You don’t only need to be a professional photographer in order to learn food photography. Even if you are a regular Instagram user, (or any other social media) and want to share moments from the restaurant you check in often, the idea of food photography will help you.
And the mouthwatering food images we see online, behind the scene there is a group of people and individual work on producing them. If you run a food business, you know the importance of showing the food items, definitely in an attractive manner.
No matter who you are, if you think food photography can add value, this guide is for you. I try to make things simple.
What Food Photography Really Is
Food photography is all about capturing food images. Now there are a good number of reasons why people do so. But, here, I won’t focus on random food photography, another day perhaps. Rather, I will shed light on how you can better ensure the food photography production so the images make sense when presented online.
Thanks to the food content creator out there. This group, I think, works passionately to bring the best version of the food images. Also, people selling homemade foods and the restaurants out there, making the most of food photography.
What if you are a newbie and plan to get things underway? You don’t need to enroll in a course. A proper food photography practice includes a combination of basic ideas, tips and continuous practice to ultimately master the skill.
What Do You Need for Food Photography?
In order to perform any sort of product photography, you need some equipment and tools. Yes, only the camera you have on your mobile would do, but alone can’t make the bigger impact that you have always wanted.
So, here is a list of things you need for perfect product photography;
Camera
You can’t make photography happen without this. No more words required. But the question is what camera should you choose? Well, the best option here is to go with the DSLR camera. This brings you a complete ease and improved outcome than your mobile camera in many possible cases.
Lenses
A lens has a greater role to play when it comes to photography. Depending on the way you want to capture the food items, the right settings of the lenses come in. For example, if you want to bring a more natural and eye-level view of the food items, then going with the 55mm lenses will make sense.
Tripod
You need a tripod in order to ensure the stability and consistency when capturing food images. It is important to capture images from the right direction, denying uneven moves at the time to photoshots. In case this happens, the production won’t look professional.
Lighting
You have two options. You can either go with natural lighting or the softbox/LED lights will also do. But the best thing you can do is to create variations. Foods look attractive under different lighting if set up properly.
Backdrops
A backdrop can add attractions to your product images. But you need to be quite mindful in choosing one. Not all types of backdrops suit all types of food images. The most common backdrops used in Food Photography are the wooden boards, marble slabs, textured surfaces and all that create a more aesthetic look.
Props
You should never feel shy going with the right prop needed in order to bring more perfection with your food photography. Now similar to the backdrops, the type of props you use for food photography depends on that type of item.
A Step by Step Guide for Food Photography
Once you have the basic understanding of food photography and the tools required to get started, this section will be going to make sense. I try to make the process as simple as I can, even a beginner can have the motivation to get started.
Plan You Shot
You should have a clear view about the shooting process. Knowing how you are going to shoot each product and what actually they are is important. If you have captured images of multiple food items at a time, it is important to make a schedule and try to follow it.
Go With the Proper Lighting Set Up
You know that lighting plays a prominent role in food photography. If you want to go with natural light make sure it comes properly. Planning to go with the softbox? Good. Make sure you place it in the right direction.
Style the Food
Your food items should not feel messy. That’s the reason why it is important to style or decorate the foods with props and other things. Now there are a good number of ideas that you can implement in this step.
For example, you capture the images of eating ready food items. Also, capturing food items when they are being prepared also makes sense. There is nothing wrong with adding some sources, garnishes, and stack layout to add depth of the photography.
Select the Right Possible Angles
You can capture the same food items from multiple directions in order to bring a more unique look. You can take side shots or anything around 90-degree for flat lays that make real sense. Sone food photographers also like to go with straight-on shooting for better view.
Go With the Optimal Camera Settings
Don’t just randomly capture food items. It is always important to go with the right camera settings in order to have a better photography outcome. But what should you really consider here? There is something called shutter speed. What exactly is this?
This is all about how long the camera shutter remains open to allow light to reach the sensor. Why does this matter in food photography?
In food photography, shutter speed determines how long the camera’s shutter stays open, affecting exposure and motion capture—a faster speed (like 1/250s) freezes splashes or steam for sharpness.
On the flip side, a slower speed (such as 1/60s or below, ideally with a tripod) helps in low-light settings without introducing blur. There’s another setting which is called ISO. You need to keep it low for clean images.
Take Multiple Shots
You never know what angles give you the perfect frame you need. Well, you must know, in most of the cases. But then again, you should take your time and shoot from different angles as possible. At the same time, you can also try different compositions in order to make actual things happen.
Edit Your Images
If you think you are done with capturing product images and now they are good to go with, no things won’t like this. You can always improve the quality of the images with proper editing. And here is where the professional ecommerce product images service comes into play.
As the day advances, you can better improve your food photography skills. And this means you can bring the best possible outcome to the part. Yes, things work like this. Look, the learning should always be universal. And that’s why it is important to take some time to determine what works the best.