A Complete Guide to Food Photography

Whether you want to be a professional food photographer, or simply present your images on Instagram to grow your following, there are certain tips and techniques you should use to improve your skills. We have put together a comprehensive guide on food photography to take your pictures to the next level.

What is Food Photography? 

Well, simply speaking, it is photographs of food. But is that it? Well, no. Like any other genre of photography, food photography is an art and it can be used to breathe new life or give a whole new dimension to the food we eat. It can also be used commercially for advertising, marketing and more. 

Professional food photography is not just something for Instagram, it is a serious commercial venture. Restaurants make use of food photography for their menus and advertisements. You can also see food photography being used for food packaging etc. It can, in fact, be a very lucrative profession.

Getting Started with Food Photography

If you want to know how to photograph food, a good tip, to begin with, is to look at examples of professional food photography. You can find these on packaging, on the websites of retailers or high-end restaurants, on menus, and in the online portfolios of food photographers who actually work in this field. 

Studying these images will help you to understand what is expected within the industry. See how polished they look: it’s not as simple as snapping a shot of your lunch with your iPhone. 

There is a lot of work and thought that goes on behind the scenes to create even deceptively simple images. These food photography tips will help you to understand how the professionals do it.

We will now talk about some food photography tips and techniques to help you get started. To begin, here are camera and equipment requirements for food photography.

Here are 10 tips for shooting food photography:

1. Cameras and Equipment
   
2. Lens for Food Photography
3. Additional Equipment's
4. Styling and Staging
5. Camera Angles
6. Create a Hero Shot
7. Food Photography Lighting
8. Post-processing and Editing
9. Presentation
10. Food Photography Portfolio

1. Cameras and Equipment for Food Photography (Best DSLR Cameras)

While a lot of beginner food photographers start with something as simple as an iPhone, when you’re looking to get serious about food photography, procuring a good DSLR camera and equipment can make all the difference.

While full-frame digital cameras are often recommended by professionals, you can start out with a cropped sensor camera in the beginning. 

Cropped sensor cameras are more affordable but they behave differently with lenses and produce images that are slightly different. As the name suggests, they produce images that are slightly cropped. Full-frame cameras can cover a wider area.

Here are some recommendations for the best digital cameras for food photography, both full-frame and cropped sensors.

• Canon EOS 5D Mark IV (Full-frame)
• Nikon Z6 (Full-frame)
• Canon EOS Rebel T6i (Cropped sensor)
• Nikon D3400 (Cropped sensor)

2. What Lens is Ideal for Food Photography ?

Prime lenses or fixed lenses are often best for food photography. This is because they offer wider apertures and hence a greater control over depth of field. 

Either a 80mm or a 50mm prime lens is most often recommended for food photography when you are using a full-frame digital camera.

When you are using a cropped sensor camera, you will need to adjust your lens usage in accordance with your camera’s crop factor. 

When you multiply the focal length of your lens with the crop factor, you get the actual focal length that your images will seem like they were taken at. So, to achieve the effect of an 80mm lens with a cropped sensor camera with a crop factor of 1.6, you will have to use a 50mm lens.

It also helps to have a good macro lens which can help you make some really good detailed shots and close-ups.

3. Other Equipment for Food Photography

A tripod is a must-have when it comes to food photography. Tripods keep your camera stable and eliminate noise resulting from the camera shaking in your hand.

While a lot of food photographers prefer natural light for food photography, using artificial lighting can give you a lot more control in a studio set-up. It can be helpful to have some flashguns, moonlights, light stands and light bounces to help you adjust the lighting to your exact requirements.

Photography props are also a helpful and important addition when it comes to food photography. Keeping some pretty dinnerware and ceramics on hand as well as fancy cutting boards and napkins can help you set up and style your shots and produce beautiful results.

4. Styling and Staging for Professional Food Photography

Food styling is so complex and involved that there are professionals whose time is dedicated to just that. At the top level, food photographers work with stylists so that they don’t need to do this part themselves. 

However, as you begin improving your skills, you will likely have to know how to set up and style a good shot yourself. This will make your shots look like professional food photography from the start, giving you a better chance of getting hired on the strength of your portfolio.

The best food to photograph is something that looks appetizing even when it is cold, has been sitting in a studio set-up for hours, and has either a sauce or a crumbling texture which can be used to make an appealing note of imperfection. 

