A great food photo should entice you and perk your senses, and perhaps even cause you to salivate as you stare at the screen in front of you….But how often do you see those types of images online?
Thanks to Instagram (Here is our Instagram!) and Facebook (Check out our Facebook!) we pretty much always know what our friends are eating at any given moment. It is now almost expected for everyone at the table to pause once the food arrives, so we can all take a picture to post to social media. Whether you prefer to shoot your food with a smartphone or camera here a few points to keep in mind to capture the best photos of your food.
Use Natural Light
Natural Light is the key to making your food look beautiful and delicious. If are going to a restaurant, go at lunch at ask to be seated by a window. Just make sure there isn’t direct sunlight on your food causing harsh shadows, if so wait for a cloud for some cover, or diffuse (soften) the light yourself with a napkin. Artificial lights most often create unpleasant color casts on your food. If you are stuck with bad lighting and have to use your flash, try diffusing it with a thin napkin, or if you are with friend have them use the flashlight on their smartphone to light your plate. It will take a little playing around, but if you are serious about documenting that meal, you will figure it out.
Grilled Squid, Potatoes and butter…lots of butter
Hone your Focus
Instead of just focusing on the entire plate, try zoning in on one particular element. Such as the pat of butter on your baked potato, or a stream of syrup as it drips down a stack of pancakes. This will add visual interest to your photo and help draw the viewers eye to the most interesting part of the image, right where you want it.
Bread Pudding and Custard
Find A little Texture
Texture really adds dimension and interest to your images, so try to capture some in each photo. Like the texture of the crusty croutons on a salad, or chopped nuts on a brownie. Capturing the details of a dish in your photo will make your image look composed and thought out, not like it was just hastily snapped.
Real Cannoli
Try a Few Angles
Most food looks pretty good shot a 3/4 angle which is usually the angle you see your food at. Certain dishes look better shot from above, flatter dishes like pizza, crepes, and soups look good from this angle since they don’t have a lot of depth to them. Taller dishes like a stack of pancakes, a burger, or even ice cream can look really good from the side, which shows off their height. My best advice is to take a picture of your dish at all three angles and see which one looks the best.
Brie and dried cranberries
Capture the Color
A pop of color can really make your picture shine. Most restaurants add a garnish to the dish to enhance it and add a little bit more color. So try to capture that pop of color from the tomatoes in your salad, or the lemon wedges next to your shrimp scampi, or the avocado on your burger. The added colors will make your dish look fresher and more appealing.
Fresh Bruschetta
Those are my top tips for making your foodie photos look scrumdiddlyumptious! And hopefully extract jealous groans from every viewer on social media. If you want more tips on how to make your images even more drool worthy check out this Photography Course where you will learn the secrets that only the professionals know.