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Food Photography Courses & Tips for Food Photographers

Food Photography Equipment: The Gear You Need

Photography Equipment
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Curious about the food photography equipment a professional food photographer uses? Of course you are, everyone loves taking about gear.

Before you scroll down to check out the food photography gear that I have, remember that I didn’t start out with everything on this list. I am writing this 10 year into my photography journey. In that time, I’ve worked out what gear helps me spark creativity. I hope that you enjoy reading through this list.

Let’s check out my food photography equipment!

From cameras and lenses to tripods and lighting gear, here's a comprehensive list of food photography equipment that food photographer's need!

Camera & Lenses

I am a Nikon shooter, and currently, shoot with the Nikon Z6 mirrorless (full-frame). I use an FTZ adapter as my lenses aren’t mirrorless lenses.

The lenses I use are:

Read more about the lenses I recommend for food photography.

Ultimate Guide

Lenses For Food Photographers

CLICK TO READ

Tripod & Accessories

I use a Manfrotto 058B Triaut Tripod, which is a very sturdy studio tripod. I also use the Manfrotto 131D overhead arm and the Manfrotto 410 Junior Geared Head (highly recommend) to make slight adjustments. This is the tripod I use most of the time in-studio.

For on location, I have a Gitzo GT2541EX Explorer carbon fiber tripod and a ball head (my preference now is a geared head).

Read my ultimate guide on tripods for food photography.

Natural Lighting

I rarely shoot with just window light. I am always manipulating the natural light that I have to meet the theme or concept I am shooting. But my food photography equipment for natural light isn’t complicated!

For refelctors/diffusers I use this 4″ x 6″ Neewer (highly recommend). I also have two smaller ones, a circular and handheld. Then I use lots of black and white foam boards (highly recommend) to block or reflect light. You can get these from your local stationery supplies store.

To learn more read my post on the basic natural light setup for food photography.

Learn the basic setup for food photography, what direction of light to shoot, the type of light that's most flattering and what modifers to use for gorgeous pics. #foodphotography #learnfoodphotography #naturallightphotography
Using a small diffuser to reflect light back onto the scene.
behind the scenes lighting setup for a frozen sorbet shoot. With a camera on a tripod and black foam boards to block light.
Black foam boards are get at blocking light.

Food Photography Gear & Accessories

For those miscellaneous food photography equipment items that we can’t live without, here’s a quick list of common items I get asked about:

behind the scenes of a cupcake photoshoot with a background and the food photography equipment to capture the shot.
Using my nano lighting stand, the a stand clamp to hold up a background for photography.

Artificial Lighting

When it comes to lighting for food photography, I shoot with both natural and artificial light, but I love the flexibility that artificial light gives me (especially for client work).

Profoto B10X (250 w/s) is what I use most of the time, and also have an old Profoto B1 (model discontinued). I have their Air Remote TTL-N trigger and use a Manfrotto 420B Combi Boom (highly recommend) lighting stand for most of my modifiers.

The main modifiers I have are the 2′ x 3′ soft box, a 1′ x 4′ strip box (I have a second hand discontinued model) and a 2′ octa box.

behind the scenes in a food photography studio of a camera on a tripod and artificial light on a lighting stand.
I shot this Black Forest Cupcake on the right with my 2′ Octabox.
Black forest cupcake showing the food photography gear needed for this shot.

Photo Editing & Software

I use Adobe Lightroom Classic, Adobe Photoshop and Capture One Pro for my photo editing.

To learn how to edit in Lightroom, check out my masterclass Lightroom Magic. I also teach foundational retouching in Photoshop in my masterclass Retouching Food Photography.

Got any questions about any of my gear? Let me know in the comments below!

Two Loves Studio was not paid to write this post, however, it may contain affiliate links. If you purchase an item from an affiliate link, we do get a commission on the sale which helps us run this site. Only affiliates for products/services we believe in appear on this site.

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Comments

  2. Lou

    HI Rachel,
    First, I would like to thank you so much for all the informations.
    I have a question regarding the lense 85mm, could you please help me to understand the difference between these two lenses:
    – Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG AND – Nikon AF-S 85mm F1.8 G

    Thank you again
    lou

    Reply

    • Rachel Korinek

      Hey Lou! Lens will differ per brand and there will be slight differences in light and vignetting etc. Mostly the difference here is that one goes to an aperture of 1.4 and one goes to 1.8. I have the Nikon AF-S 85mm F1.8 G. I don’t think you need the extra aperture with the 85mm so you can save a little bit of cash. But if budget isn’t an option for you, 1.4 is nice to have. The Sigma Art lens range is known to be super sharp and it’s pricier. Hope that helps!

  4. Lou

    Dear Rachel,

    I have a question about the artificial light, for food photography do I need one light or two? I have a budget to buy one profoto light or 2 lights but cheeper light (another brand) , I need your advice from an expert photographer like you Rachel.

