Take Better Food Photos

While updating my recipe page on the Chestertown Zumba website today, I had a realization: the quality of my food photos has increased dramatically. Going through some of the photos from a couple of years ago and comparing them to recent photos, I noticed a couple of themes and patterns that helped tell a story of my food photography skill development.

My tools: iPhone 3Gs and Nikon D3000 (sometimes a Nikon D300 if I’m lucky)

1. Keep taking photos. 
I won’t even tell you how many photos I’ve taken in the past couple of years, just for the blog! With photography, I think the best way to improve is to keep snapping photos. The point is that with each photo opportunity, whether it’s while I’m outside on an adventure or developing a recipe in my kitchen, I’m learning and growing as a photographer.

My food photography also improved when I stepped outside the kitchen and started capturing moments around me. Changing the subject allows me to gain new perspective for food photos.

I highly suggest trying fun “photo a day” contests {join Fat Mum Slim every month for a new challenge!} , or exhibiting creativity through photo walks, like what Elise is doing on her blog!

It helps to also read blogs with strong photos. Some of my favorites are Eat, Live, Run, Kath Eats Real Food, Joy the Baker, and it’s always fun to peruse Food Gawker.

2. A little off center.
I learned this one from Shane. It’s not my own invention, just a rule that I do my best to follow, especially with food photos.

By taking a subject and changing the focal point to make it just off-center, a photo can move from simply capturing an image to capturing a moment, telling a story, and making it interesting.

PhotoShop or other photo editing sites can be used to “fake” this one. Just crop so the main object is slightly off-center.

3. Natural lighting is my best friend.
We have two south-facing windows in the house. Before I really understood natural lighting techniques, I took a lot of photos that looked like this:

The light is gorgeous, but it’s coming from behind, so the items are back-lit, creating shadows on some of the darker produce. What I should have done is turn the whole set-up around so the light could glow onto the items.

Natural light is my favorite, but we also have a sweet LED light set-up in the kitchen that has also helped my food photos really pop.

4. Move closer. And then even closer.
One of the best things I’ve learned to do is get very close and personal with my subject. Details tell a better story, in photos and in writing. There’s a natural tendency to want to capture the entire scene, but the details will create a better photo, almost always.

5. Set the scene. 
On campus a couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a lecture by Mitch Epstein, an amazing photographer. His piece of advice was to “make” not “take” a photo. By doing this, I could become part of that moment in time, part of the photograph instead of just a casual observer with a camera.

Props help, too. For this peppermint patties photo, I added some cool minty colors as a backdrop (which is just a yard of fabric…I have 6 different yards of fabric that I sometimes use to help set the scene for photos), and additional props in the background to give the idea that there’s something more happening beyond this photo.

I try to exercise these five tips with each of my food photos, and am always on the lookout for new tips, too! Do you have any food photo tips to share? I’d love to hear them!