“Food is essential to life, therefore, make it good.”
Nowadays, S. Truett Cathy’s quote should have been slightly different. The founder of Chick-fil-A might have rephrased his words to this: “Food is essential to life, therefore, photograph it good.” Today’s world is all about visibility, showing off. You didn’t eat it if you don’t have a picture of it, and you better be sharing it, too! As the #instafood hashtag reaches almost 46 million on Instagram, you can be sure that mobile food photography is more than just a trend. Here are some insights into the world of contemporary food photography so that when you get that perfect dish, you’ll know exactly what to do.
One-Man Show
Let’s face it, you’re not going to hire a food stylist or a professional photographer, or rent expensive lighting equipment just to shoot the food you’ve made or are about to eat – unless of course, you’re a chef or a restaurant owner. It’s more likely that you’re sitting down to a romantic dinner in a fancy restaurant, preparing an extravagant Sunday brunch or grabbing a quick dirty-water hotdog off the street on your way home from work. Lucky for you, you’ve got the perfect camera for that – the one that’s in your back pocket or purse. And in that case, you are your own stylist, you create your own lighting and you’ll be shooting your own photo – but not to worry! With a few simple rules, you’re sure to master all three.
Style Your Food
There isn’t one way to style your food, it depends on many things: the food’s colors, textures, ingredients, the plate or bowl it is served on – to name just a few. Moreover, you’ll want to develop your own style: it could be a certain angle that appeals to you, objects or utensils that appear in every one of your food photos, a particular kind of plate, a special surface or a combination of it all. Remember, even no-style can be a style, so don’t try to turn your dish into something it’s not or go crazy with unnecessary extras that will keep the eye busy, instead of focused on the food. Be consistent and keep one priority in mind: making your subject look tempting and appealing because after all, that’s what it’s all about.
Light it Up
The quiet-dark-romantic-corner table is always the most coveted one at a restaurant, right? Wrong. The best table for a foodstagrammer is the one that’s right where the light is – near a window during the day or right under the lights (preferably soft ones!) if it’s nighttime. If you’re still stuck with a dark, badly-lit table, try different angles or different plate positions to maximize the light you do have. The ability of today’s smartphone cameras to cope with low-light situations is better than ever. Whatever you do, don’t use the flash. Natural light is always better than that white, artificial one. Any artificial light, especially if it’s direct, tends to exaggerate shadows and texture, distort shape and color and add unwanted glare. Remember, you can increase brightness and experiment with Perfectly clear’s Clarity tool or snapseed's to correct dimly-lit images, but you won’t always be able to darken burned areas.
Well-Composed Food
A well-composed photograph is something that is noticed immediately, but those that are badly composed are sure to stick out like a sore thumb. Arrange the objects within your photograph in a way that will make them stand out. You’ll want to follow the basic rules of composition with food photography as well.
Be aware that putting a single object right in the middle of the picture is likely to bore your viewer. Always remember the rule of thirds – heck, you don’t even have to anymore – almost every smartphone camera nowadays has the option of adding a 9-part grid layout (tip: to do this on iPhone, simply go to Settings > Photos & Camera > Grid). You’ll want to put that basket of fried chicken or that warm slice of apple pie, right along the grid’s intersections, which is where the human eye will naturally be drawn.
Stay Focused
Another fundamental element of a well-composed food photo is focus. With Enlight’s Tilt-Shift tool, it’s easy to experiment with depth of field and create focus points that lead the viewer’s eye to the most important aspect of the picture
Your waitress just handed you a mouthwatering bacon cheeseburger, topped with a fried egg and caramelized onions? That’s your main subject. But you also probably ordered a small plate of french fries along with it, didn’t you? Keep those iconic yellow fries in your burger photo, but place them deliberately in the background. Be sure to defocus that area when post-processing. People will be able to tell that the blurry yellow things behind that juicy, well-focused burger are french fries, and you’ve just added interest and another object to your image without compromising the main subject.
Framing and Angles
Framing your object is very important when dealing with food, and the correct angle is crucial for that. The most popular angles used by food photographers are 45 degrees (shooting from the point-of-view of someone seated at the table) or 90 degrees (from directly above the food).
The rule of thumb when dealing with multiple dishes, flat food (i.e. pizza, cookies, omelettes) or soups is to hold or mount the camera right above the table. Align the main objects along the 9-grid intersections for that extra touch. Alternatively, when you shoot one dish, you’ll want to use the 45-degree angle. Don’t be afraid to frame your photo in a way that cuts out part of the subject, with food it’s often best when it’s “in your face”. Combining a good frame and angle with a carefully contemplated composition and a touch of focus will ensure an #instafood hit .
Play With Your Food
Now that you’ve mastered the technical aspects of food photography, it’s time to get think outside the box! Remember what your mother said about playing with food? Well, forget about it and start doing the opposite. If you want to stand out among all the Instagram foodies, you need to play with your food – you need to tell a story.
Telling a story with food can be quite easy, just ask Japanese moms how they make the “Bento”, the famous Japanese lunch box for their kids. Rice and seaweed are rearranged as panda bears, hot dogs as octopuses and carrots as flowers – each lunch box gets a life of its own.
Shoot Fast
As always with photography – timing is crucial. You’ll want to shoot your food as soon as it arrives at your table or as soon as you take it out of the oven. Otherwise, you risk getting bad photos and ultimately eating cold food, if your hundredth attempt to get the perfect angle and composition for that steak fails yet again. Ignore this advice and your food photo could end up on @cookingforbae or Someone Ate This, the online halls of shame for food photography. Oh, and one more thing: make sure you know the food photography policy of the restaurant you’re dining in. Some (for unknown reasons) completely ban food photography, while others welcome it or even create special plates for us enthusiastic foodstagrammers!
Edit Later
I get it, you really want your followers to see what you’re about to eat as soon as possible, and only after you’ve edited to perfection. However, don’t be that guy. Holding your smartphone in weird poses while your food gets cold or not uttering a word because you are too busy debating between different filters is a surefire way to annoy those you’re dining with. Dedicate time to edit comfortably at your own pace. A great edit or a carefully curated collage of your meal may mean the difference between a mediocre image and a perfect one.
“Food is Essential to Life…”
Most importantly, don’t forget to eat! Enjoy your food and revel in the fact that food photography will only add to your gastronomic experience. You’ll start to notice colors and textures you would not have noticed otherwise, be exposed to a whole new community of food and photo lovers and learn to preserve memories of events or personal cooking successes with your own succinct style. Just remember, (in the improvised words of the late S. Truett Cathy) if you are going to photograph your food, you better make it look good. Bon Appétite!
