Food Photography Secrets, Revealed
Everyone seems to be spilling their food photography secrets these days, and honestly, I’m so glad they’ve shared because it’s helped me become a better photographer.
Despite three years of photography in art college, I was never any good at it. I’m great at editing photos, and a wiz at Photoshop — I once built a tweed jacket lapel to cover up a nametag on the photographed jacket, years before Photoshop had enhanced their cloning tools.
But using one of my photographs, especially food photographs, with minimal editing in the computer, was unheard of until recently. It took me about 6 months, but I think I finally got the hang of it.
Paying it forward, here are my {wicked good} photography secrets, spilled and shared:
Shooting inside my house, using natural light, proved to be futile. Our house faces north with the majority of windows in the front and back of the house. With the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, the only natural light available was in the bathroom – not an option.
After much trial and error, I figured out the best spot for photographs is on my back porch, after 1 p.m., when the sun starts to warm the west side of our house. Here I have about 7 hours of full daylight and two hours of twilight.
I started taking photos on a small stool, but the stooping was killing my back. I found an old rolling microwave cart tucked away in the garage, which turned out to be the perfect vehicle for the process.
Here’s my usual set up – I place the cart just under the door overhang so I have light, but not direct, harsh sunlight. A couple of my chef aprons provide a neutral background and hide the hot tub. I usually add additional white tableware or glass behind the plates to create the illusion that the table is full:
I was able to style most of the food directly on the cart, in my air conditioned kitchen, store everything I needed for the photographs on cart shelves {sauces, herbs, props}, and roll the entire thing outside when I was ready to photograph.
The other advantage of using a cart on wheels is that I’m able to rotate the food around and shoot from all angles, in addition to physically picking up the plates and moving them, creating infinite options.
Now that I’ve found the perfect spot and the perfect light, I’ve been able to concentrate more on composition and personal style. You never would have guessed from that set up, I was able to get this shot — not bad for guerrilla-style photography, eh:
Recipe for the potato salad above is coming soon! In the meantime, take a stroll through some of the sites that helped me get my food photography groove on:
Lou Manna
Steamy Kitchen
Food Blog Forum
Matt Bites
Tartelette
Canelle et Vanille
Food Bloggers Unite
Food Blog Alliance
.
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>I LOVE your rolling cart idea! I'm always moving the plates around and it's frustrating! Keep spilling secrets, I'm listening!
>Great idea with the cart! I never take anything outside because there's nothing to put it on…
>I love this article… thank you for exposing the reality of food photography!
>Clever idea, my problem is I usually have people waiting to eat the food lol!
>Thank you. My photography skills consist of getting lucky, and my lighting problem in my house is the same as yours. Oddly enough, I have a screened porch on the SE corner that has a hot tub, so color me weirded out.
What REALLY grabs my attention though, is the simplicity of your potato salad. Very few of the potato salad recipes I see have the courage to let the potatoes shine. Clearly you have something going on here on this blog, so I'm going to go back and read it all now.
>Great tips! Love your blog and recipes!
>I love the rolling cart idea! I have found that I get my best shots on my back porch as well. Natural light really makes so much difference.
>YAY! Thank you so much- people don't realize how hard it is to shoot food. (especially my in-laws) I love this idea- I am going to hunt me down a cart today. Thank you!
>I have a microwave cart in the garage that I wanted to get rid of but thankfully I saw this post first. I'll be grabbing that out of the garage pronto! Great tip, thank you!!!
>I just saw this post on Twitter, and had to read it. I have been collecting tips on shooting and styling food for a while now, and really appreciate patience and time of more experienced bloggers.
I like your idea of using the cart for its versatility and storage space.
My daughter just signed me up for a Digital Photography Class that starts later today. One od these days…:)
>Hi Lana – I can't live without the cart now, it's a definite must-have!! Enjoy the photo class, it sounds like a lot of fun :-)
>I am stopping by from SITS, and I love your idea.
That is my biggest struggle is getting the photos, as the natural light is not easily found in my house either. I have shot outside once, but it was a bit cumbersome, however, I liked those shots the best.
Thanks again for some great tips.
Amy W.
>I am so happy to see that someone else takes food pics in their backyard! I have the best light out there! Thanks for sharing your tips – I love the cart on wheels idea!