboutit.Wethenpickedthreeshotsfromthe

packandmergedthemtogetherattheediting

stageinPhotoshop.Thislastpartisoptional,as

youmayevencapturea winnerinoneshot.

All images © Claire Gillo

FAST

FOOD