This isn’t easy to come by, however, and you might not get the perfect item to work with every time. This means you need to learn to work quickly, as food can melt, wilt, crumble, or fall in on itself under studio conditions. Use a stand-in plate to plan the shot, so you’re ready to go. A small trail or smear of sauce, a few crumbs, a scattered olive or sprig of herbs – these are the little details that can make food shots really interesting to look at. 

But note that when you look at professional examples, they aren’t dirty or messy. Everything is spotlessly clean, and the items or crumbs scattered around have been placed deliberately and artfully.

Spraying your food with water droplets or brushing it with oil, using natural light, and bouncing that light around to fill in shadows are key food photography tips. 

These create a more appetizing look, and the food should certainly be plumped up, propped up, pinned in place, and rearranged as necessary to give the appearance of fullness and richness.

Think about the comparison between fast food advertising and what the meal actually looks like in your hand – it can often be a massive difference!

You should strive for balance, employing techniques like the rule of thirds to fill your frame – or disobeying them for deliberate effect. And leading lines – like a fork or knife placed in the frame – can also be very effective. 

A food photography backdrop will come in very handy: you may want to invest in several to get some variety. These backdrops present a neutral yet suitable appearance, such as a wooden table, a Café setting, or so on. 

Interesting cutlery and crockery will also help with your staging, though they should never be more interesting than the food itself. The food is always the star in food photography!

5. Camera Angles for Food Photography

The most obvious shot to go for is directly above the food, pointing down at a perpendicular angle. However, this might not always be the most flattering way to take the picture – and if you are photographing something with height to it or different layers, none of that will be captured from above.

Instead, try putting your camera level with the food and shooting it from the front. Then go up to a 25-degree angle and a 75-degree angle. Compare all four shots against one another. 

Which is the most flattering for the dish you are capturing? Over time, you will begin to develop an instinctive feel for which of these common set-ups is right for each compositions. 

Make sure that you test everything before you are ready to start shooting for real because otherwise, you could waste a lot of time adjusting and re-styling – losing the best time to photograph the food.

You can use creative props such as wine glasses, cake stands, or just a plain cutting board to raise certain elements of the scene or create a more dynamic composition. 

If you do go in at a different angle, make sure that your food photography backdrop covers the whole space. You don’t want to set up a picture-perfect table only to have a messy background ruin it!

6. Create a Hero Shot

How do you ensure that the food remains the hero in your shot? One way to do it is through the use of depth of field. 

If you focus in closely on the food that you want to feature, while letting the background fade out of focus into a comfortable blur, you will keep that food as the main area of interest for the viewer. 

They will see it, while the background adds to the overall image without distracting.

Macro techniques – and lenses – can be very useful in food photography. However, you don’t want to rest on this as the only idea in your wheelhouse.

Consider what the biggest strength of the food you are shooting is. 

• Is it the shape, color, texture, or presentation? 
• Does it feature fresh ingredients which look vibrant and full? 
• Does it give an impression of being comfort food, or luxury, or a simple yet effective meal? 

When you understand why someone would want to buy the food, you can shoot in a way that emphasizes that strength. Maybe you will adjust your lighting to show the texture better, change your props, or utilize a different depth of field to show what you need to show. 

You should also think about the way that you use color in your images. Your background and props should usually be neutral or dark in order to remain in the background, while the rich colors of the food come through stronger.

7. Food Photography Lighting

Food photography lighting needs to be diffused. Natural light works best here but what do you do if it’s the middle of the day and the lighting is too bright? Hanging a white sheet over a window is a really good solution. It gives you beautiful, diffused light that spreads across the frame, rather than creating harsh shadows. 

You can also achieve this effect by using a large lightbox to encompass your whole setup. White tissue paper is the perfect filter – you can create your own by cutting out all of the sides and top from a cardboard box, leaving just the barest framework behind, and sticking tissue paper in its place. The light is diffused beautifully across the whole layout.

If you are photographing anything shiny – like a silver pan, a glass, or a liquid – then you may have noticed that you often show up in the reflections. 

This can give you a headache and many hours of unneeded post-production, so cut out this issue by creating a frame of white foam board or cardboard. Cut out a circle the exact size of your lens and poke it just through. The reflection will only show the circle of your lens – everything else will be smooth white.

Here is an essential guide to beginners photography lighting

8. Post-processing and Editing for Food Photography

You should think about the intended usage of your photographs when selecting your food photography backdrops and plates, and setting up the lighting. You may need to cut out the food from its background, which is easiest done on white. 

