Food Photography: Part Seven-Prop styling

In talking about props, one of the first thing that comes to our mind is the background.

I took the series of photographs of mango pastry with different backgrounds

I liked the white background the best, although I liked the black too. Changing the backgrounds creates the different outlook.

 Background has many characteristics. It has colours, texture, pattern and reflectivity.

Several types of background can be used for food picture, like paper, fabric, foam board, wooden boards, baking sheets, flooring material, and even stones.

Attention has to be paid for selecting the background, for one thing, it should support the photograph and it is able to tell a story,

Napkins, kitchen towels and tissues can also be used as props

Napkins add another element to the story. They give viewers one more clue in solving the mystery in the photo. The main reason why the napkins work is that they add depth to the story.

Dishes and plates are another important props used in food photography.

I clicked set of pictures using different plates and got different results of completely different story

Using white plates are simple and fastest way to improve food photography, they are distraction free, they don’t conflict with the food and are versatile.  They can be used in almost all the setting.

Next colour is lighter shades like light blue or light green. Black plates also work in some situations. Avoid multi-coloured plates with patterns. It is better to consider the material of the plates too. Ceramics, plastics and paper plates can be used. But if there are scratches on the plates then it might look cheap..

On the other hand, there are plates that have self colour prints. These spell elegance and are very suitable for story that communicates class.

Courtesy: Grateful to Neel for his guidance in Learning Food Photography in 30days