Autumn Cheeseboard + BTS + Grey Salt Collective

After a rather long hiatus, how exciting it was to start things back up with a prompt that I have been saving all year .. An Autumn Cheeseboard.
Unbelievably, I have never personally put a proper cheeseboard together, let alone photograph one, which made this prompt particularly enjoyable!

I had most of everything already at home, as you probably do as well, and picked up the few additional ingredients – cheeses, olives, and deli meats from the market.
Then it was just a matter of assembling and composing, which, for me, was the most challenging part as I tend to be more of a minimalist.
I used this prompt to push myself (which is the point of these prompts – to push, learn and grow) out of that comfort zone and worked with many more elements than I normally do.

Approach:

I made a moodboard in Pinterst, my favorite resource, and then narrowed it down to how I wanted to approach my shot.
I then met up with my good friend and graphic illustrator, Lisa Ballard, who had also been inspired by this prompt, and began sketching out an idea she had .. below ..

Sketching out your ideas, compositions and general approach is a great way to visually get your initial ideas down on paper. You don’t need to get fancy, it simply serves as a starting point.
In the end, Lisa’s initial idea for the main shot did not work out because of the irregular sizes and shapes of the cut wood, but I love how they worked for some of the supporting images, which are further down the post.

The other decision I made was to shoot this at home. I wanted to keep it super simple and remind those of you who don’t have a separate studio that it is completely possible to create images at home, with a very simple set up. I could have used the natural light coming in through the windows, but I started later in the day and shot into the evening, so using a strobe took care of that .. plus I had a brand new modifier to try out.

BTS Shots:

Below are phone shots of my basic set up, which I used for virtually every shot, except for the before/after table diptych, which all I did was to move the main light around to the opposite site and feather the light away from the main composition, so as to keep the background dark and the scene moody.

Tech Notes:

Camera + Lenses – Canon 5dMark3 . Canon 100mm f/2.8 L IS Macro . Canon EF 24‑70mm f/2.8
Lighting – Profoto D1 1000w Monolight Strobe Head inside of my newest modifier, a Godox 120cm / 47.2in Portable Octagon Softbox Umbrella with an additional layer of diffusion, and will tell you that I LOVE IT! (Thank you to Joanie Simon of The Bite Shot, who has incredible learning resources for food photographers.)
I added in a white bounce card opposite the light, when needed, to open up the shadows.

Including the opening image above, below are the images I came away with. My intention was to create one main shot, with one supporting shot .. but once I got going, I kept going, which is something I always encourage you to do if you have the time and ability. Look at single ingredients, macro shots of interesting textures, various angles and platings … You are already there, make the most of what you can create!

Final Images:

As always, you can find all the information to join Grey Salt Collective (it’s totally free), mentorships, workshops, and more resources by CLICKING HERE.