COOKING WITH LIGHT…ERRR…LIGHTING WITH COOKWARE.
Interesting things happen when cabin fever sets in. It’s been a long, cold winter here in Wisconsin with way too much idle time on my hands. Since my wife has returned to teaching full-time, I have found myself with more and more responsibilities around the house aside from taking care of our three little ladies. Take for instance cooking and washing dishes. Although I am no stranger to these seemingly simple household tasks, the frequency of these duties come much more often as of late.
So as I was doing the dishes tonight, with my kids counteracting my attempts to maintain a clean house, I thought about the possibilities of using everyday kitchenware to function as off-camera light modifiers. Seeing as how I was headed to Trevor and Amy’s house to help move a couch (a mint condition black leather sofa from the 70′s nonetheless), I decided I could try out my simple yet dimwitted lighting scheme.
After finding the right lighting set-up for each cooking implement, I was actually surprised at the results. Seeing as how we pulled these right out of the cabinet, we were not afforded the luxury of light stands, booms and gobs of grip gear. It was Amy that filled in as my VAL (Voice-Activated Lightstand). It was definitely cool to see the whole thing unfold. Here’s the recipe..
Ingredients:
- 12-inch stainless steel mixing bowl
- 9.5-inch stainless steel colander
- 8-inch ceramic bowl
- stainless steel teapot
- 11×7 baking pan
- standard cheese metal grater
- white kitchen size trash can
Mix (gently) with:
- Sunpak 383 hotshoe flash
- PocketWizard Plus II’s
- Canon 1D Mark III
- Canon 16-35L f/2.8
- mint condition leather couch from the 70′s
- a Studio Manager (preferably with a beard)
First up is the 12-inch stainless steel mixing bowl. This was my first choice. It threw off some nicely shaped, focused light.
The 8-inch ceramic bowl. Not the best light.
Ahhhhh, yes…. the colander. This was pretty cool, but hard to predict where the shadows would land. I shot through it.
Next was the cheese grater. We actually had to break the handle off and use it as a snoot, but it worked fairly well.
The baking pan sucked. It threw light into the corners of the frame and was darker towards the center. Not to mention it threw my camera’s white balance to hell. That was, of course, after Amy scrapped the stale a$$ brownies out of the pan and gave it a quick wash.
The teapot was interesting. It was more like a grid spot. The flash head was put inside and the spout was aimed at Trevor.
And finally… the trash can. I could shoot on-location with this thing all day!
What a better thing to do with my Friday night than to play with pots and pans. I felt like my 2 year-old for a while. If you’re into saving money, by all means go for it! But just don’t forget to spend some money on actual light modifiers. It’ll make your life so much easier.
~dave
61 Comments to COOKING WITH LIGHT…ERRR…LIGHTING WITH COOKWARE.
by Melissa
On March 28, 2009 at 12:19 am
Way cool! The colander is giving me some ideas as a background light. Thanks for getting cabin fever and messin’ around w/ this stuff, my friend!
by diala
On March 28, 2009 at 1:01 am
This is amazing…I’ll definitely put this in my book of tricks…thanks for sharing man!!!
by Thomas
On March 28, 2009 at 1:29 am
Amazing ! Very creative … !
Cheer´s
Thomas
by marchand
On March 28, 2009 at 3:32 am
I like this post, very amusing and it puts a smile on my face. *I think you should really try and get out a little bit more lol* My favorite is the steamer/strainer shot.
by Kendra Stoltz
On March 28, 2009 at 3:52 am
Very cool! I have actually used the trash can idea when I was in a bind without my softbox. Works wonders!!! you’re such an inspiration, Dave!
by RJS
On March 28, 2009 at 5:11 am
Nice … just nice … no two ways about it – Dave Hobby would be proud
by andy
On March 28, 2009 at 5:26 am
you are insane lol. hope it warms up soon up there for ya. what’s next, living room light stand ideas?
by Michael Gowin
On March 28, 2009 at 6:33 am
Love the trash can and the colander–brilliant!
by Melanie
On March 28, 2009 at 6:52 am
I thought cooking was going to be your new hobby… not using our “kitchen” in your photography! BTW, the colander is my favorite by far!
by Dennis Murray
On March 28, 2009 at 7:22 am
Colander and trash can light are my favorites. Smaller trash, smaller light source? Wondering about a bathroom-sized can for a smaller light source.
by Macy
On March 28, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Love it. What a cool idea. I love the trash can, colander and the metal bowl.
by Thiago
On March 29, 2009 at 7:59 am
Really Nice Work David! I Send you Congratulations from Brasil!
