Lighting can be frustrating in food photography, no doubt. One can accrue rules and think they got it but sometimes certain subjects rather like lighting that would make other subjects die a photonic death.
I have put these photos up for you to consider. These mushrooms LOVE the strong direct light from the almost straight-above sunshine. We have delightful detail in the mushroom gills, neat slight fuzz on the stem, the oddness of the giganto scale, etc.
What is extra special about these images? The light catches water droplets and highlights a completely different dimension and texture in the photo.
I shot these with my Fujifilm FinePix S3100 P&S.
On the other end of the gamut, using extremely soft light with a bit of a harsh key light (off to the right) can give you amazing results.
