How to photograph food?

Food photography is a genre in photography, which is a beautiful food photography. As a rule, this genre is a type of commercial shooting. His goal – the excitement of appetite and the further sale of food.

Professional food shots we see in the menu of cafes and restaurants, in cookbooks and magazines, etc.

Work with the light when shooting food
Light, perhaps, the main component of high-quality shooting. Through it, the composition is modeled, the shadows, the volume of the object being photographed are controlled.

Natural lighting
In most cases, natural light is great for shooting food. It creates beautiful soft shadows and allows you to use all possible angles of incidence.

Daylight is especially decorated with pictures of breakfast, tea, sweets, etc.

However, remember that it is necessary to monitor the uniformity of illumination. It is better to avoid shadows and direct rays of the sun in the foreground.

It is also necessary to pay attention to the glare and the property of matte and glossy surfaces to absorb and reflect light.

If there is such a need, it is permissible to combine natural light with other sources of illumination (pulsed, constant), the main thing is to do it competently.

Pulsed light sources
Under the flash light refers to all the flashes from studio monoblocks. Usually it is used when shooting food in the studio for a variety of directories.

To photograph food using pulsed light, you need to have some experience and skill. But if you learn to control it, the perfect light in the frame will be guaranteed.

The main rule in studio shooting is to achieve the most diffused light.

Permanent light sources
Constant light is the most important creative tool of a professional photographer. Thanks to him, you already at the stage of shooting see the final result, what will be in the end in the picture.

And with the help of constant light it is possible to impose some effects and apply the backlight in different colors.

Tips for getting beautiful food photos
Prepare a set
Food is an object that needs to be photographed as soon as possible, until it has lost its appeal. Therefore, think in advance what you want to put on the photo.

Make sure that all accessories (dishes, napkins, fruit, spices …) are near.
Place them on the working surface as you want them in the photo.
Experiment with their layout.
In the place intended for the finished dish, put while just a plate.
Decide on the background and light scheme.
Prepare and configure the camera.

Play with the composition
Any shooting implies a creative approach. Therefore, play with angles, rearrange objects, try different versions of the frame diagonals.

Be careful when shooting from above.
Although taking pictures of food from above is the most obvious and common way, be careful when using it. At right angles, the composition often looks flat, uninteresting.

Therefore, shoot from different points, unexpected angles that can make a photo interesting.

Choose the right optics
Whatever you shoot (a composition of several dishes or any elements of food), use high-apt optics.

If you shoot general plans – wide-angle lenses will come to the rescue. For a full-format device, 50 mm lenses will suffice.