Food photography advice!

I'm about to shatter your illusions that I have a massive kitchen with natural light flooding in or I have a studio. I sadly don't have either but I do have a small porch that measures just over a metre wide and just under two metres long. It's the lightest place in my house and the only place I get enough natural light to photograph my food. 

The black background I've adopted lately comes from a pillow case, or two if I need a wider background. The wooden top you can see is an old table. The legs broke and the top makes a perfect worktop for my food. I also use a black top that is an old chalk board I've had since I was small.

The props I use tend to be things I've gathered from round the house or things I have brought in charity shops, thrift shops or poundland. 

The camera I use in a Nikon D200 it is a great dslr but I dream of a D800. I use either an 18-55mm standard lens or my new lens 50mm f1.8. 

I use a low aperture and a low enough shutter speed I can use without camera blur. I don't have enough space for a tripod so everything is taken handheld. I shoot in RAW as it gives me more freedom in post production (Photoshop).

I retouch using Adobe Photoshop Elements 9. I'd love CS6 but I'm not made of money! (yet). I never change the appearance of food. I retouch the background, crumbs or anything that gets in my way. I sometimes lighten the photo, up the contrast and up the blacks to get a true black background/ 

And that's how I photograph food. I think it just goes to show that you can do a lot with a small space and with a passion for what your doing. I hope that answers any questions people have although if you have others contact me on twitter ( @CathrynDaws) and I will try my best to answer them, I am only a 2nd year photography student so I don't know everything!

♥