Welcome to Tutorial Tuesday! Branson of My Reflection of Something and I will be bringing you a new challenge every week, to stretch your shooting and editing skills. This week, we thought we would work on our foodtography! For many photographers, myself included, photographing food is quite a challenge. There are some great sites out there full of tips and tricks, though.
For this week’s photos, Branson started at this pin on pinterest, which led her to a post on the website Culinary Travels. This post is packed full of information to get you started in food photography. It covers styling, gear and lighting. Be sure to check out Branson’s post to see what she accomplished with her light box from Week 1.
Me on the other hand…I have not yet taken a fresh photo (yet), but I have photographed food before. So, I went into my archives to pull a few photos that met some of the criteria Branson is speaking of in her post.
In my examples above, 9 times out of 10, I was using my white dining room table as a backdrop (long before I ever created a light box). Granted, you’ll notice that I also tend to add texture to mix up my backgrounds. In most cases, I was also using natural light. According to one of Pioneer Woman’s food photography blog posts (click HERE), she says that food looks best in natural lighting. From that post, I also gathered the following:- If possible, photograph food using natural light – side lighting looks especially nice.
- Food also photographs most beautifully on white plates (or white backdrops in general).
- Avoid too much bokeh. Yes, we all love to shoot wide open (at least I do), but try for something like f/4.0.
- Fill the frame – food looks much more delicious if it’s all in view. However, I also like to keep things in context (ex. pouring, a hand grabbing a piece of pizza, a spoon amongst a bowl of berries, etc.)
Here’s some other great posts to read for food photography tips:
Ready to join in the fun? Here’s how to do it:
1. Visit THIS TUTORIAL.
2. Choose your favorite shot (or more!) to share with us.
3. Don’t forget to grab the button for your post!
4. Link up between now and next Monday.