It’s a useful skill to have, and doing it with precision takes time and practice. Using Photoshop, you will need to select all white areas with the magic wand tool and delete them. If you have an item that is separated well enough from the background, this may be enough to do the job.

With more complex items, you may need to use path or other selection tools to be more precise. Working on a transparent background layer, you will need to work in .jpg unless specifically otherwise requested by your clients – in order to preserve the transparency when you save the finished image.

9. Presenting Your Food Shots

How do you present your food shots after you have taken them? This can be just as important as the skills in taking them in the first place.

You should think about the intended usage of your photographs when selecting your food photography backdrop and plates, and setting up the lighting. You may need to cut out the food from its background, which is easiest done on white. 

It’s a useful skill to have, and doing it with precision takes time and practice. Using Photoshop, you will need to select all white areas with the magic wand tool and delete them. If you have an item which is separated well enough from the background, this may be enough to do the job.

With more complex items, you may need to use path or other selection tools to be more precise. Working on a transparent background layer, you will need to work in .jpg unless specifically otherwise requested by your clients – in order to preserve the transparency when you save the finished image.

If you are able to leave some negative space in your shots – areas that are not taken up by subjects or noise – then this is a good technique to use. It means your photographs will be more useful, as text can be added to these spaces. 

Think of them sitting in a magazine layout, or on the packaging with space for barcodes and other information. 

Read more on Mobile Photography Tips

10. Creating Your Food Photography Portfolio

Every professional food photographer needs a stunning portfolio website. Your food photography portfolio website is the most important professional tool you have to promote and market yourself. 

Make sure to produce and put together a consistent collection of images with a clear style so that potential customers will know what to expect from your work. 

The photography website builder you choose should offer the flexibility, features, and ease of use you need to put together a professional food photography portfolio website without requiring any coding knowledge. That's where a bit of inspiration comes in handy. 

Even if you haven’t been hired yet, it’s a good idea to give yourself a brief – such as photographing a plate for a new restaurant’s launch advertisements, or a specific item for the purpose of packaging – and work to it. 

You can even make mock-ups of how the image would be used, in order to add these to your portfolio and demonstrate that you understand the needs of your clients.

7 Pro-Level Food Photography Tips

If you are ready to take your food photographs to the next level, there are a few things you can do to add that professional touch to your food shots. Here are some pro-level food photography tips to help you out.

1. Always Use a Tripod
2. Color Calibrate your Food Photos
3. Lines and Layers in Food Photography
4. Capture the Steam
5. Use Neutral Toned Food Photography Backdrops
6. Get Rid of the Clutter in Food Pictures
7. Use Negative Space

Always Use a Tripod

One great food photography tip is to start shooting tethered, with your camera on a tripod. If you are able to control the shutter from your screen, so much the better. 

This eliminates almost all camera shake and allows you to see the image in real-time on a much larger viewing platform than the LCD on your DSLR. This means you’re able to really spot any potential problems and create an image which is as perfect as possible.

Color Calibrate your Food Photos

Make sure that you use a color calibration palette to match up your colors perfectly with real life. You can calibrate your screen as well to see exactly how the image really looks, and then calibrate it again to the output settings of the printer that will be used to check that the colors still ring true. 

This may seem like an overly-complex and detailed process, but it’s essential for true-to-life colors guaranteed.

Lines & Layers in Food Photography

Lines and layers are the backbone of not just food photography but photography in general. Using lines and layers in your food photographs gives a sense of depth to your photos and prevents them from looking flat. 

Leading lines in the form of cutlery or other props can help you improve the visual flow of your photographs and lead the viewer’s eye to the main subject of the photo. You can use texture in the form of napkins, ceramics and the food itself to create layers and add dimension to the photographs. 

It is very easy in food photography to end up with flat photographs. Keeping this principle in mind can be of great help.

Capture the Steam

In food photography it can be extremely difficult to photograph a dish while it's still steaming hot. Steam rising from a hot dish can make it look more appetizing but this isn’t always easy to capture, especially if you miss those first few seconds before it starts to cool. 

The solution? Microwave some cotton balls which were previously soaked in water, then hide them behind the plate. Et voila! Home-made steam.

Use Neutral Toned Food Photography Backdrops

Food photography backdrops should always be neutral toned. Colorful backdrops can take away the focus from the main hero of the photograph, which is always the food. 

