Berlin-based Brammibals Donuts is a donut experience like no other. When we have them at the office, they are gone within minutes. So for this month, we decided to take a bite out of food photography (sorry for the pun, it just had to be done).

We wanted bright colors with a hint of a retro feel. We experimented a lot with color combinations and of course, all the donuts had to be tested. Once we had the layout down and got ourselves organized, I set up the light.

For this shoot, I needed two Siros 800S, the Scoro 1600 S with 3 Picolites each with different light modifiers.

As main light source, I used a Siros 800S without any reflector. I placed this almost directly above the donut. By doing this, I was able to not only illuminate the whole set but also create hard shadows below the donut.

The first Picolite I used was placed right behind the donut without reflector.

The second one was positioned higher, right behind the donut with a medium honey grid. This created a shine and highlighted the structure of the glazing & toppings.

The third Picolite was in front of the donut with a small honeycomb, to add some structure to the front of the donut.

The glazing on the top of the donut was so fresh (they were hot out of the oven when I picked them up!) and needed additional lighting to show that off. So I hung a reflector panel right above the donut and placed a Siros 800S with a softbox over it.

With that the set up was complete and I could start photographing. The light set up stayed the same for all three photos and the additional pictures for the gif. It does get a bit tricky when trying to have a product levitate in a photo. However, I think for me taking the time out to make the light set up just right saves so much time later on in the shoot.

Hope I made you crave something sweet! Till next time!