When photographing food, a big light source makes a huge difference, but it doesn’t have to be a big artificial light source. If you can find gorgeous window light, use it. Here I used window light and a little bit of fill to lighten up the shadow side. For the fill, I used a Stella 1000 LED light with barn doors to prevent spill. If you don't have an LED light for filling in the shadows, you can simply use a piece of white paper or even a white napkin to reflect some light back into the shadow side.
The take away here is to keep everything natural looking. The horizontal lines of the table create a nice contrast with the kidney shaped cutting board. I styled the shoot with a very cool looking French knife and some fresh baked bread. Captured at Moulin, Newport Beach, CA.
Sony α7S II, Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 ZA lens. Using a broad light source, like window light keeps things looking natural. Notice how the shadows are soft and fall off naturally. The soft window light reveals the textures of each item on the table top. Whether you're photographing a Thanksgiving table, a Holiday roast or charcuterie like this, the lighting is key to getting a photograph that does the meal justice.
