Photographing Food

One of my favorite scrapbook topics is food. I enjoy photographing food, everywhere I go. At home I might use a DSLR but while out and about, I will use either my iPhone or a small camera I carry in my purse.  It’s fun to photograph food in the grocery store or restaurant.  All of these food photos were taken with my iPhone.

Try to keep the food away from artificial light and closer to a door/window if you are inside. I drive my husband nuts because I will open the kitchen door to let a bit more light in when photographing food just before we sit down to eat, even if it is very cold out. I’m willing to pay a few more dollars for my heating bill for the sake of getting a good photo LOL. Sometimes I will do a bit of staging but I keep it to a minimum. I want to create some visual interest in my framing and background but only spend a few minutes to set it up.  For these sample photos, I set the bowl over a cloth napkin.

 Garage sales and second-hand stores are great opportunities to find some small swatches of cloth, napkins, pillowcases, curtains, etc. I never spend more than a dollar or two for any of my food staging finds at these sales. It’s a hobby for me, so I want to keep the costs low.

By taking food photos, you have a wonderful opportunity for scrapbooking about the food you eat, love and prepare now because in the future there’s a good chance the foods you eat will change, you might forget which foods you kids liked at different ages, your dietary needs may change as you get older, etc.  This homemade chicken Mexican soup was easy to make and is one of my favorites. I make a big batch and freeze single servings for lunches.

When perusing used items for food staging, I look for interesting patterns and textures.  One of my favorite cloths is this white eyelet cotton pillowcase I got for just a few cents at a garage sale. I have a drawer in a sideboard cabinet where I store all my bits and pieces of cloth for staging. That way they are close and I can quickly grab something out of the drawer when needed.  I also look for single pieces of china, ceramic, glass, etc for staging.  As I only need one piece, it’s easy to find items at a cheap price.  I also look at the discounted racks/shelves in stores for good deals on single items.  We have a local Goodwill store which is also a great place for kitchen odds and ends. I keep them in a bin in my dining room hutch, again, close by, so I can quickly grab something.

The photos for this layout were taken this afternoon, in my kitchen, with the lights turned off and the kitchen door open.  For two of the photos, I came in close with my phone, from above, and for the larger photo on the left side, I came in close, from more of a side angle.  What’s important to remember in taking photos of your food is that they don’t need to be perfect and they don’t need to be artfully staged with the best lighting. What they should be is the best photo you can take in a few moments or minutes of staging, so that you can later you can scrapbook with the photos.  Make it fun, arrange it quickly and try a few different angles.  I’m going to put together a book of food layouts and will include a variety of cooked and uncooked foods, pull-back shots of my kitchen, recipes and will journal my likes, dislikes, dietary changes, food facts. I hope that this inspires you to want to take more food photos and scrapbook about it!