Video:How to Photograph Food

Transcript:How to Photograph Food

Hi I'm Chris Davis for About.com.  Let's review some tips and techniques for photographing food.

Prepare the Photo's Setting First

One of the most important steps to photographing food is being prepared.  You want to have everything positioned where you want it before you introduce the food.  Serving dishes, table clothes, props, lights, camera and tripod.  Food doesn’t keep it’s appetizing look long.  As it sits in a plate it will cool off, wilt, or melt changing it's appearance. 

As you are preparing your scene consider how to stage your food. Using props is important.  Utensils, glasses, and garnishes will add to the overall composition.  At first use white dishes.  They are simple, clean-looking and won't detract from your food.   However, experimenting with solid colored plates, cutting boards, and cooking sheets can provide an interesting contrast to some foods.  And remember to keep the background clean and clutter free. Neutral colors will help keep the food the center piece.

Lighting for Food Photography

Once the scene is set, lighting becomes key.  Depending on the effect you are looking for you will want to incorporate exterior lights.   Brightly lit, smooth even lighting that has little or no shadows is what you are trying to achieve.  This will help accentuate your subject.  However, experiment a little.  Light can also create some dynamic effects.  Adding shadows on one side of the food will create a different feel than a smoothly lit scene.  If you don't have additional lighting try to use natural light.  Move your subject next to a window or shoot outside.  Most of all avoid using the flash on your camera.  It will create harsh, uneven lighting.  The exception is in the case of adding foreground fill.

Use a Tripod

Since you will be shooting very close to your subject and possibly using macro mode a tripods is mandatory.  It will keep your image steady as well as eliminate any blurs or streaks from camera shake.  Also set your ISO as low as possible.  This will reduce the amount of graininess that can occur in an image.  Using an f-stop of four to five to start will help keep the food in focus blur the background keeping the food as the main subject.

Avoid taking shots from directly above the food.   Most images look best from a slight angle.  Shooting at plate level will also create a more appealing image depending on what you are photographing. Don't' be afraid to experiment with different angles and cropping which can create some interesting results.  Cropping your subject makes for a interesting image, however, crop only one side.   Your photograph will become awkward by cropping too much
 
Stand up:   To learn more check us out on the web at About.com.  Thanks for watching.