Fun Photo Shoots on a Budget – The Candy Shop

Candy is Colourful, Creative, and Easy to Manipulate for Photographs

Jan 6, 2009

Looking for low budget materials for a small but interesting shoot? Candy and other treats can be very useful as subjects - colourful, textured, great for concept shots!

Daring photographers who are looking for an interesting concept photo shoot would do very well to visit the candy shop or dollar store and pick out a large variety of candies – typically very bright, textured, and shaped to the point where they become prime material for an excellent macro (closely shot, tightly cropped) shoot. Not only is candy extremely inexpensive, accessible to persons in all locations, but it is small and will fit on home-made studios and backdrops with relative ease. Even a simple piece of parchment paper can serve as a textured and soft-lit backdrop for shooting most candy laden scenes.

Playing with Shape, Colour, and Shadow

Due to the extremely small size of most candy it is possible to create macro scenery very easily with sweets – spreading them out in patterns, arranging them in stacks, or simply placing them side by side to compare colours and shapes. Because of how inexpensive your materials are as well – candy makes an excellent choice not only for adults, but for younger photographers as well who might like to take a few fun snapshots and eat the candy afterwards!

Lollipops are an excellent choice for photographs, for example, being that they are so brightly coloured and also possess a stem that can be used as leverage. A lollipop or sucker can be laid flat, on it's side, or even propped up against a stack of licorice, rockets, or even gummi candy piled up high. Speaking of such, gummi candy is also an excellent choice for shooting due to the fact that it is often translucent and not fully opaque.

Lighting is important for dramatic effect. Well lit shots will be fun, vibrant, and tantalizing – while dimly lit shots might bear shadows or structure for artistic exposures.

Have your Shoot and Eat it Too

The best part of shooting with candy and sweets? Clean up is relatively easy and extremely delicious! Licorice, lollipops, suckers, swedish berries, wine gums, sprinkles, sour candy – all excellent candidates both for their aesthetic value and as a treat for your taste buds. Candy shoots are an excellent creative endeavour for children or young photographers in training – getting them interested in making fun and imaginative scenes with the added bonus of a sweet treat after they are done with all of their subjects!

Thinking outside of the box (or inside of the box of chocolates) can be very rewarding when it comes to celebrating inventive photography on a budget. So dig in, play, and have fun with all of the vibrant and delectable shots you're sure to construct!

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The copyright of the article Fun Photo Shoots on a Budget – The Candy Shop in Photography is owned by Nicholas Morine. Permission to republish Fun Photo Shoots on a Budget – The Candy Shop in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.