There's nothing like looking through a restaurant's menu, website, or social media and finding shot after shot of mouth-watering goodness. Good food photos aren’t just pleasing, they’re important for the livelihood of your food business.
Think about it: Have you ever seen food photography that looks unappetizing or boring, only to write off the brand? That's what makes it so important to give some special attention to your photos.
The good news is that there's no need to hire a professional food photographer or buy sophisticated equipment. In this article, we'll go over some key food photography tips to help you take the best photos, no matter your budget.
1. Choose Your Background
The right setting and props can make a boring photo into a work of culinary art. Can you use a clean background to balance out a detailed food item? Or can you use a whimsical or aspirational background to tell a story, or transport your viewers to another world?
This is your chance to create a unique aesthetic and brand image for your business. If it's a plant-based brand, consider natural-looking backgrounds, for instance.
When selecting your backdrop, pick something that highlights your dish rather than competing with it. A plain surface can work wonders by keeping all eyes on your meal. At the same time, incorporating tableware, linens, and a few carefully chosen accessories can help communicate your brand's personality.
Try adding simple props, like eating utensils and a napkin. This helps the viewer think about eating right now, which will make them more likely to follow your brand or spend money.
Another tip is to decorate the background with ingredients used in the dish. If you have a garnish on top, sprinkle it around the area too. If you use fresh fruit or veggies, arrange them around the plate. You can also add other props like fabrics and home decor items.
2. Set Up Lighting
Lighting is another important element that can make the difference between effective food photos and bland (or even gross-looking) ones. You can opt for natural light or artificial lighting, depending on the dish you're photographing and your access to good natural light.
One of the key things to remember is to avoid harsh light. This usually happens when your light source is too close to your food, creating shadows or excessively bright spots, or accenting the wrong parts of the dish.
You can avoid this by putting your lighting to the side of the food instead of directly in front of it, and making sure the light source is far enough away that you can't see shadows or bright spots.
As a general rule, use natural light whenever you can. If you have a well-lit room, try placing your photography table near it. If you don't have access to natural light, try buying an affordable light and light diffuser. These tools can help brighten up your photos while avoiding the harsh lighting faux pas.
Good illumination brings out the texture of your dishes and sets the right mood for your images. Gentle, dispersed light creates even coverage, while intense, direct light can cast unwanted shadows. Consider using a large, gentle light source like a window with frosted glass or a softbox attachment. You can also take your setup outdoors to work with daylight.
Different dishes benefit from light coming from various directions. Overhead illumination works great for full table spreads, straightforward frontal lighting suits social media posts well, and angled lighting from the side can add drama to individual ingredients.
3. Arrange Your Food
How you plate your food is a key part of an ideal first impression. The right arrangement builds the baseline for the aesthetic you're creating with your food pictures.
Here are some tips for great plating:
- Make sure your food is the star of the photo. Generally speaking, the food you want to capture should be in the middle of your photo. You can accent this by putting it in the middle of the plate with extra room on the sides of the plate to create a sense of spaciousness and draw the viewer's focus.
- Don't be afraid to think like an artist. Try putting sauce in a squeeze bottle to draw beautiful lines on the plate, or using a pair of tweezers to get the flower garnish in just the right place. Some of the most eye-catching food shots pay an incredible amount of attention to detail.
- Plate food based on the nature of the meal. If you're photographing something more colorful and naturally "chaotic," like a salad, you won't need to perfectly arrange each piece. But if your food focuses on design, like a decorative cake for example, use your plating to create a sense of order and balance.
4. Test Different Framings and Angles
Shooting food photography directly from the top is a popular strategy for professional food photographers. But it's certainly not the only way. Try experimenting with different framings by shooting at different angles and using different shooting styles.
For example, you might have a beautiful charcuterie board that's best seen from the top. But you might have a triple-decker sandwich with a cross-section, requiring a side shot.
Photograph food from every angle you can think of, then narrow down the best options after.
