10 Tips for Perfect Food Photographs When You’re Starting Out.

Taking and creating beautiful food photos can get tricky!

Taking and creating beautiful food photos can get tricky – especially when you’re starting out your business! see what is important about camera gear, the angle of the photo, and a few rules about composition. for new photographers or bloggers who are just starting to learn food photography.

We have upgraded our level by buying food that looked GOOD and just started taking as many photos as we could! great if you have a basic camera, great if you have your phone with you, as long as you start and get things going.

It was not easy at all, but some initial specs and little attention tome very important details can really change your game. We know that food deserves an entirely different approach, we really started from the food photography, before exploring other photography areas, and evolving to all other specializations, so we thought that sharing our advice could help you move at least your first steps. But at the same time, it should also look delicious and appealing, enough to make the audience want to grab that dish.

Make it stand out

These details and moves should be simple so the people can focus on the integrity of the food, especially because some of the dishes need to be photographed while still hot and “just” outta the kitchen!

So… be quick and make sure to capture those slices of pizza with melting cheese, hot nachos with lots of smoke on top, and the barbecue still deliciously brown!

Check out this compilation of easy food photography tips and tricks to improve your photography skills.

Whether it’s for a blog, food tutorial video, a magazine, or even a personal cookbook, these pointers will help you get the results you want.

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1)       Artificial light

Usually, natural light gives the best effect. But with artificial light, you get consistent lighting and white balance throughout the photoshoot, which saves a lot of time in the post-processing. We have started out with a window and a white veil curtain, filtering and diffusing harsh natural light. However, it never gave constant and consistent results but was highly suggested by more experts photographers. However, when we started with artificial light, we could compensate shadows and gaps in lighting, in order to have a more diffused and balanced luminance. You can start out with a simple kit of softboxes, and slowly improving adding simple and inexpensive speed lights and Bowens Mount Strobe Flash.

2)       Light setting on all sides

You can do so much with lighting for food photography, as long as you don’t just stick to one side when you set the light. Experiment with the front lighting, backlighting, and side lighting, and see the difference they make on the food photography backdrops. A great tutorial we have followed and watched over and over, about simple artificial light on food Photography is by TheBiteShot.

3)       Use fresh ingredients

Food photography is all about how the food looks, so make sure that the ingredients are in perfect condition. Use only the freshest ingredients to save yourself from the extra work. High-resolution cameras and perfect light can really capture the smallest of details and you want to make sure that all your foods and your drinks are checked, cleaned, and polished, sometimes sprayed with a little bit of water, to make them pop!

4)       Take photos while cooking

Taking pics after the food is cooked is way too late, as you’ll miss lots of opportunities to take good shots in the cooking photography process. There are times when the raw or half-cooked ingredients look more appetizing than the cooked dish. This can be practiced at home, allowing you to study the best angles in order to achieve the best composition for your images. Also great if you could practice food photography in a restaurant, while the chefs are cooking! be mindful and respect their spaces!

Great if you could practice food photography in a restaurant, while the chefs are cooking!

5)       Shoot from various angles

When it comes to the photo angle, there’s no one-size-fits-all. Different dishes have different angles that bring out their best look. Explore the angles you can think of for each dish, and don’t be afraid to experiment and get creative! A question that we get asked all the time is “how we choose the angle for a photo? when to know if a 45° angle is better than a flat lay?”

90° angle or frontal

Imagine when you are photographing a glass, a cocktail in a tall Martini or a pint of beer, the 90° angle works in order to respect the shape of the glass and the importance of the design of the vessel. Also great for a burger or tall cakes.

45° Angle

Great for both creating leading lines and showcasing food that has both a 3D profile. Not Flat, not too high.

Flat Lay, or from above

This can be applied when you want to catch a long shade and the reflection of that light coming through that bottle. food or product photography looks great from above, especially if your subject lays parallel on the table (imagine a pizza or a soup). When you want to photograph a subject that is also not too tall.

We suggest that you study the shape and the angle of your subject! i.e. check the shape of your dish, whether that is a tall burger or a stack of pancakes or a soup, the difference in angle and variation of the composition could be not too hard to understand.

6)       Leave space

Leaving a blank space in a photo will be useful for your clients - if they need to put a logo or some text in it. Try and accommodate this wherever possible. Also, remember the crop ratio of your photo, make the right choice of focal length and check with customers how they plan on using your photos.

7)       Keep the plating simple

When it comes to Food photography – always keep it simple. Leave enough space on the plate for the viewers to appreciate the food. Less is more! Sometimes a bigger plate is not a good choice although it may seem like a good way to artistically plate a dish. I think that for food photography, a big plate covers too much of the photo area. I suggest that you opt for plates not much bigger than the subject in them. On another hand, a large plate can help cover a “not very well dressed table” or an ugly surrounding.

8)       Use props

A little makeup can do wonders for a photoshoot, so can props. Keep the props simple, and use neutral colors for your props, and let the food be the hero.

9)       Add elements/changes to the food If you really need to

If you are entitled to do it, do so. Otherwise, let the chefs do their job and do not interfere. Don’t let the food remain as is. A sliced cake or a hummus-dipped savory will look more appetizing if some of the raw ingredients used to prepare the mentioned dish are kept around it, as they were before the preparation. In the example of a fruit cake, you could add more garnish and more fruits around the slice on the plate. This will help build the decoration and sharpen the presentation.

10)   Add a story

Be creative – add a story to your dish with elements. It could be its origin, season, or the region it’s from. Add an element to take it to the next level.

We hope these tips and suggestions help in bettering your food photography skills.