Interest in food photography services is growing like crazy, and it is no surprise. Today, we see a lot of blogs and magazines that take exquisite photographs of food. Food bloggers are getting Instagram influencers, major television show appearances — you name it. And rightfully so, food is one of the most engaging subjects to photograph because every single person loves to eat!
Food photography is divided into commercial food photography and menu food photography. Commercial food photography is quite different because the images are used for mass media, such as grocery stores. Menu food photography is used to promote a restaurant’s menu and to attract more customers. The specialty of commercial and menu food photography is to highlight the beauty and appeal of food by taking amazing photos. Food photography is one of the most difficult fields as it requires a lot of patience, creativity, perfection, and talent. Food photography is not only about food. It is about making the food look appealing to the eyes. I am sure most of you have had the experience of ordering a dish in a restaurant and it looks nothing like the picture on the menu. Decent food photography is not only appealing to look at, but it also adds to the overall impression of quality food. You have a product that you want to show people and make them buy, so it is best to present your food in a way that makes people know what they are eating. For example, if there are side dishes with the food, then you should also show these.
Essential Tips to Improve Your Food Photography
Food photography is an art which we should be good at to attract the optimum number of customers. To capture the right food photos, you need to have a prominent level of food photography skills and knowledge. Here are tips and tricks that will help in making your food look appetizing, and pleasing to the eyes, and will call for a keen interest in the subject.
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Fresh veggies
When you want to learn how to take pictures of food, the most important thing that you should consider are the ingredients. They play a significant role in how the entire image would turn out. You need to be careful with the selection of fruits and vegetables that you will use in your photography. Make sure to select only those that are fresh and healthy.
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Natural light
Ever wondered how professional food bloggers get their pictures to look so amazing and learn how to take food pictures? Lighting is certainly one of the most important aspects of food photography, although it is often overlooked by beginner bloggers. One of the most crucial elements when shooting food is utilizing natural light. It is what makes even the most average picture become a good one. A photo with natural light is usually going to come out looking better than one shot with artificial light.
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Presentation
Creative food photography is said to be an art, and it is. The best food photographers may use different techniques or tricks to enhance their food photography skills. But the most important thing they should need to know is that the presentation of the dish is very necessary for food photography. You can take food photos with a good background, but if you do not pay attention to your focal point, you may make uninteresting-looking images. In composing the photo, you need to eliminate the cluttering objects around the dish to avoid gathering unnecessary audience attention surrounding your dish.
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Study the Colors
Food photography is a huge part of food blogging and Instagram accounts. Different food bloggers use assorted color backgrounds to enhance their food photography ideas, it can solve this problem and make your food look lip-smacking if you know what color background you are going to apply for the food in your photograph. Tasty food photography is a skill that is dependent on a lot of factors like your food styling, background selection, and color palette, among others. The colors used can instantly make the picture stand out from the crowd. Using different colors in a food photoshoot is important because it would open the appetite of the viewers and stimulates the viewer’s appetite making them want to order food. Each color has a unique meaning and will attract several types of audiences, whether it be children or even adults.
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Food Photography Tips for Beginners
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Commercial & Human Element
One of the challenges when photographing food is to convey the ambiance and identity of the food that is being eaten. This can be achieved by setting up a strong composition, adding a human element, and showing the process of eating. A food set must depict a specific mood and style. For instance, you cannot show a restaurant’s fried chicken meal on a white plate and with only chopsticks because this setting is unappealing, excluding, and bland. This all falls under lifestyle food photography.
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HDR
Using a powerful technique like HDR, you can take your photos to the next level. Do not be afraid of using it since it’s one of the important photographing food tips, if you do it correctly, you will have professional-looking results. Food photography is no easy task. It includes the talent, skills, and dedication to be able to creatively capture food. But there are tricks to it. HDR or High Dynamic Range is a set of photographic tools used for capturing photos that may have extremes of dark or light in a single shot. It is used to compensate for situations that require both underexposure and overexposure in a single photo.
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Shoot Directly After the Food is Cooked
We all believe in the saying “the eyes eat before the mouth” and so no one wants to look at boring photographs of cold pasta and dry hot dogs. One of the most successful ways to shoot food photography is taking pictures of the food directly after it is cooked and prepared because no one is interested in seeing a wet soggy pasta dish.
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Use Props
One of the most important things in food photography, besides the quality of your photos and a good-looking blog, is to have one more thing – props. Props improve all types of photos, but especially photography of food. Since it is incredibly challenging to take a photo of a full dish, you will surely need some more elements to make your shot interesting and more appealing to the eye. You can also collaborate with food stylists who are professionals in designing the mood and vibe of the shoot by adding props and everything needed to get good shots.
