Camera and Lighting Placement for Recipe Videos

Learn how to set up your cameras and lights to create recipe videos. Watch the video below or keep reading to learn how.

The way you set up your cameras and lights when creating recipe videos is going to be specific to what kind of equipment you’re using and what kind of videos you’re creating. I’m going to show you what I’m using and how I set it up for overhead, Tasty style recipe videos.

If you’re interested in learning more about what kind of gear I’m using, be sure to check out my post on the gear I use to create recipe videos.

The best thing you can do is play around with your equipment to find what works best for your situation. Whenever I get a new piece of gear I’ll set aside some time to move things around and see how they look.

How to set up cameras and lights for recipe videos

Lights

I have two different kinds of lights. One is a fluorescent bulb in a soft box and the other is an LED light.

I like to set up one of the soft boxes across from and slightly above where I’m standing to cook. If I were shooting in natural light, I would set up so a window would be where this light is.

If I’m cooking something in a pot or food processor, I’ll raise this light up to reach inside where it might be dark. Otherwise, keeping it at about a 45º angle pointed down towards the table seems to work best.

I also have one of these lights set up off to the side as a fill light.

I have two LED lights that I set up off to the side pointing directly at the ceiling to help bounce light down into the scene. I like these because they’re a little warmer and they help cancel out the slight green tint I find comes from the soft box lights.

If you only had two lights that would be just fine, you can always use a bounce card or mirror to add more light to the scene, or work near a window to help fill in shadows.

Shadows

You want to be sure to watch out for shadows. Depending on what kind of tripod or stand you’re using for your camera, you’ll want to make sure the light isn’t creating a shadow in your scene by being blocked by one of these.

Ambient light

Make sure you turn off any ambient lights (overhead, lamp, etc.) to avoid any unwanted color casts. Ambient light tends to be either very orange or a little green, so turn them off and control the situation better with the lights you’re setting up.

You should also be careful with what you wear when shooting videos because the color of your clothes can reflect (either literally in your cookware or as a shadow) into your scene. I usually choose white, black, or cover myself with a brown apron when shooting videos.

Cameras

If you only have one camera, I recommend setting it up to shoot from the top down. Another option would be setting up your phone to shoot top down and your digital camera to capture a side angle.

I have a Glide Gear OH 100 Overhead Stand that I attach my camera to in order to capture my top down shot. I don’t find this stand to be quite tall enough for most purposes, even though I’m shooting with a 24-70 lens, so I’m stacking it on some boxes until I can figure out how to create an extender for it.

In the past I was using my ALTA Pro tripod to shoot top down, but this was more complicated because the tripod legs created shadows. It was also difficult to find the best place to set it up. If I set up on the ground then I had to cook on my knees, if I set it up on the table I would have to prop the tripod up on something and it felt very precarious.

The side angle shot is a little complicated because I only have one zoom lens. I choose to use this lens for my overhead shot, so that means I need to set up my second camera right where it needs to be to capture the shot since it won’t zoom in at all.

I will sometimes set this second camera across from me and a little off to the side, angled to capture just the action of what’s getting stirred or added to a bowl or pot.

If the light is looking too harsh or I need to get pretty close up for my side angle, will instead set this camera up on the same side I’m on and a little off to the side.

Make sure you check your whole frame so you’re not capturing any of your equipment in the background of your side angle shot.

Where to set up to shoot recipe videos

I don’t have a spot in my house where I can permanently set up for shooting videos. I choose to shoot in my entry way because it has a nice open space, but you could also work at your kitchen counter, or in an office or studio.

I like working at a table because it’s a nice height for me, but I have also shot on the floor out of necessity in the past.

If you’re working at any sort of height, I recommend getting a camera with a flip out screen or an external monitor. It is very difficult to maintain proper focus and exposure if your camera is set high up without one of these.

I hope this helps you know how to set up your cameras and lights for cooking videos. It will be very diffierent in every situation, but the basics stay the same.

If you have any questions, or want to share a photo of your set up for shooting recipe videos (I’m dying to see!) head over to our Facebook group!