Shooting Your Food (But Not With a Gun)
By reese, published on 9/15/2008,Category: Taking Photos Level: Beginner
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Photo by Anna Kong |
We've all seen (and drooled over) those gorgeous photos of food that make your mouth water. The tasty dish might be from a restaurant that does a beautiful presentation and the photographer just had to capture its beauty before taking a bite. This article won't be discussing the tips for professional food photography, like using glue for milk. In some cases for professional food photography, the food might not even really be food at all, but just some kind of lovely looking dish resembling food. Instead, let's go over a few tips for making wonderful food photos while eating out at a restaurant.
Find a Good Vantage Point
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| Photo by Reese W |
Like most other subjects, it helps if you can look at the subject at all angles to figure out which one looks most appealing to you. When it comes to food, it might mean turning the plate around or moving yourself around the table. Don't forget that you can even try shooting from directly above the food as well as from the very side. It all depends on what angle will look the best to you. If in doubt, take photos from all different angles and see which ones look best to you during post-processing.
One important thing to look for when deciding on the right angle is to make sure there are no distractions in the background, e.g., silverware, people, or funny shadows. One way to reduce background clutter is to use a wide aperture to blur the background and keep focus on the food. Another way is to simply move the table-top objects around until you can get the right composition. Also, if there is someone standing in your background, you can simply wait until they move to take the shot.
Lighting, or Lack thereof
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| © Kathya J. Ethington/Photokatje Photography. All Rights Reserved. |
Beautiful lighting can make or break a good photograph, and food is especially prone to this. If you are shooting during the evening at a restaurant, the lights are typically turned down to create a more intimate ambiance. While this might be great for diners, and especially good for that couple quietly smooching in the corner, this is bad news for food photography. It often means that you must turn on the flash in order to handhold the camera or work with a slightly blurry shot.
Ideally, the best time to shoot food at a restaurant is during the day, next to a bright window. If the light is too hard, you can even use a menu or reflector to bounce some light and reduce shadows on the food. Unfortunately, not everyone can go out to eat when it's still bright outside and still manage to get a wonderful seat with great lighting, and we must resort to other tricks. On-camera flash is usually not too flattering when it comes to food as it tends to blow out texture and make the food look flat. Plus, a flash can be disruptive to other diners and frowned upon by restaurant owners. It is often better to turn off the flash and try using a long exposure to get the shot that you'd like.
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| Photo by Reese W |
When it comes to long exposures, one way to ensure a steady photo without using flash is to carry a small table-top tripod with you. It might look a little strange and takes a little patience to set it up, but it can certainly help you get the shot you want. Image stabilization can help as well, and you should use it if you have that feature.
Another way to get that shot is to use a very fast ISO/ASA. The ability to change ISO on a whim is a very nice advantage of digital cameras, and you can easily push it up to 1600 or even 3200 to get the shot you want without a tripod. The main disadvantage is that the image may be very noisy and the colors may not be as vibrant as you would like.
And finally, one more tip when it comes to low-light photography is to use a wide-open aperture. This will result in a very shallow depth of field, so you will need to consider the focal point of the photo. For the example image of gelato, the depth of field is very shallow and the focus is on the bit of hazelnut. Since that part is the only real sharp detail in the image (the rest of the gelato is rather smooth looking), it helps give that image a bit of punch.
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| Photo by Reese W |
Get Close
Some dishes beg you to get close to really capture the texture of the food. One example is a flaky pastry that has wonderful texture. For these dishes, you want to get up close and personal with your subject to emphasize the details. If you are using a small point and shoot camera, turn on the macro function, usually signified by a flower icon. Most, if not all, point and shoot cameras will come with the macro function and it will allow you to focus at close range (about 1-3 feet or less) and you will have an easier time filling the frame with your subject. For those of you with SLRs, there are macro lenses that will allow you to fill your frame, but you can also take the shot at the closest focus distance for your lens and then crop the image to the size that you would like.
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| Photo by Reese W |
Don't Forget the Environment
While getting close is a good trick, there will be times when you want to capture the feeling of the atmosphere of the restaurant. You might want to show a bit of the hustle and bustle of a busy bistro while still showcasing the food as the main subject of the photo. It may be important to you to include more of the table setting to really capture the mood of a place. For these times, it's important to remember that you can always pull back a bit from the food itself to help capture these aspects. You can see in the example image that the environment plays a large part in the feeling of the photo. It gives you an idea of what it was like at the restaurant, i.e., a Moroccan place and what kind of traditional serving dishes were used and even the seating arrangement (people sat on floor pillows during the meal).
Time To Eat!
Next time you head out for a tasty meal, try snapping a few photos of your meal using our handy tips. Attach them to this discussion in the forum to show off your work!
Further Reading:
Digital Photography Blog's tips for food photography
Food Photography Tips from Photodoto
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