Food photography - hints and tips please!

[AussieBloke]

I have been asked by a friend if I could take some pictures of some food dishes she wants to put in a recipe book to try and get published. I don't think there will be any of the professional food tricks involved (such as using mash potato to look like ice cream, or shaving cream instead of whipped cream), I think it will be the real deal. Dishes will cover anything from biscuits to main meals to desserts.

I haven't done much in the way of food photography before, so any hints or tips on composure, lighting, techniques etc would be greatly appreciated. The gear I have is:
Canon EOS 350D / Rebel XT
EF-S 17-85mm IS USM
EF 28-200mm
420EX Speedlite
No-name tripod (not very good)

At least at the end of the shoot, I get to help scoff all the food! Now you know why I agreed to do the job, hehe! ;)

Thanks,
Sean

[another view]

Sean, I've done very little of it but I cook a lot and I've seen a lot of food photography. One of the main things I see is very little depth of field. You can get this look with your longer lens (that's shown below) getting as close as you can and shooting wide open or close to it. Some lenses aren't at their best wide open, so you might close down a stop or two. Use a sturdy tripod, too. I don't think I'd shoot everything this way, and might take each shot with a carefully chosen focus point and little depth of field - and also something with a longer depth of field just to make sure you've got what you want.

Check out Gourmet Magazine (not sure if they're in Aus, but they're big) for good examples of food photography.

[Peter_AUS]

Sean,

When are you doing this and what suburb in Sydney are you doing it in. I live near Parramatta.

[opus]

I don't know a thing about food photography, but I have seen some food shots that were just unappetizing to me. So I guess I'd try to be sure the food doesn't look greasy ... doesn't have an orange or brown cast, but has very good whites and colors more on the side of jewel tones ... is photographed with VERY bright, white light, like filtered outdoor light ... and looks fresh, light and bright.

[Hindey]

I don't know anything about it either, but photos of food always seem to be very brightly lit and lots of small highlights. I also find that food photographs are almost always oversharpened.

This is my only real attempt. Some of the DOF effect was achieved in Photoshop.



Hope this helped,
Chris

[drg]

A few quick notes:

1. Light. Lots of Light. It is easier to get the color right.
2. With digital use Custom White Balance and check it or reset it every 10-15 minutes to remain consistent. Light will change and to keep color and exposure even, checking is important.
3. If you don't have a softbox, octabox, Photoflex etc., use as big of overheads as possible with a diffuser to avoid hot spots on the food.
4. Fluorescent will work fine IF you remember the custom White Balance and use LOTS of it.
5. Be prepared to shoot each item as rapidly as you can. Toppings slide, casseroles sag, bread falls, pastry dries out.
6. Use a tripod and fixed setup to just rotate the food dishes in and out. A turntable is useful to set up one or two items and then just rotate the table!
7. Items are often arranged diagonally from upper left to lower right when there are pairs of items like appetizers and salads or entree and vegetable.
8. Single items can be centered in the frame as it is the food you want to show and not an artistic representaion dependent upon design principles.
[ 7 & 8 These are not hard and fast rules and some very creative food shots can be done that emphasize something like a garnish or a topping, but for a cookbook its best to show the whole dish so the cook has something to aim for or emulate]
9. Cold food often photographs better. Other wise you can get steam and moisture rising and it will affect the photograph.
10. For a book have a format to use (size, similar plates and settings, complimentary tablecloth and/or backdrop, etc.)
11. Decide before you start, whether the items are going to be in a meal setting or not.
12. Try not to use to many metallic items in the photos (candlesticks, serving items like spoon and platters etc.) Pewter can be an exception to this as it is dull usually.

Work with potential printers in advance to know how you images will actually come out. Photographic printing with inkjets and conventional "photographs" will be very different than commercial 4-8 color processes. Be prepared so you don't have to reshoot the whole lot.

Practice and do several test shots ahead of time. A lot of food photography and table top photography in general is plagued by the same problems as high contrast outdoor work. White snow and dark subjects will require exposure compensation. Digital makes it sooooo much easier.

Good luck and let me know if this helps. If you have other questions some one or another here can provide an alternative or two!

One more thing! An electric fan is often handy to have around if you are shooting warm food. Not just for the steam, but for the flies. If there are any insects in the area, they'll smell dinner and come running! A fan can keep the air moving not only to discourage them from landing but move the odors away from where you are working.

[adina]

You may want to send Nat a pm and see if she has any tips..

natatbeach is her username.