Spot relies on beautiful imagery to deliver a compelling place-discovery experience. Here, we talk to three industry insiders about their advice for shooting a notoriously difficult subject: food.
Who among us hasn’t — at some point — felt the urge to snap a food shot? Whether it’s a dish you were proud to have whipped up at home or a particularly photogenic spread in a cafe? On one end of the spectrum, playing with your food has launched careers, but what if you just want nail a decent brunch shot? Below, three excellent photographers — a staff photog at Bon Appétit magazine among them — share tips that will help you easily compose a food photo that’s as beautiful as your subject is tasty.
Alex Lau
As a Bon Appétit staff photographer, Alex Lau is tasked with consistently framing food in innovative, compelling ways both in-studio and on-site. He shoots food with a rawness and ferocity that will have you visually dissecting a bowl of ceviche or slice of pizza with unexpected intensity.
“Ideally, you want to shoot at a lower ISO to remove as much grain as possible from your photos. ISO 100 would be essentially zero grain, while ISO 3200 will look like a grainy film photo. Given that you’re likely shooting in indirect daylight—the easiest way to get the best shots—ISO 400–800 will be your sweet spot. If you want everything to be in focus, shoot at a shutter speed of 1/160 and aperture of f4.”
“Shoot at a top-down angle! Some might consider it an overused trope, but it’s overused for good reason. Plates of food are usually fairly two dimensional, with not much height. You can maximize the potential of a dish by shooting it from directly overhead. A beginner’s natural tendency is to shoot at a ¾ angle, which not only makes the food look less appetizing, but, if you’re shooting with your phone, can also cause photo distortion due to a phone camera’s wide-angle lens.”
“Don’t be scared to prop out your food shot. It sounds cheesy, but you want your photo to tell a story. There’s a difference between a bowl of pasta shot on white with no forks or napkins versus a bowl that was shot with moody lighting, on a beautiful wood surface with utensils that look straight out of the home of a Sicilian grandmother. You want your photo to be representative of the experience you’re having.”
“Put the camera down and just eat! Some of the best meals I’ve had are the ones that I didn’t photograph. Believe it or not, not everything has to be posted on Instagram. Don’t worry, there will be more avocado toast in your future.”
Bonnie Tsang
L.A.-based editorial and commercial photographer (and Pinterest powerhouse) Bonnie Tsang has shot for everyone from Levi’s to Elle Decor to Tablet Hotels. Her food photos — dig in on her Instagram account — defy those seen-it-before cliches, presenting what’s on the table in a crisp, delectable manner.
“Ask for a table near the window. Natural light is food photography’s best friend.”
“Let your friends eat! Friends might initially avoid touching the food to let you snap that perfect photo, but I often ask my friends to start eating so that I can capture their movements, which bring life to the picture.”
“Take more than one shot and try different angles. I normally take at least five shots (overhead, side angle, closeup, etc), and sometimes more.”
Nanette Wong
Longtime food photographer and videographer Nanette Wong has created and shot recipes (ahem, check this Rice Krispies treat hack), reviewed countless restaurants, and written about food and food photography for Brit + Co., Design Milk, and PicsArt (her day gig). She also chronicles her frequent food-ventures on her blog, Cultural Chromatics.
“When eating out, shoot with natural light coming in at an angle if possible — it’ll be easier to post-process afterwards than direct overhead light. Natural light is the softest in the morning and right before sunset.”
“After years of styling and shooting photos for recipe posts, I’ve learned to prep the scene as much as possible before the actual food comes out (or you prepare it). Arrange everything you can — from the flatware to the linens — ahead of time. Take a test shot and make sure you like the way the scene looks. Then, when the food arrives, all you have to do is set it down and shoot it fresh.”
“For those shots with the food in focus in front of a dreamy, blurred-out background, you’ll want stick to larger apertures — between f1.8 and f3.0 — which create a shallow depth of field. Be careful and make sure you focus on the specific detail of the food that you want to highlight, whether it’s the millions of layers in a croissant or the drips from an ice-cream cone. Typically, when I’m out and about shooting food, I’ll set my camera on aperture-priority mode around f2.2, and shoot to my heart’s content. That way you don’t have to fiddle with the settings and miss a crucial aspect of the food, like a poached egg being cracked or beautiful latte art.”
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Originally published on Spot’s blog, Near & Far. Get our gorgeous new app for free, and follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter.
