Chips with Parmesan Bits....

 Absolutely nothing satisfies a potato craving like a crispy chip. Oven fried or baked, they’re now essentially guilt free. Toss in some Parmesan cheese and coarse salt and these simple chips are ready to enhance a prime steak or chop. 

To light this shot, we started with a large soft light source from the rear left.  This gave us a general light and a little bit of direction.  We then came in from the rear right with a point source.  This light was low, as we wanted it to skim across the surface of the chips and show all the texture of the chips.  After those 2 lights, the shot was too contrasty for our liking, so we used another very large soft light source from directly above to fill in some of the shadows.

The shot was simple too, nothing complicated. Just a few browned and golden-edged slices with highlights in the foreground and enough charred cheese bits to inspire your taste buds.

Easy recipe ~

3-Way Grilled Corn on the Cob...

Corn on the cob is a perennial favorite this time of year, and hot off the grill, it’s even better. Grilling corn on the cob changes up this traditional side dish; in fact, most kids don’t even consider grilled corn on the cob a vegetable! When we set up our grill for the upcoming football season, we will definitely have corn on the grill, right along side of the burgers and dogs.

To light this shot, we needed a large unbroken light source to catch all the places the butter had melted. We put a couple of those light sources around the product. One was from the back right and directed toward the left. Beyond that, we had a small point light source from the back left. Even with the soft light sources around the set, we noticed a bit too much contrast, so we put a white card up, over the top of the set, to reflect some of the light back down and fill in the shadows.

Butter is a challenge. The butter started to melt instantly, so we had to move fast. Needless to say, we had to melt the butter a few times to get the effect we were looking for.