Food photography is more of an art that requires a lot of time, consideration and fine adjustments. Food photography is obviously one of the most challenging types of photography, yet a great fun one. Your food photography should be as delicious to the eyes as it is to the taste buds. Here are ten quick tips to improve your food photography and get the food shots you've always dreamed of.
1. Shoot on a Tripod
Always use a tripod to shoot food photography. It can free up your hands, allowing you to style your dish and focus more on your shot. The most important thing is to ensure that the camera is on a flat surface and placed in an exact position.
2. Understand the Lighting
If you have built-in flashes on your camera, you should forget about it. You should also avoid using on-camera flash as it might look awkward on food. You will end up getting strange and unappealing shadows on your food or on the plate. Move around the shooting area to find out the best lighting for your shoot. Natural light always works wonders for your food photography. You can attain great results using natural light. You can also control the natural lighting using black or white foam core boards.
3. Choose your Angle
Decide upon how you want to shoot your food like how close do you want to shoot your food? You want to cover the whole food or just a part of it? You can add creativity to your shoot by adjusting your angle. Many people prefer taking food photos in horizontal format, but in actuality, it's more comfortable to work with a vertical format. This can give large photos which can be posted up in your blog or portfolio.
4. Choose Background Colors that Complement the Food
You can opt for the contrast colors to get better shots. For a pale colored food you can choose a dark background and for a vibrant colored food you can choose a simple white background. You can also choose a background based on the overall style and mood of the food. The most frequently used background colors by professional food photographers are white, light blue, yellow, gray and black.
5. Keep your Food Looking Fresh
Keeping your food looking fresh for the photo shoot is the most important factor. Food is naturally prone to oxidizing and oxidation of the food can change the color of the food and make it look dull. You can use cooking spray, vegetable oil, water or glycerin to make the food look fresh. And always remember that during the post photo shoot processing do not over-saturate the colors in the food as it will make the food look weird and unattractive.
- Make Use of Props - but not too Many
Think of the recipe and choose appropriate props that can make the photo more interesting and can narrate a story about the food. The props you choose should match the food. Do not forget that props are just secondary thing. So do not use more props and drag the eye of the viewers away from the food. Ensure that there is a right balance between the food and the props. You can always choose white crockery which goes well with the food. You can also vintage crockery and cutlery to lure the viewers.
7. Use a Limited Quantity of Food
Overstuffed plate can make the food photography look less appealing. Think about how you can make best use of the limited food and the space on the plate.
8. Create Texture
The food plays an important role in your photography, so make it look delicious and tempting. Garnish your food with herbs and spices used in the recipe. It can add color and enhance the look of a food. You can use salt, sugar and spices sprinkled around or on the food to bring life to the food.
9. Embrace the Natural Beauty of the Food
Know about the recipe, what makes it look delectable and then decide about the way to exhibit it. Always try to make the food look natural. Don't miss on the drips, spills and other messiness of the food. We feel the over dramatically posed images spoil the picture and the same rule applies for food too. Getting a bit messy can add life to your food photography. Specially, Indian food photography can be more fun because of its vibrant colors and use of the abundance of spices and herbs, which can be tempting to your eyes as well as taste buds.
10. Practice
To become a great food photographer it requires a lot of practice and hard work. Look at the photos of your favorite food photographers, try to replicate those photos and learn from your mistakes.
All right! Hopefully, some of these tips can be of great help to you and can inspire you to take your food photography to the next level. So, what are you waiting for, take your camera out and shoot a lot.