I've received many questions about the photography equipment that I use. Everything here is either something that I presently own or the most current equivalent.
When I started with food photography, my gear was old. This is a great opportunity to mention that while quality equipment is helpful, learning how to use it skillfully is much more important. My first DSLR camera was a basic 2005 Canon Rebel that I used until mid-2019. I used the kit lens that came with it. In the summer of 2019, I upgraded to a full-frame Canon. I'm including both setups below so that you can see the equipment I used when starting out, as well as what I currently use.
Please note that the below are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. These small earnings help support my work to provide you with more wonderful recipes and photographs!
My Current Equipment
Camera Body and Lens
This is a full-frame DSLR camera with a variable angle LCD touchscreen, wifi, and Bluetooth connectivity. It's not the newest Canon model, but it's a great price point for someone looking to buy a full-frame camera.
This is a lens that will work with either crop sensor or full-frame cameras. When used with a crop sensor body, it functions more like a 75mm lens.
Tripod
Manfrotto 190XPRO Aluminum 3-Section Tripod Kit with Ball Head
Batteries
Having an extra battery is a huge help when you're doing long shoots. It's a small cost when the alternative is having to postpone your shoot to wait for a batter to charge.
Artificial Lighting
While I much prefer to shoot in natural light, it's not always realistic. There isn't always an opportunity to prepare a recipe and shoot it during the day. Also, living in the Pacific Northwest (Washington State) means a lot of dark mornings and evenings from October through March. I finally purchased an artificial lighting setup so that I could continue to create and photograph recipes for the blog throughout the winter months and at night after the kids have gone to bed.
There are MANY different setup options available for artificial lighting. This is what I chose based on my budget and current skill set.
Softbox
Westcott uLite with 26" Octabox
This is a large collapsible softbox setup complete with a white fabric diffuser. The uLite portion mounts to both the lightstand base (purchase separately, link below) and the softbox itself. It has a standard socket that pairs with the LED bulb below.
Led Light
Don't be put off by the low star review. This was from someone that did not like the built-in fan as they wanted to use the bulb strictly for video. There is a slight whir from the fan, but it's not disruptive; additionally, my use of this bulb is almost completely focused on photography rather than video. The benefit of an LED bulb for food photography is that it doesn't produce large amounts of heat like other bulbs - no heat to melt your ice-cream or chocolate frosting mid-shoot!
Lightstand
My First Camera and Lens
The above linked Rebel is the modern equivalent to my first camera - a Canon EOS Rebel XT from 2005.
This is the kit lens that commonly comes with the Rebel camera body. Note that this lens is for a crop sensor camera body (like the one above) and will not work with a full-frame camera.