Food photography is the most demanding and rewarding genre of photography which is also becoming increasingly popular in the lats few years, with the spring up of social media. Food photographers capture attractive images of food products like beverages, restaurant’s food that show their textures and color etc. In this article, you will find complete guidelines and tips to capture mouthwatering images of food that will take your food photography to another next level.
Scope and importance of food photography
In this digital era where use of social media is increasing, we capture our food before taking a bite and shared that captured images with our friends on social media. Food photography paly a crucial role in making your dishes more attractive. A well-captured photo can make more adorable to a simple dish. Food photography is use for many reasons such as for promoting food products, cookbooks, food blogs and on social media to attract more viewers. Many businesses like restaurants, bakeries and beverages industries etc need better food photography to promote their business. Therefore food photography is very important for making food more attractive.
Equipment needed for food photography
In addition to basic camera, you will also need some equipments to take your food photography to a next level. Here is the complete details of essential equipment needed for food photography.
Camera settings for food photography
Camera setting is the most basic and essential need to enhance food photography. In food photography, it is not necessary to take shots from an expensive camera. A DSLR or mirror-less with manual settings is ideal for food photography. Even you can also use your smartphone’s camera to capture food photos with essential camera settings. Therefore before taking a shot, adjust your camera settings such as aperture, ISO, Shutter speed and exposure time according to your need. These camera settings will make a huge difference in the final images.
The right lens for food photography
The right lens is very crucial for taking desired food images. The use of a macro-lens is best option to choose in food photography to take a close-up shot of your dish that will enables you to enhance your food photography. Invest your money in 50mm prime lens that will help you to focus on food with beautiful blurred background effect. Experiment with a wide range of lenses for creating versatility in your food photography.
Use a tripod stand
The tripod stand is best option to choose, when you have to shoot in lit light environment or shutter speed is very slow. A tripod stand provide you a complete control over camera movements and enables you to capture more focused image without any blurring effect. Use a lightweight tripod stand that you can easily adjust and accommodate at various angles for a versatile shots.
Use of Props and backgrounds in food photography
The use of props and backgrounds is very crucial to make food photo more interesting, attractive and story tellers for viewers. Experiment with different props and backgrounds to enhance your food photography. For example, make use of candles, wooden boards, printed fabrics for table cloth or napkin and unique utensils that showcase your creative skills of photography and make your dish more attractive.
Lighting techniques for food photography
Lighting is the key to achieve desired photos and making your food photos mouthwatering and delicious. Here are some tips for lighting techniques in food photography:
Use of natural and artificial light for food photography
Natural light is the basic need in food photography to take desired shots. For taking an attractive shots, use natural light coming from a window as it will be diffusing and gives an aesthetic look in photos. Avoid to shoot in direct sunlight, as direct sunlight cause harsh shadows and gives a poor image. Artificial light is very useful for indoor food photography, enables you to shots with greater intensity and gives you full control over time. You can use artificial light at any time and can adjust direction of light according to your need. Therefore use both natural and artificial light to enhance your food photography.
Light setting for food photography
Understand different lighting effect to achieve optimal results in your photos. The controlling and directing light is very essential in food photography. To avoid harsh light and unwanted shadows, use some light diffusers such as umbrella lights or soft-box. These reflectors are helpful to create a balanced and attractive images.
Tips for food photography
Here are some useful and creative tips for food photography that will help you to take desired interesting and attractive photos of your dishes.
Way to arrange food for food photography
Food presentation in better way play a crucial role in creating a desired and attractive food photos. Arrange the food in plate in such a way that maintain the composition and balanced. Experiment with different ways, printed fabrics, angles and background colors to create an attractive image that can make your viewers mouthwatering. You can use souses, props or garnish to enhance the overall presentation of your dish. Try to present your dish in more beautiful and creative way to attract more viewers.
Choosing color and texture of props and backgrounds
When it comes to color and texture of props and backgrounds, choose the one that compliment with your dish and make your dish more attractive. Avoid to use any props that can create distraction in your images. Play with different colored props, unique utensils, plates to create more attractive food images.
Post processing techniques
After capturing mouthwatering images, now it’s time to enhance their quality and overall look. Understand different post processing software to use for creating more attractive images. These software enables you to remove any distraction, adjusting white balance and managing colors in images. Keep remember avoid to do over editing, maintain the natural look of images. So in post processing enhance the overall look but avoid to give it artificial look.
Principles of food photography
Food photography is a unique and rewarding genre of photography that requires creative skills for capturing food image in such a way that it capture the color, texture and flavor of dish and making the viewers mouthwatering. For such food photography, you need to understand some basic principles of photography. Don’t worry, here I’m sharing complete guidelines and tips that you must know for enhancing your food photography skills.
Take focused images
The focused images are very important for creating mouthwatering close up. You can use auto-focus or manual focus settings in your camera for taking a focused and sharp image. So experiment with different depths of field to create desired focused images. Take image with light blurred background and a sharp focus on main subject for an attractive image. Make sure a great focus on your main subject to create mouthwatering images.
The rule of third
The rule of third is the most popular guideline for food photography. Composing your image is the creative way to place elements within the frame to create visual appealing images. According to rule of third, place your main subject in the left or right third of frame or along the lines of frame and leaving the remaining part open. Play with different angles, such as overhead shots, close ups, or table Hight angle to capture the food from its best angle that can make it more attractive and mouthwatering.
Conclusions
Recently, food photography is becoming more popular and rewarding genre of photography that enables you to showcase your creative and professional skills of photography. Do experiment, practice and understand the various lighting techniques, different props and backgrounds to capture attractive images. By following the guidelines and tips that are mentioned in this article, you can enhance and take your food photography to another next level!
