Pear Almond Tart

With days becoming shorten, the sun is disappearing earlier. I would rather use the natural light than my soft boxes in my studio, but the sun refuses to adhere to my schedule. In the case of the almond pear tart photos we started around 3:15 in the afternoon, but within 45 minutes problems roar their ugly heads. I prefer to use the manual mode on the camera, I seem to have more control.

I checked the light with my light meter.

I prefer this light meter; but it really comes down to what you are comfortable using

I noticed the need to change my shutter speed to gain optimal day light. Sometimes it can be as easy as changing the props or the plate.

I did not change any of my settings

I noticed the cutting board was reflecting an orange hue from the sun, Sydney thought a basic white plate might reflect a truer color of the Orange Spice Cake; and she was correct. I did not have to change the exposer, Iso, or aperture.

Other times changing props will not work. This is why learning your camera’s abilities is an important step for getting wonderful photos.

The picture on the top is brighter; changing the palatable of the look

 The first picture I shot (bottom photo) of the Boston Cream Pie was too dark, the camera setting was F-9 with a shutter speed of 1/5th of a second. I changed the settings to F-8 with a shutter speed to 1/8th of a second. The result was a visual pleasing photograph.

Once the sun sets, descending the natural light becomes strange, and the only answer is to use artificial lighting. I must admit, for me,this is the hardest type of photography. I have found soft boxes work best.

this photo was shot at 7:00pm

Sydney and I wanted to bring the Cranberry-Pomegrante Meringues  as close to the camera lens as possible, without the photo looking smooshed. DF moved the top of our Photo table to the ground with his weights underneath. We then placed the tripod on a lower height. This way the camera was over the setting, but close enough to see the details.

Holiday Candied Spiced nuts:

(More details to come soon in a later post)

◆ 1-large egg white

◆ 50 grams/1/4- cup brown sugar

◆ 1/2-cup sugar

◆ 1/34-teaspoon fleur de sel

◆ 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

◆ 1/4-teaspoon cayenne pepper

◆ 1/4-teaspoon chili powder

◆ 200 grams/ 2-cups nuts, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, and pecans

You can also serve them to your Holiday Guests!

Voila!