How to Photograph Food

Like in so many areas of photography, Food Photography can also be split down into numerous different sections. We have: Packaging Food Photography, Advertising Food Photography, Editorial Food Photography….
Let’s concentrate today on editorial food photography. Because in packaging photography for instance, the aim is usually to show the food in detail which may sometimes appear “boring”. Meanwhile editorial Food Photography is about creating a beautiful image in which the photographer can fully express his creativity.
The Team:
For a professional Food Photo you need a team of you, your assistant, a stylist and a stylist assistant.
Personally, I am still looking for a professional food stylist here in Nigeria. But even abroad, professional Food Stylists are people you have to search for.
Most of the times they are professional cooks who ventured into styling. Those people have a vast knowledge of chemistry as well, and one should never underestimate their job.
Anyway, for now I do my styling myself or work close together with a cook. I always warn him not to overcook the food. Because we have to keep in mind that the food we are photographing is not meant to be eaten.
Camera Angle:
The Camera Angle should be determined by the layout artist or the art director. But if there are no specifications about the camera angle I would recommend 10 degrees 45 degrees above the table surface. Why? We want to achieve a three dimensional look on a two dimensional medium. You will get there when you bring some depth into the picture.
Focus:
For editorial Food Photography it is highly important to play around with the point of focus. You can let the main item in your set up be sharp, and let the rest sink into blur ness by opening up the aperture. Playing with Sharpness and Blur ness (another topic coming soon) will always have a very artistic effect on the picture. And it gives the picture a lightness that will make the food look appetizing but not looking heavy.
Lighting:
In a Set you always have one main light (we also just have one sun, right?). The other lights are effect lights. Position your main light well. Try different angles until you figure out which position of light brings out the structure of the food, gives it the best color and makes it look rich. The rest is effect light and is left to your own creativity.