Also consider experimenting with shooting styles, like using depth of field to focus on certain parts of the dish and leaving other areas out of focus. This is an extra level of artistic touch, and can help you highlight some interesting textures.
When composing your shots, remember that too many elements can distract from your main subject. While centering your dish might seem intuitive, it doesn't always create the most engaging image. Try dividing your frame into three equal sections both horizontally and vertically, then position your main subject along these grid lines to capture attention more effectively.
5. Stabilize Your Camera
Keeping your camera steady is essential for capturing sharp, professional-looking images. If you’ve got shaky hands, then your photos will be blurry and you’ll miss the finer details of your dishes.
Mount your camera on a tripod or camera stand to eliminate movement and ensure a clearer image. A tripod with adjustable controls allows for precise positioning, making it easier to capture your subject from exactly the right perspective. Camera stands are particularly useful when you need to quickly shift between vertical and horizontal orientations.
For overhead shots that showcase the full spread of a meal, photographers often rely on overhead mounting systems or boom arms to hold the camera stable above the table. This setup is perfect for capturing flat lays and table scenes from directly above.
6. Edit Your Food Pictures
After your photo session, consider making light touch-ups using a photo editing app.
You could use a paid tool like Adobe Lightroom, if your budget permits. But don't forget that many free photo editing tools are available.
When making edits, remember to take a conservative approach. For example, you can make light edits to the shading and color balance to help your food images to look more natural and appealing.
Other tips to keep in mind:
- Adjust the sharpness to give the edges of the image more definition.
- Use a warmer white balance to make the food look more appetizing.
- Add more contrast between the dark and light parts of the image to increase its detail.
- Increase the saturation of your food photographs slightly to expose the subject's colors.
Besides software editing, think of some interesting ways to play with your food. Some ideas include making biscuits that look like cute animals or using dough to sculpt a landscape. A unique approach to food photography will improve your chances of attracting social media users. Plus, you'll get unique media assets for a food blog should you decide to start or contribute to one in the future.
Remember that your food photos should match what customers see when they order from you. Poor expectation management can damage your brand substantially, as people aren’t fans of getting excited about delicious food only to get something that doesn’t meet that expectation.
Advanced Food Photography Techniques
Ready to take your food photography to the next level? Here are some advanced techniques that can help you create even more stunning images:
Experiment with Different Lenses
Your choice of lens can make a huge difference. Macro lenses allow you to get extremely close to your subject, capturing tiny details like individual grains of salt or the texture of a pastry crust. These lenses have extended focal lengths and higher magnification capabilities compared to standard lenses.
For truly unique perspectives, probe lenses feature a long, narrow barrel that can fit through tight spaces. Imagine shooting through a donut hole or capturing the perspective of a chef.
Use Light Modifiers and Filters
You can soften any light by placing diffusion materials between your light source and your subject. Professional photographers use specialized diffusion products, but even a simple white sheet can work well in a pinch.
For added visual interest, special filters can create effects like light streaks emanating from bright points in your image. They’re perfect for making a cocktail glass or candle look more dramatic. Light modifiers like nets and flags help you control where light falls, either blocking it completely or gradually reducing its intensity in specific areas.
Try Focus Stacking
Focus stacking is a technique where you take multiple photos of the same subject with different focus points, then use software to merge them into one image where everything is sharp. This is particularly useful for extreme close-ups where it's physically impossible to keep everything in focus in a single shot.
Professional cameras with large sensors make this easier, but smartphone users can also experiment with focus stacking using dedicated apps.
Ensure Accurate Colors
Getting colors right is crucial when photographing food, but it can be tricky. A color checker tool can help you achieve accurate colors during editing. Place it in your shot during the photo session, and later use specialized software plugins to calibrate your images based on those reference colors, ensuring your food looks as true-to-life as possible.
Monitor Your Images in Real-Time
Connect your camera to a computer so you can review your photos on a larger screen while shooting. Programs like Adobe Lightroom and Capture One work with most major camera brands and automatically transfer images to your computer, eliminating the need to import photos later or worry about filling up memory cards. Viewing your work immediately on a bigger screen helps you catch problems early so you can fix them on the spot.
