I think food is really challenging to photograph, but the results can be so amazing. It’s not just the food itself that has to look good, but how it’s plated, how it’s garnished, what the background looks like and how its all lit. Food photography is an incredible skill and I’ve become suddenly obsessed with learning about it. Read on for some tips, observations and links to learn more…

What I’ve discovered is that the light in my kitchen is only good for photography in the very early morning, so after baking 4 different kinds of muffins over the weekend, I had to improvise or wait until the next day to shoot. Seriously, there were muffins EVERYWHERE. I don’t know what had gotten into me, but I was on a total baking jag (blueberry crumble, banana crumble, strawberry chocolate chip and cheddar bacon).

After many failed and sad looking images, my husband, Shayne, suggested that I shoot in the plastic toddler kitchen because the light looked really good. Great idea! I think these shots are funny. The only post-production work I did was to boost the levels a bit in Photoshop and do a little cropping.

Shayne took this yummy shot in the light of our office. It was funny, we were dragging muffins all over the house chasing the light. I think it is a great shot because of the little splash of light on the top of the muffins. The shot is also all about the muffin, not the background, the plate or any garnishes. I want to eat it up!

Here are some very basic suggestions for shooting food. I get these suggestions from lots of reading and only some food photo experience. It could take a lifetime to master this particular skill, but in the meantime, here are some first steps to think about:

1) Shoot using natural light, as from a window or doorway. Splashes of light on the food can look great as long as they’re not too bright. If there is too much direct light, put some diffusion on the window, such as sheers or tissue paper. Don’t forget to turn off the flash.

2) Use lots of fill light. Use a bounce card or large sheet of white paper to bounce light into the shadow areas.

3) Be aware of the background. Shooting in a kitchen can look great as long as there are no piles of dishes in the background.

4) Rather than shooting a lot of wide shots, try shooting very close-up on the food. You will have good results if you use a medium or wide angle lens pretty close to the food. If you can’t get the food in focus this close, use the Macro button on your camera. Experiment with different lenses, zooming in and out to get the shot you want.
5) Rather than shooting from high above, try lowering your camera to just above the level of the food ranging from a 10-45-degree angle. Take a number of shots at different heights to see what looks best.

6) If you want to shoot dinner and it will be eaten up by the time the sun comes out again, try bringing a lamp over to the food and steady your camera with a tripod or brace it on something solid. If you still need additional light, tape a small piece of regular copy paper to your flash to diffuse the light and keep it from looking too harsh.

7) To tell if you have a successful shot, you should want to eat it up! If you have a photo editing program, try boosting the levels to brighten the image if it looks dull. Some creative cropping can also help to highlight the food itself and not the background.
If you’re interested in more about food photography, here are some interesting links. First is the interview I did with food photographer and stylist, Matt Armindariz.

This is a great article by food writer, Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes.

Here is an extensive article about lessons in food photography, by professional food photographer, Michael Ray.

Here are my favorite food (and photography) blogs:

Matt Bites

Still Life With

La Tartine Gourmande

Cream Puffs in Venice

Cafe Fernando