Learning to Use Light

An illustration for healthy eating.

This is one of the first commercial photographs I made after opening my own business. It's one of a series I did for a piece on healthy eating.

I was working from home in those early years before I had a studio, so I arranged the items on a piece of burlap stretched over the pool table in my basement and photographed them with a Nikkormat FTN camera with (probably) a Vivitar 100mm f2.8 lens and Kodak Ektachrome 200 film. That was in 1978, so forgive me if I don't remember all the details.

I didn't have studio flash units in those early days, so I used flood lights -- which is a great way to work while one is still learning the trade, because you can see what the light is doing. With flash, one has to learn to visualize what the light is doing. That comes with practice and experience.

Notice how the light almost cradles the food items with warmth and texture, while the shadows define their forms. Lighting is the second most important skill in commercial photography.

The most important skill is the ability to find clients who will commission your work and pay you for it.

Click on the link at left for information about ordering original signed prints from the Rock City Barns book.

If you like my pictures, visit my online gallery at https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  

Signed copies of my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia are available. The price is $22.95 plus $4.95 shipping. My PayPal address is djphoto@vol.com (which is also my email). Or you can mail a check to 8943 Wesley Place, Knoxville, TN 37922. Include your address and tell me how you would like your book inscribed.

Photography and text copyright 2025 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.

Tags:   photography    film photography   commercial photography    photographic lighting   Nikkormat FTn camera    studio photography    Vivitar 100mm lens     food photography    Kodak Ektachrome 200 film