Loooooks Yummy! Tips for Photographing Food
Hey Hey Hey Happy Scrappers!
Polly Liana here, with a few tips for photographing one of my favorite things: FOOD! We’ve all been there… you spend hours leaning over a hot stove, cooking dicing, mashing, stirring and finally, voila! Your masterpiece is complete! But (providing your cooking skills are decent) all your hard work is gone within a matter of minutes. Wouldn’t it be great to capture it like a photo in a magazine so you can drool over it (and scrap with it) long after the last bit is consumed? Well, you can! Here are a few tips to help you immortalize those morsels.
1. Use natural sunlight
I’ve said it over and over again but it’s worth repeating: natural sunlight is the most flattering light you can give your food subjects. Often, your kitchen lights will cast a very unflattering yellow tone on your food, which can make it look unnatural and unappetizing. When your food is prepared, bring it over to a large, sunny window to photograph it. You don’t have to have a table there… the pasta photo above was taken on my hardwood floors! The only warning I have with this technique is to watch out if you have dogs– do NOT turn your back on your food when it’s on the ground or you might be sorry!
2. “Style” your food as you would a person or a room of furniture
When you order food at most restaurants, the chefs take care to “plate” the food properly so it looks its best. You should, too. Make sure there aren’t any errant drops of sauce or a bruised piece of lettuce. If there are many colors, try to balance them out throughout the image so the viewer’s eye travels around the image to see them all. Consider a blend of textures that would look good together and, if the image is fairly monotone, sprinkle some parsley on the top to give it a bit of color and flourish. Also, consider what dish and background you’re using to hold your culinary creation and make sure they flatter, rather than detract from your food. Sometimes, the best background is a white one– it helps the food stand for itself!
3. Shoot from several different angles
You may not know which angle is most flattering until you consider the finished product so take the time to take multiple photos of the same dish. Shoot from above, from the side, and try both portrait and landscape orientations. If you are shooting with a camera which allows you to change the aperture, consider shooting with a lower number, like 2.0. This will create a lovely fading effect. The foreground of the photo will have great details but it will blend nicely into the background with a soft blur.
4. Post processing to flatter the food
Bumping the saturation up a bit in post processing will usually make food (especially fruits and veggies) pop. For baked goods, sharpening the image will make each tiny morsel even more appealing. Go easy on the colors, though– you do not want technicolor tomatoes!
5. Look for inspiration
Last bit of advice? Look to the magazines, websites and cookbooks that inspire you the most. Examine how they have plated the food and the ways they chose to present it. You may not have previously noticed the bright napkin they put under a bowl or the simple spoon that emphasized the chunky chowder. Once you’ve picked up some ideas, give them a try! Your family may get a little peeved that you’ve once again taken your dinner into the office to shoot it but hey, at least you’ll have a lot of beautiful images with which to scrap!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to raid the pantry. All this food photography has made me hungry! Have a great weekend and we hope to see some food photos in our gallery at the Pad sometime soon.
