I did a photoshoot today at the Wine and Cheese Bistro featuring Chef Cyr and his dish, Seared Scallop with Spring Asparagus and Apple Cider Country Ham Vinaigrette.  Yes, quite the mouthful.

Micheal and I went to the Wine and Cheese Bistro a few weeks ago and were definitely not impressed.  We had a good time but the salad was weak and the cheese tray a disappointment.  I guess we just ordered the wrong things because the dish that Chef Cyr delivered to the table today was beautiful and if it tasted as good as it smelled, incredible.

The lighting in there wasn’t so great.  Was hoping to use the “natural” light in the restaurant but had a sneaky suspicion that I wasn’t going to get that option.  The combination of overhead, low wattage incandescent lights with the green tinted sunlight streaming in the windows… yuck.  Green faces and orange foreheads.

Here’s what I had taking a shot of the area before adding my lights.

Then, we turn on the left light and see what that looks like.  It is a 650w light bouncing off a white light screen.

Let’s try the right light.  It’s a 1000w light shining through a softbox to diffuse the light.

Put them together and this is what you get!  1650 watts of lighting power!  Muhahahaha!!!

Click below to see all four combined and larger

So here are a few shots of the dish and Chef Cyr.  He was a fantastic sport getting his picture taken.

Click above picture to enlarge

I had a fun time taking the pictures and he was fun to talk to while I did the portraits.  I wish I had another softbox so I could close the aperture a little more to decrease the depth of field but, oh well.  Sure looks a lot better than what I started out with!  Just goes to show the necessity of good lighting.

Oh, and that I’m a huge nerd… 😉