By the way, what camera do you indicate to get professional results?
by eske
On March 29, 2009 at 8:11 am
kewl. this is what we call thinking outside the box. there are a lot of possibilities.
by PO Cyborg
On March 29, 2009 at 9:53 am
Great ideas! Will definitely have a go at this in my make-shift studio (in Sweden). Thx!
by Cat
On March 29, 2009 at 11:16 am
Hey – I LOVE this post. The colander really gave out some interesting light. Thanks for playing around!
by Carlo Mendoza
On March 29, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Cool idea! I like the colander one.
by DAVE ID
On March 29, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Awesome. The piercings give a great texture.
by glencc
On March 30, 2009 at 1:43 am
yeah, superbe le coup de la poubelle.
me voila avec pleins de nouvelles idées.
by Martin
On March 30, 2009 at 9:07 am
Brilliant project, I love the different lighting you’ve come up with, especially the colander!!
by UtahLuxury.com
On March 30, 2009 at 10:51 am
Seriously great tips! I never would have thought to use kitchen utensils on my shoots
by wissy
On March 30, 2009 at 4:42 pm
fantastic ideas! thanks for the tips, I will put them to good use…
by victoria
On March 30, 2009 at 7:17 pm
you should keep at it and put together a complete book of household items. thanks for the ideas!
by Adelaide
On March 30, 2009 at 7:27 pm
This is so creative, not to mention funny.
by david purslow
On March 31, 2009 at 6:58 am
great post, you must have way too much time on your hands but loved the effects you got using the different bits and bobs.
dp
by David Cooper
On March 31, 2009 at 10:42 am
Amazing ideas. Very creative. I really like the trash can and the grater. Can’t wait to try some similar ideas.
by gina
On March 31, 2009 at 11:34 am
Amazing, artists take mundane tasks like washing dishes and find creativity!
by Ed
On March 31, 2009 at 5:06 pm
This is actually pretty cool. Would never have thought of that.
by Les King
On April 2, 2009 at 4:43 pm
You certainly got a lot of attention with that idea! Very cool stuff. My wife just lost her collander. I don’t know where it went?
by Eric Booth
On April 3, 2009 at 9:52 am
Love it. Can’t believe I’ve never seen anything like this done already. Way to think outside the Camera Shop.
by Craig Ferguson
On April 7, 2009 at 6:53 am
This is some serious creativity. Cheese grater snoot – love it.
by Frank Flavin
On April 12, 2009 at 7:40 am
Great job keeping your mind open to all possibilities.Some friends of mine once used all the same
items to create musical instruments.
by thor
On April 12, 2009 at 4:07 pm
wow. that there is so cool! it’s great to be open for new ways of using light!
keep up.
by Steve
On April 29, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Cool beans. I used a colander in a self-portrait – cool effect. The kitchen is one of my first stops when I’m experimenting.
by John Heil
On May 1, 2009 at 9:07 am
ha, this is such a cool experiment. I love the effects with the collander!
by clicio
On May 5, 2009 at 4:55 am
A W E S O M E !!!
Loved it, congrats!
by haroldo kennedy
On May 5, 2009 at 6:29 am
Muito legal e criativo… Como eu não cosinho em casa, vai ser uma boa desculpa começar a se interessar por cosinhar e comprar uns utensílios… Ou quem sabe pegar emprestado na casa da namorada…
by Fabiana Guedes
On May 5, 2009 at 6:41 am
CARAMBA! Fantástico!
Amazing!
by erika verginelli
On May 5, 2009 at 10:44 am
wow! this is really cool!!!! and amazing!
by ester hamermesz
On May 5, 2009 at 6:30 pm
SENSATIONAL!!!!
by Ulysses
On May 7, 2009 at 7:20 am
Actually, you solved two problems: the lighting one and making the people smile!
by jan
On May 8, 2009 at 12:54 am
unbelievable! i like it!!! thanks for sharing!
by Deepti
On May 11, 2009 at 4:42 pm
This is brilliant! Thanks!
by Denver Photographer
On August 11, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Hilarious!!!! Great stuff. I like the trashcan, and I like the light from the teapot. Great ideas!
by Norfolk weddings
On November 4, 2009 at 2:32 am
Really unusual experiment showing what can be done with everyday objects – thanks so much for sharing – I love some of the results
Tim
by aydan
On November 5, 2009 at 2:37 pm
great ideas.
by Suffolk Photographer
On December 9, 2009 at 2:49 am
Thats’ some great improvisation there.
I also like how you haven’t taken the research too seriously, but kept it fun, light (haha) and entertaining.
I think, for me the cheese grater was the most successful.
Alex
by David Hardwick
On February 15, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Thanks for the Ideas. I like the colander effects. I will have a play with this type of effect someday I hope. Thanks for sharing.
by AleCarnieri
On April 25, 2010 at 10:55 am
cool ideas!!!
by Kevin Mullins
On April 29, 2010 at 9:28 am
Smart use of the utensils. Great ideas David.
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