Food Phototography Tips!

I thought I'd share a quick post about food photography.  It seems like nowadays everyone is taking photos of food - from the recipes they made off of Pinterest to the lunch they had at the local food truck.  As a former chef, I love it.  Best part is anyone can do it!  You don't have to have an expensive camera to pull off some great shots.  Here are a few tips to get you started.

#1 Use fresh ingredients.  Wilted garnishes look horrible.  Sometimes the local farmer's market isn't the best place to go for super fresh.  Lots of times the stuff at the supermarket is as good as it gets as far as fresh.  Here are some cool heirloom tomatoes I found today.

#2 Lighting, lighting, and lighting!  A lot of pro's shoot back lit photos - meaning the light source is behind the food.  I love this approach.  In addition to direction of light, type of light is crucial.  Try to use natural light if you can.  Place your subject by a window or an open doorway to catch that sunlight coming through.

#3 Keep your props/plates. silverware, etc. clean.  A spot on a fork or a smudge on a plate can ruin a photo of food.  Clean your shot before you take it!

#4 Use real, edible food.  I can't stand photos of food that look fake - because it is.  Use real, fresh food.  It's beautiful and you can eat it when you're done.

 

#5 You don't have to shoot the finished product.  Raw ingredients like marbled steak or fresh fish are fun to shoot.

#6 Shoot your breakfast/lunch/dinner.  Make someting cool for dinner?  Take 2 minutes to shoot it.  If you don't have natural light because it's dark out,  improvise.  I took a quick photo of this pizza tonight by using the light over my cutting board.  Not perfect but it doesn't need to be!  (ps the pizza was really good)

 #7 Have fun with it!  Post your dinner on Facebook.  Everyone likes food, so why not?