Making Food Look Good On Film

Images of food are everywhere. We cannot walk down any leading shopping street without being barraged by them from the windows of all the food shops. We open a magazine and there they are again pushing up their mouth watering delights at us.

When you first take a look into the domain of food picture taking you may sense that you can never take pics like the pros but you could amaze yourself.

Light as always with photography is King. Get it right and you create magic. Get it wrong and we all know the result! Treat the food you're photographing as you would any other still life subject and ensure that it is well lit. Most of the bad examples of food photography you will come across would have been drastically improved with adequate lighting.

One of the best places to photograph food is by a window where there is abundant natural light - perhaps supported with flash bounced off a ceiling or wall to give more balanced lighting that cuts out the shadows. This daylight helps to keep the food looking much more natural.

If you have to take a lot of food pics then invest in buying or making a light box or tent. This is simply an enclosed area that is lit externally through diffused walls in the tent/box.

Slow shutter speed is king for food picture taking to capture the depth of the image. Make sure your camera is well mounted on a strong tripod and of course you should be using a shutter release cable to stop any camera shaking resulting in blurring.

The props that you use with food photography are what can bring it to life. Choose your props carefully. The props are usually what sets an amateur food photo aside from a professional food photography.

Do not skimp on your equipment if you want to do good food photography. Having a top quality SLR camera with a good lens will make all the difference. You must have full control over all the settings - shutter speed - aperture setting - zoom - to be able to create top shots. Using good quality lighting will also pay massive dividends.