Think about historical still life oil paintings of fruit. The artists invariably use a black background to ensure that the brightly colored fruits like apples and bananas can pop vibrantly. You see the same principle in action when it comes to food photography. 

Food bloggers keep their backdrops either a stark white or dark toned to ensure that the food pops against the background. 

Get Rid of the Clutter in Food Pictures

This one seems obvious but you would be surprised at how many novice food photographers end up with a mess in the background of their photos. 

Remember that there is a difference between some artful flourishes and clutter. Make sure to wipe down the edges of your plate and brush off any little crumbs. 

Keep your background clean and intentional. A spoon or two as a prop are fine but the placement should be deliberate and not haphazard.You don't want to set up a picture-perfect table only to have a messy background ruin it! 

Use Negative Space

Do not overcrowd your food photographs with props. Negative space or empty space can give the eye some room to breathe and allow for more cohesive pictures. 

You don’t need to surround your dessert with all manners of berries or candy etc, instead, let your dish stand by itself as the hero of the show. 

Negative space can also give you the freedom to add elements like text, taglines, barcodes and prices etc which is handy when you are doing commercial food photography.

Here are some stunning Food Photography Portfolios to Inspire You

Anwita + Arun

Anwita + Arun are a creative duo from Noida, India who specialize in food photography, food styling, illustration and design. They work with a range of commercial clients including brands and advertising agencies. They also work with restaurants and hotels for menu photoshoots. 

Anwita and Arun are experts in creating unique food styling solutions in order to create stunning photographs. Their versatility and ingenuity is sure to inspire you! 

Maja Lewicz

Maja Lewicz is a product and food photographer and stylist based out of the Netherlands. Maja considers herself to be a storyteller who uses food and photography as her medium. 

Her backgrounds are often messy and intimate. She also incorporates people and hands in the background of her photographs. Through this, she is able to add a human dimension to her food photography and convey the joy of food and dining. 

Insy Chengappa

Insy Chengappa is a Dubai based food photographer and videographer. Insy mainly works with brands and restaurants for advertisements, menu photography, food styling etc. Apart from food photography, she also creates short food videos and recipe videos that can be used for advertising and social media. 

Her portfolio website is sure to give you a taste and understanding of what it means to be a professional food photographer. Do check out her portfolio website and see for yourself!

Doaa Elkady

Doaa Elkady is a New York City based food photographer specializing in emotive food photography for restaurants and brands. Doaa makes excellent use of natural light and colors in her work. 

She also produces recipe development photographs which is food photography that focuses on the individual steps in the cooking process of a dish. Check out her portfolio website for some mouthwatering visuals!

David Williams

David Williams is an American food photographer who works with clients worldwide. David is an avid photographer and food lover who specializes in vegan recipes, recipe development and photography. 

David’s passion for food photography stems from his educational background in nutrition as well as his love for photography. Check out his portfolio website for some stunning vegan food photography.

Conclusion

By following these tips and consistently practicing, you'll gain the expertise needed to capture mouthwatering food photographs, whether you're a beginner or aspiring to become a professional photographer, ultimately enhancing your ability to create a beautiful restaurant website that entices and delights visitors. 

Theory can only take you so far: it’s only when you actually start to do things that you will really get the hang of them for yourself.

Take as many food pictures as you can to get yourself up to that expert level, with your own tips and tricks added to those above.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I need for food photography?

A good digital camera, a 50mm prime lens and a tripod are some basic equipment you need to produce professional-level food photography. However, you do not have to start there. 

A good smartphone camera, an adjustable and portable phone stand and some good natural light are enough to help you get started with food photography as a beginner.

How do I get started in food photography?

If you are an absolute beginner, the best place to start with food photography is to simply watch and learn. You can look at food photographs in magazines, advertisements and food blogs and try to understand how they are shot and edited. Once you have done that, you can start out with a simple, inexpensive digital camera or even a good smartphone camera to try and find your footing.

What does a food photographer charge?

Just like other genres of photography, there is a lot of variabilities when it comes to food photography pricing scales. Most food photographers charge variable rates depending on their experience, how big the client is, the difficulty of the shoot, the number of shots expected and if there are props and styling required. 

Is food photography a lucrative profession?

Food photography and other forms of commercial photography are certainly lucrative, especially compared to portrait photography. This is because a food photographer is usually working with brands, business owners or agencies with much bigger budgets as compared to individual clients or families. Food photographers can also charge licensing fees in order to authorize the use of their images by clients in different media.