A Sub-lime UV Food Photography Shoot with Rain Hayes
Words and Photos by Rain Hayes, A Platypod Pro
Edited by Eryka Bagwell
"UV photography is a lot of fun – if you like to experiment. Not every subject glows under black light, and results can disappoint as often as they dazzle. For this Food Challenge, I hit up the farmers market for a variety of fruits and vegetables so I’d have plenty of chances to get something interesting out of the studio session."
"I used one or two small UV flashlights and a 100 mm macro lens for these images. There’s a fairly short window of opportunity to position, light, and shoot a slice of cucumber before it wilts, so I had my Platypod eXtreme, Elbows (highly recommended) and Goosenecks already in place in the studio. As is often the case, I improvised a little within this setup, and settled on hanging each vegetable slice on a safety pin to allow for backlighting during the shoot, and minimal retouching later."
"Combined with the Platyball and my tripod, this arrangement provided easy, fine-tuned positioning of the subject, lights and camera, allowing me to quickly compose and capture the images I’d envisioned."
"By the end of the session, I’d collected a salad’s worth of glowing, strangely-colored produce images. My favorites of the day were the pink and teal banana pepper – I could not have predicted those colors at all – and the lime slice with its stained glass-effect juice sacs. All in all, the Food Challenge was a ton of fun, and a wonderful opportunity to explore an array of new subjects, from the radicchio to the sub-lime!"
Also, to learn more details about Rain's UV style captures be sure to read our recent blog feature by clicking here. Finally be sure to stop by Rain's website to see more of her beautiful UV photography at rainhayes.com. She also has an Infrared class on KelbyOne.com.
____________
Have you signed up to get our free educational newsletter for photographers? If not, we're offering YOU 15% off of your next Platypod store purchase (just for signing up). Visit our website and look to the very TOP red banner (rotating) and sign up for our mailing list today to take advantage!
We want to hear from you, our community! If you have a final image, behind-the-scenes (BTS with your Platypod gear) and a URL (to view more of your work) that you’d like to share with us, you may have a chance to be featured on one (or all) of the platforms below! We love sharing new artists and their unique ways they use our gear on our blog, social media and monthly newsletter, please contact us via service@platypod.com and/or social@platypod.com.
