Wow, is it already time for another click. post?! Time just goes by so very fast these days, right?
This month our gallery theme is Everydaily. When I saw Celeste's layout about her lunch, it got me thinking about food photography and how taking pictures of the food we eat is not only fun, but helps represent our daily life.
(Francine Clouden's herb garden)
So today I thought we could talk a bit about food photography. And let me just say that I am not at all a pro food photographer, but I wanted to share a bit of the things I have tried and learned by taking lots and lots of photos through the years. This post will have several photos with yummy food that team members have contributed with and I will credit all of them under each of their photos.
Bon Appetit!
Light
I have found that light is very important in food photos. By taking photos in a well lit environment you can go a long way. Now, sometimes you can´t go flick on a lamp or pull a curtain up (read when you are dining out!), even though I am known to rearrange stuff on a resturant table to get a better picture :) But you can have that in the back of your mind to always try to get the best lighting.
(Lisa Ottosson)
(Lisa Ottosson)
If you have a photo editing program on your computer you can easily add a bit of light after the fact. No, it's not cheating. Just good skills! If you do not have an editing program, try ipiccy.com or picmonkey.com. I think you will find them easy to use and understand, and they are great to give your photos a little umpf!
Perspective
I really like photos that are taken from above. It makes it almost real, like I am there and looking at the plate.
(Lisa Ottosson)
Something to watch out for when you shoot from above, is shading anything in the frame. Be careful where you stand, and try to move so that the object is evenly lighted.This perspective might also give you an idea of what is going on around the object, if that is suitable for your image.
Here are two photos of the same object, tomatoes, but with different perspectives.
(Monika Wright)
When taking photos of your food, stay a proper distance back so that you aren't zoomed right up on the food. And switch to a macro setting so that the food can be center stage. As a guideline you can think about having the food taking up most of the frame, but also make sure the plate and something else is in the shot too.
(Monika Wright)
(Lisa Ottosson)
Sometimes I try to capture the mood around the meal. For example my family and I had a lovely morning eating breakfast while on vacation and I snapped this photo.
(Lisa Ottosson)
The light wasn´t the best so I added a soft effect to it. I like that it looks like (and it was) in the middle of a meal and that you can see a bit of the table and other things around.
Color
Of course, if we photograph food, we like it to look good and like something you´d like to eat. I tend to take more photographs of dessert than a main course, but that might just be my sweet tooth talking :)
(Lisa Ottosson)
But also because they tend to be more colourful. If you are serving something that you would like to photograph, make sure that the plate doesn´t negatively impact the look of the food. I tend to use white plates as they match everything. I do have a whole set of dark blue plates that we use quite often and sure it works, but the food doesn´t pop like on white.
Action
It is fun to add a bit of actionshots too. Have the camera ready, in a safe area in your kitchen, to snap photos during the actual cooking. Maybe a shot of all your ingredients all out or when you are whisking a sauce. A fun thing is to set your timer and try to catch yourself cooking.
(Lisa Ottosson)
I also like to include a before and after photo, for example berries that are baked for a pie.
(Lisa Ottosson)
(Lisa Ottosson)
Props
If you have the possibility to direct a food shot you can have all sorts of fun! Perhaps you have bakes some cookies with lemon or chocolate chips, then you can add a lemon/chip to the shot in some way.
Ok, clearly my challenge for you is to capture your life through taking more photos of what you eat!
Have fun and please add your photos to our flickr group!