    Thank you so much
    Lou

    Reply

    • Rachel Korinek

      Hi Lou! It will depend a little on what you are lighting and the look you are going for. Some setups will need more than one light. 90% of the time I am using just one light. Two lights can be confusing at the start. I recommend getting started with and mastering one light before you get a second one. Hope that helps!

  5. lou

    Dear Rachel ,

    Thank you so, so much for your advice.
    Another question and the last 🙂 Do you thing a Broncolor kit 2 units Siros 400 S , will be enough power, for food photography, or do I need more power like the Profoto D1 500 (I have found a good deal for both lights).

    I need your advice if you have to choose, I like the chiaroscuro photography …also lighting from the back …

    thank you again
    Lou

    Reply

    • Rachel Korinek

      You’re so welcome Lou. My light is 250 w/s and so far it’s enough power for me. If I was lighting larger scenes it would be nice to have 500 w/s. I don’t think you need more than 500 w/s for what we do 90% of the time. But if you want a light that grows with you, I would aim for 500 w/s. My next purchase will be a 500 w/s light. So either of those looks good and if you have the budget for the D1 500 w/s I would get that one. Excited for your new purchase 🙂

  6. Nadia Cruz

    Hi,

    We are opening a new restaurant in Richmond NSW, we are looking to do a food photoshoot, would you kindly advise cost, etc? We are available from the 16th November please or is there anyone you could recommend please?

    Reply

    • Emma

      Hi Nadia, Thanks for reaching out. Congratulations on opening up a new restaurant! For food photoshoot enquiries we ask those requests be sent to [email protected]. On this occasion, as Rachel is no longer living in Australia she would not be able to take this job on. I have also sent you an email directly. All the best with your shoot!

  7. Hi there, I’ve learned so much from you and your husband. Thank you! I have a random gear question. I really appreciate your advice.

    Do you know if the M1 pro vs M1 max chip in MacBook Pro makes an impactful difference in photography workflow?

    I’m looking to get a MacBook pro because I’m frustrated with the performance limitations of my Microsoft surface. I’m shooting tethered/work editing in captureone and adobe.

    Reply

    • Rachel Korinek

      Hey Colleen! I have the M1 Max chip and it makes a huge difference for video. I think if you’re using a RAW editor and Photoshop, you can use the M1 Pro chip. I got the Max because we needed to cut videos for courses and Youtube. I’ve always had a MacBook Pro and have loved it. I can’t speak for PC. But I do love the new Apple chips. Hope that’s helpful 🙂

  8. Hi Rachel! This post is so super helpful! I just watched your YouTube video about lighting and it was amazing.

    I have a question about laptops and monitors. I notice you had a BenQ. Do you tether to that and edit on it? Or Is there something else you edit on? I have been using a laptop for 6 years (gulp!) and I am in desperate need of a new setup for editing at home and tethering. I will probably get a new laptop for traveling and editing.

    Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Thank you!

    Andi

    Reply

    • Rachel Korinek

      I am so glad that you liked it Andi 🙂 As it’s just a monitor, it of course has to be plugged into a computer. I use a laptop and I love them. I always edit on my BenQ Monitor and I like to work from it at my desk due to the large screen. I tend to tether to either just the laptop or the monitor depending on the shoot. If it’s a quick one recipe, I will tether it to the laptop and if it’s a 3-day shoot, I’ll set up the monitor. Hope that helps!

  9. Nina

    Hi Rachel,

    I remember you talking about where you mount your laptop on. Probably it was a video, but I just can’t remember… The only thing I do remember is that it’s a Canadian brand. Maybe you can help me out here.

    Kind regards,
    Nina

    Reply

  10. Christine Fitzgerald

    Thank you so much for all your helpful tips, Rachel. I am working my way through The Art of Light at the moment and, for the first time, feel I am FINALLY beginning to understand light! You have an incredible talent for teaching – calm, unfussy and in simple terms. ‘Thank you’ once more.

    Reply

    • Rachel Korinek

      Thank you so much, Christine! I am so pleased to hear you’re enjoying the book. It’s a very exciting time when we are able to really grasp and explore lighting.

  13. BeatColor

    I’m working as a real estate photographer at https://beatcolor.com/ about 7 years. I’m using Lightroom 2023, and I love it! The performance is way better, and there are so many cool advanced features. The user interface is much more intuitive, and the cloud integration is super smooth. Plus, it supports all the latest tech

    Reply

  14. Hi Rachel, just a curious question, I have always used flash as well, but wondered if you had tested any of the new high power continuous LED lights?

    Reply

  15. Pete

    Hi Rachel,

    I need some help please. I’ve recently started doing a few shoots but I think the files are so big that my laptop isn’t able to process them as Lightroom either keeps crashing or isn’t uploading the images properly or saying the files are damaged. So, how do I best store the images and process them on Lightroom. Am I best storing them in the cloud or on a hard drive or both? And any other advice is welcome as it’s driving me insane!! Thanks, Pete

    Reply

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