food photography tips?

Question

i have a manual film camera that i used for my highschool photography class

i wanna take close up pictures of food, such as restaurant dishes, and wanna know tips. Sometimes, the reflection shows up on picture, sometimes, it's blurry, sometimes its dark.

How do i take a really good food picture?

Answer 1

All of the basic principles of photography and composition apply here.

A good macro lens is a nice thing to have when you're shooting food.

I usually use a combination of strobes, various light modifiers, natural light, and a ring flash, but a window will do just fine in a pinch.

With food you really need to pay attention to the presentation. Any decent chef's dish will display a balance of color, texture, shape, and ingredients. This balance is what you need to capture in your photo, and will determine the best angle to shoot the dish. Ask the chef why they plated the dish the way that they did, believe me, there is a lot that goes into a good plate design.

Once you have your angle figured out, you need to work out your background. The background should give context to the dish. Pick a setting that lends itself to the region, style, and season of the dish. If you can't get that setting, you might need to settle for a simple or solid background, but this will detract from the depth of your photo.

After you have your background figured out, then you just need to work out the lighting. This part takes a bit of practice, and I'm not sure what kind of equipment you have access to. If you camera has a built in flash, do not use it (ever).

Setting all of this up can take a bit of time, so you will want to do it long before the food comes out, I usually grab the same kind of plate that the food is going on, and make a rough mockup of the food with crumpled balls of paper. This way you can troubleshoot any unforseen problems.

Some foods will let you shoot for hours while maintaining their appearance, other foods demand that you get your shots quickly before they melt/wilt/dry out/separate/bleed etc...

Shiny foods look more appetizing. I like to keep a fine mist spray bottle with water, a container of canola oil and a paint brush on hand. Use the water for fruits and vegies, and the oil for meat and fish.

Have fun with it, and experiment.

Answer 2

Food photography is incredibly difficult. In fact, it might be one of the most difficult types of photography out there. There is an entire industry of food stylists that make $200 to $500 per hour just to arrange food to make it look appetizing in photos. If you have to do it quick, cheap, and easy, here is what I recommend to start: -Get a spray bottle filled with 50/50 glycerin and water. Spray it on things like meat to make it look like it is sweating. Also, use it on the outside of glasses to make it look cold. -Get at least a single spot light. It doesn't have to be expensive. A light from the hardware store is fine. Place the light above, behind (shining towards the camera,) and at a 45 degree angle to the food so that the light sweeps across the surface of it. Use a second light or reflector for fill light. -Get the camera low. Food looks the best when the camera is close to table level. Google "Food Photography" for examples. -Take your time. Food will stay photographable for longer than you think. Pay attention to what you are doing. Shoot tethered to a computer for instant feedback. -Use a fast lens with a shallow depth of field. You should be shooting at f/2.8 or wider. -Use a tilt shift lens or fake the effect in Photoshop. -Charge appropriately. A professional food photographer would be charging in the realm of $5,000 to $10,000 for a one day shoot. You might not be a pro, but your time is still valuable and so are the photos you are creating.

Answer 3

Most food shots you see are not real food. thats why they look so good.