Beginner's Guide to Food Photography

Credits: Mae-Mu

You've come to the correct spot if you're seeking for simple food photography ideas for new photographers and bloggers.

These simple strategies and suggestions for food photography, along with a few more, will help you take better pictures. This article will help you get the outstanding results you seek, whether you're shooting for your blog, a cooking lesson video, editorial work for a magazine, or just because you want to create your own personalised cookbook.

1. Using artificial light

Credit: Sander Dalhuisen

In food photography, like in any other type of photography, lighting is the most crucial element to learn since it has the power to create or ruin your images. Natural light is preferred by some photographers because it produces the greatest results. Others use artificial lighting because it provides constant illumination and white balance throughout the photo shoot, saving them time and effort in post-processing.

Additionally, since they are not bound by set periods for taking images, artificial light in food photography allows them freedom in terms of time.

Avoid using a direct flash or, worse still, an overhead tungsten light if you decide to utilise artificial lighting. Invest in a reflector or bounce card and a high-quality flash. Never point the flash at the backdrop of food since it will cause the dish to lose all of its features and seem flat and uninteresting.

The ideal method is to bounce light onto the meal using a reflector. To determine which works best for each food image, experiment with the angles, camera settings, and light intensity.

2. Not setting the light on different sides

Credits: Mae-Mu

Credits: Mae-Mu

The front lighting is the simplest and safest option because there won't be as much shadow on the food. The outcomes are adequate and lack any distinctive qualities.

When you want to display the textures and contrast of the cuisine, making the details stand out, side lighting is typically employed.

Even though it might be challenging, backlighting is well worth the effort. It provides a clear, light background that aids in shifting attention to the meal and shows its exquisite nuances. The art of backlighting requires a lot of experience (wrong exposure and automatic settings can cause dark shadows on your food, so always use manual settings).

You'll learn what works and what doesn't if you keep trying. Once you've mastered it, you'll be able to produce food images that have a chic editorial feel.

3. Expired ingredients

Credits: Mgg Vvitchakorn

Food photography techniques are crucial about capturing the food's aesthetic, therefore you must ensure that each item is in pristine shape. Don't try to work out an angle that may disguise the imperfections (they usually don't work very well). Wilted lettuce in the salad or a smashed tomato can destroy the shot.

To save unnecessary labour, only utilise foods that are as fresh as possible.

4. Only shooting when the meal is finished.

Credit: Kyle Head

Shooting after the food has been prepared is simply too late, since you'll miss a lot of chances to get some excellent culinary pictures.

Don't begin once the dish has been prepared; rather, begin much earlier, when the ingredients are being prepared! Occasionally, prepared foods don't appear very appealing (think of boring soup, pasta with white sauce, or brown dishes like chili, beans, or stuffing).

However, if it still appears flat and uninteresting, you might try photographing the cooking process. Occasionally, a little garnish can assist. Sometimes, the ingredients seem more delicious when they are raw or only partially cooked.

5. Only using one angle

Credit: Emiliano Vittoriosi

There is no one perspective that works for everyone. Different dishes are best viewed from different perspectives.

A taco or burger, for instance, looks better from the side whereas this cheese and fruit tray looks best from above. However, this does not imply that there is only one angle that is effective for each dish. Instead, in order to help people envision, you sometimes need to display the dietary needs from several angles.

For each dish, consider all the possible perspectives, and don't be afraid to experiment and get creative!

6. Empty spaces

Credits: Kura Tregenza

When photographing food, many photographers follow these 2 guidelines:

-completing the frame to display the entire serving.

-capturing the dish in close-ups to reveal all its delicious details.

They frequently overlook the one additional technique they should do, which is capturing pictures of empty spaces.

Be ready to accommodate this; leaving a blank area in a photo will be helpful to your clients when they need to add a logo or wording to it.

7. Excessively increasing the saturation

Food photographers may fall into the trap of increasing the saturation too much in attempt to make the food shot appear more appetising with all the colours. Editing can be hit or miss at times.

Yes, food typically appears more delicious when the colours stand out, but you should be careful not to oversaturate your images as this will simply make them appear odd and artificial. Try to mimic the colours as closely as you can.

8. Placing too much food on the plate

Although it may be tempting, overfilling the plate won't appear good on video. Too much food on the plate will simply make it more difficult for the audience to maintain attention on the crucial details.

Put enough space on the plate so that the viewer can appreciate the dish because food photography is all about simplicity. Less is more!

It will be enjoyable to picture couples in this plating.

9. Letting the food sit around for too long

There are some foods that require you to move fast and do everything quickly once they’re ready.

Leafy greens in salads, for example, will look wilted after some time, while meat can look a bit dry after sitting around for some time. Make sure you do your setup before the food comes so you can spring into action when they’re ready.

You can use empty plates or bowls for setting up, and replace it later once the food is ready.

10. Missing out on the style and props

Credit: Joseph Gonzalez

Props and styling work wonders for a picture shoot, just like a little makeup does. Although food photography may appear simple, styling is hard.

The ideal approach is to make everything straightforward and orderly, especially the props. No matter how attractive the tableware or china may be, you should avoid using them in photographs since the food should be the main subject of the image. Use muted hues for your backdrops and props, and let the food take centre stage.

11. Leave the food alone

Credit: Pranjall Kumar

Don't stop taking pictures until the meal has been placed on the table for you to capture. Dig in and dish out some pieces.

For instance, this cake looks more attractive when it is cut into pieces because the audience can see the colours and texture of the cake's interior, which helps them get a better notion of how it will taste.

12. Lack of a narrative to an image

Credits: Pylyp Sukhenko

If you want to go above and above, be imaginative and describe the background of the cuisine, such as how it came to be or the time of year when the ingredients are collected.

For your Moroccan tagine, use the tagine pot; for nasi campur, a banana leaf; or for pad thai, chopsticks. While serving pumpkin soup or apple pie in the fall, brown and dried leaves can be used as decorations. You can also use a few Christmas ornaments when serving a dish in the winter.

Whatever you do, keep it straightforward and avoid going crazy.

Hope you may learn from your errors and use these food photography tips for newbies and bloggers to advance toward being a professional photographer!