With the dominance of Instagram and the popularity of food and lifestyle bloggers, it’s fair to say there’s a huge appetite out there for food photos! There’s more, however, to taking a successful pic of your plate than first meets the eye. That’s why, here at The Insurance Emporium, we’ve worked to create these five essential tips to help you on your way to fantastic food photography!
1. Trick of the light
One of the most important things to consider when taking a photo is lighting! For food photography, try to avoid harsh or bright light as much as possible, as well as artificial lighting, as this can add a yellow sheen to the image. When you’re shooting indoors, try setting up a table next to a window – if the light’s too much use a thin curtain or sheet to diffuse this.
2. What’s your angle?
Getting the right angle to suit your food can make or break a photo! Many pictures of food nowadays take a bird’s eye view, which can work well for food plated in bowls, plates and cups. However, there are some foodstuffs that won’t benefit from this approach. For example a tiered cake could want something like a 45 degree angle, so you can get all the layers in shot. Experiment taking photos from different angles and positions, you’ll soon find out what works best!
3. Beyond the main event
You should definitely pay attention to what’s going on behind your food! Often, neutral or muted backgrounds work well to emphasise what’s in front, highlighting the food. Colour and pattern doesn’t have to be avoided, but make sure it’s not too garish, and complements your food. Using props can come in useful and help your image to tell a story. Making use of seasonality, such as leaves in autumn or spring blooms can lend a fresh touch.
4. The edit
Whilst you can capture a good image from your camera, it’s really in the editing afterwards that it can come to life! Play around with increasing colour saturation to help certain elements jump out. You could also sharpen the image, fix the white balance and adjust brightness and contrast. If you wish, you can also use filters, which are pre-settings of editing tools and can save time – although this might reduce how ‘natural’ the shot feels.
5. Steady on
No editing tool, however, can fix a blurry photograph taken by shaky hands! If using a phone, you could find a way to rest it either on the table or an object. With any other camera, you might want to consider using a tripod to ensure your shot is steady. That way you could also set a timer, to give you the opportunity to lift a fork full of food or interact with it in another way!
Whilst there might be more to food photography than you’d think, with a bit of trial and error, you could achieve some truly Instagram-worthy snaps! If you own photographic equipment, you’ll know the cost can add up, so it might be wise to think about taking out camera insurance. The Insurance Emporium offers a 25% Introductory Discount* on their flexible Camera Insurance policies, and a range of Optional Benefits to choose from such as cover for Gadgets and Mobile Phones. Get snappy and head to The Insurance Emporium for a quote today!
* The 25% Introductory Discount is available for the first 12 premium payments on lunar and calendar monthly policies or one premium payment on annual policies.
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