Understanding Camera Settings for Food Photography
If you're using a DSLR or mirrorless camera, understanding manual settings will give you much more control over your final images. Here are the key settings to consider:
Aperture
Aperture determines how much light enters your camera and affects how much of your image is in focus. It's measured in f-stops, and lower numbers mean wider openings and more light. A wide aperture (like f/2.8) creates a shallow focus area, blurring the background, while a narrow aperture (like f/22) keeps more of the scene sharp from front to back.
For food photography with a full-frame camera, a middle-range setting like f/11 typically produces the sharpest results, balancing overall clarity with fine detail.
Shutter Speed
Shutter speed controls how long your camera's sensor is exposed to light. Slower speeds (like 1/15th of a second) let in more light but can blur motion, which is useful when working with natural light. Faster speeds (like 1/1,000th of a second) freeze action, perfect for capturing dynamic shots like liquid being poured or bubbles rising in a drink.
When using flash, check your camera's flash sync speed (commonly 1/200 second). Faster speeds will reduce ambient light in your image, giving you more control over your lighting when using artificial light sources.
ISO
ISO adjusts how sensitive your camera is to light. Lower values (like 100) work best in bright conditions and produce the cleanest images with minimal visual noise. Higher values (like 3,200) are more light-sensitive but create more noise, which can muddy colors and obscure shadow details.
For food photography, use the lowest ISO you can while still getting proper exposure. Check your camera's native ISO (usually between 100 and 200) for optimal image quality.
White Balance
Different light sources have different color temperatures, measured in Kelvin. Incandescent bulbs produce warm, orange-tinted light (around 2,700 K), while overcast daylight appears cooler and bluer (around 6,000 K). Your camera's white balance setting helps correct these color casts.
Avoid mixing warm and cool light sources in the same shot, as this creates color balance issues that are difficult to fix later. If you're using daylight or flash, turn off any artificial lights in the room.
Becoming a Skilled Food Photographer
As you can see, shooting food photography isn't as tough as it might seem. As a beginner, the top things to keep in mind are your background, lighting, plating, framing, and some light-touch editing.
It's likely that you'll need to pick up some new skills, but this shouldn't deter you from diving in. Like any new skill, when you approach it with an open mind and a willingness to learn as you go, you'll be surprised at what you can accomplish.
Now get out there and take some irresistible food pictures.
Food Photography FAQ
Can You Take Good Photos of Food With Your Phone?
You can definitely take good food pictures with your phone. There’s a reason why so many people say, “phone eats first.” Just follow our food photography tips to get the best shot. With the quality of smartphone cameras improving, you don't need a DSLR camera to take good pictures of food.
How Do You Make Food Look Good in Pictures?
- Choose an appropriate background that complements your dish without distracting from it.
- Arrange your plating and cutlery before you start taking pictures.
- Experiment with different angles, frames, and depths-of-field.
- Light the food from the side rather than the front, using soft light. Plus, choose true-to-life colors over grays and blues.
- Stabilize your camera on a tripod to ensure sharp, clear images.
- Lightly edit your images for saturation, contrast, and sharpness to help bring out the warmer colors of your food.
How Do You Take Food Pictures Without Shadows?
To prevent shadows when photographing food, steer clear of direct, intense sunlight and position a large, gentle light source near your subject. Taking pictures outdoors in shaded areas or near a window with indirect light will yield the best results. Using diffusion materials between your light source and your food can also help create even, shadow-free illumination.
What Camera Settings Should You Use for Food Photography?
When photographing culinary subjects, keep your ISO setting as minimal as possible to reduce grain and digital artifacts. Select an aperture around f/11 to achieve maximum sharpness while maintaining adequate depth. Adjust shutter speed based on available illumination and whether motion is involved. Match your white balance to your lighting conditions, avoiding combinations of different light types. Capturing images in RAW format provides greater post-processing flexibility.