‘Tis the Christmas season – in fact just days away from the big morning itself – and so my apartment’s tiny kitchen was a spot of frenzied activity this afternoon as Mandy baked up a storm.  I missed the first batch of cookies, and was editing photos whole she moved from cookies to bread.

If we had a house with a big, proper kitchen, I’d be careful to setup a very precise studio rig.  Aimed & balanced strobes, diffuser panels, maybe even a light tent for some macro shots.  Since our current kitchen is about the size of a medium bathroom and every available surface was covered with baking supplies (not to mention move-about room at a minimum), I had to make do.

These were shot with a variety of lenses, all lit by two Speedlights; one bounced off the ceiling, and one bounced off the wall behind the table.  At first I used E-TTL II with a +1 2/3 exposure compensation, but then switched to a 1/4 manual flash exposure.

So these may not be the most technically perfect shots ever, but I believe they are solid.  And more importantly, I think they capture some of the process that goes into making them.  At any rate, they smelled great while baking and tasted even better when they were done!