I discovered something really great two nights ago when I made these banana bars.
I really wanted to take pictures of them that night, but I’m so terrible at taking light box pictures. Like, really bad. They always turn out orange and dark no matter how hard I try.
So I said “see ya” to the light box, but I wanted to try to take a good quality night photo. I wasn’t going to give up (even though I really sucked. Seriously).
Anyway, we have a light box at our house for Seasonal Affective Disorder. (Side note: I recommend these even if you don’t have SAD…it’s nice to get a little “sun” in the winter time). I decided that since the light box is supposed to mimic the sun, maybe it has the same sun qualities for food photography.
Welllll… here’s how they turned out:
Pretty good, right? I mean they’re not super amazing, but none of my photos are professional level anyway.
In conclusion (lol) you should get a Seasonal Affective Disorder light box if you’re wanting to try food photography without natural light. It’s cheap and you can get more use out of it than just food photos.
Oh yeah, and these banana bars are pretty good, too, but you can’t really go wrong with peanut butter and banana. 
Plus, this lovely recipe is from Betty Crocker and she knows dessert. The fluffy frosting is from AllRecipes.
- Bars:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 medium)
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Frosting:
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 1 cup creamy peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom and sides of a 9×13 inch pan.
- In large bowl, mix granulated sugar, bananas, oil and eggs with spoon. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
- Spread in pan.
- Bake bars 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, place the butter and peanut butter into a medium bowl, and beat with an electric mixer.
- Gradually mix in the powdered sugar, and when it starts to get thick, incorporate milk one tablespoon at a time until all of the sugar is mixed in and the frosting is thick and spreadable. Beat for at least 3 minutes for it to get good and fluffy.
