Food Photography: Starting A Flourishing Career

By Hai Osting


Whether you are taking photographs of culinary items for your blog or you're doing it for a living, performing food photography is an art that requires an individual's creativity and artistic talent. The way you photograph food will have a big influence on your reputation as a food photographer, therefore it is important to be aware of a few tips and techniques that will help you shoot better pictures.

As with the different areas of photography, having a good light source is important in coming up with great pictures and food photography is no exception. Whenever you are taking photos of food, the general rule is to stay away from shadows and highlights. Harsh lights can ruin your photos and this can be avoided by using diffusers, umbrellas, or softboxes.

The depth of field you use can also help create stunning and dramatic effects on your photos. In food photography, you can make your audience amazed at the way your photos look by using a wider aperture. A wider aperture should give your photos that artistic blur as it leaves your main subject in focus. Using tripods and remote shutter release can also help ensure sharp pictures every time.

Your food photography skills will also be more developed by experimenting on different shooting angles. It is interesting to see that most novice food photographers will shoot down on their subject, thus making it quite boring or too common. By shooting at table or plate level with your subject, you can create a unique dimension, emphasis, or detail that can't be achieved in regular shooting angles.

Considering proper white balance is also important in food photography since different lighting situations may have an effect on the color of your subject. Using the wrong white balance can easily make a nice juicy steak look blue or yellowish. For this purpose, it may be wise to start shooting in RAW format so that white balance will be irrelevant.

If you think you have what it takes to start a business or career in food photography, you should also think about buying the best lenses and accessories that you can afford. Although photography in general is much about using your creativity and imagination, having high quality equipment can help you produce better photos every time.




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