All Images and Content ©Taylor Mathis

Pomegranate
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A High Key and Low Key Look

Pomegranates first appear in the grocery store around late October and will stay
there throught the holiday season. Visually, I think they are one of the most interesting
fruits out there. The beauty of a pomegranate is seen when the deep red exterior is bro-
ken to reveal the bright white flesh and hundreds of beautiful bright red capsules! From
the outside, you would never guess that this fruit would have such a complex and beauti-
ful interior.
In creating a still life shot of the pomegranate, I wanted to focus on these beautiful
capsules. By tearing the pomegranate open, I was able to create large clumps of these
capsules. If you cut it open with a knife, you will cut the capsule in half and end up with a
tidier shot. For this still life, I chose the ripped open pomegranate to create a more inter-
esteing presentation.
I had a tough time deciding between a white, softer high-key look and a dark and
dramatic low-key look. I will show you both and let you decide which you like best. For
the soft, high-key look, I used diffused natural light with a white background.
For the dramatic low-key look, I used a flash that was directed with a snoot. I will
show you the lighting set-ups and steps for both looks on the next few pages.
Below is how I lit the soft, higher-key look. The natural light source from a garage
door was on the left. I diffused it with a white bed sheet. To fill in the shadows, I placed a
piece of white foam board on the right side. On the next page, you can see the image that
this lighting set-up created.

This bedsheet hanging

from a garage door created
a soft, diffused light over
my set.

For more information on

this lighting setup, take a
look at Volume 1, Issue 1
Window Lighting

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 All Images and Content ©Taylor Mathis

Camera Settings
Canon 5D Mark II FINAL
ISO: 250 IMAGE
Aperture: f/7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/60 second
Lens: Canon 100mm Macro f/2.8

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 All Images and Content ©Taylor Mathis

For the more dramatic and low key

look, I am using a small compact flash trig- 1
gered by pocket wizards. In image 1, there
is a set shot so you can see where the
flash is positioned. In later set shots, the
whole room will be dark, but the light’s dis-
tance from the subject and position of the
backgrounds stay the same throughout
the series of shots.
I used two lighting modifiers to create
the final look for my shoot. A snoot was
used to control the spread of the flash, and
a collapsible diffuser was used to soften
the light.
There are a wide range of modifiers
out there. To learn more about how to
modify a bare flash to create beautiful im-
ages of your food, check out The Lighting
Modifiers Issue of Photographing FOOD
Volume 1, Issue 8.

Bare Flash Snooted Flash

2 3

With the bare flash, you have a wide beam of light that Notice how the snoot controls the flash’s spread. With
will fall over your set. For the look I was trying to create, I the snoot, you have a narrower controlled beam of light
needed a narrower beam of light created by a snoot. focused where you want it on your subject.

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Bare Flash through Snooted Flash through

diffuser 4 Diffuser 5

Here is a bare bulb shot through a diffuser. Notice how Here is the same shot with a snoot added. Even with a
the light spreads all over the set and lights up the back- diffuser between the subject and the light, the snoot still
ground. controls the spread of the light.

Bare Flash
6
Flash at 1/16th power

I am now going to walk you through how I created a dark and moody
still life. I started with the pomegranate under a bare bulb. Notice how
the light spreads all over the set. For the look I wanted, I needed a tight
and controlled beam of light.

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Snooted Flash
6
Flash at 1/16th power

In this image, I added a snoot to the flash. Notice how the light is no
longer spilling all over the set. It is now in a controlled and focused
area. This was getting closer to the look that I was after. In the next
series of images, I am adding a diffuser to soften the light, but still
keep it focused on a specific area.

Snooted Flash through

Diffuser 7
Flash at 1/16th power

Notice how this image is too dark and under exposed. In this image,
I didn’t change the flash’s power from the un-diffused shot in image
6. When you add an element of diffusion between the light and the
subject, you will need to increase the power of the flash. In the next
examples, I will increase the power of the flash.

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Snooted Flash through

Diffuser 8
Flash at 1/8th power

In this image, I increased the flash’s power from 1/16th to 1/8th. The
image is brighter, but still not bright enough.

Snooted Flash through

Diffuser 9
Flash at 1/4th power

In this image, I increased the power from 1/8th to 1/4th.

This brought the image up to the correct exposure. On
the next page, you can see the final image. Notice how
different it looks from the soft high-key image that I
first created. Which do you like better?

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 All Images and Content ©Taylor Mathis

Camera Settings
Canon 5D Mark II FINAL
ISO: 250 IMAGE
Aperture: f/7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/200 second
Lens: Canon 100mm Macro f/2.8

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