Food Photography: Part Nine- Planning a Photo Shoot.

Before we begin to photo shoot, planning is quite important. One needs to know what you plan to do. The best place to get ideas and inspiration is to study the good pictures and try to understand what make it stand out. Pinterest has some beautiful pictures where one can be inspired. You could deconstruct the picture to help you understand the decisions the photographer had made while creating the photo.

let us study this picture for example : photo credit: Lara Ferroni

Points to be noted while reading a photograph

What is appealing about the photograph?

Who is the main character?

What do you think the story is?

Can you identify the direction of light?

What props do you see in the photo?

What can you tell about the harmony and the balance of the photo?

How is the space used?

Can you identify the camera angle and where was the camera in relation to food?

How is the background?

What can you say bout the location of the food photos?

Knowing and understanding all the details then you can plan your own photo shoot.

To prepare for photo shoot, start by creating a list of shots that includes all the possible combinations of camera angle, depth of field, prop arrangement, food styling, framing and everything else that you would like to capture during the shoot. Write down the list of all possible shots that you would like to capture. Will you like an overhead shot? What about silverware, one without any napkin? Another from different angle? List all of these down. Also make a list of what you do NOT want to use.

This will help you not only when you are ready to shoot but also save time in looking for things the last minute.

Next step is to sketch your shots.  Sketch all the possible ways you would like to photograph the subject. Creating a sketch helps you visualize the frame before you start creating a photo. The process of sketching begins with identifying the main subject, then secondary or supporting characters like props, lights, angle and other things that are essential to the story.

Then you are ready to shoot.

On the days, when you are not prepared and you wish to click pictures instantly, you may click a bad picture then go to photo editing app to do the post processing of a photograph.

If you wish to add copy then you have to create positive and negative space. Positive is  space occupied by food and other things and negative is the blank space around the subject where you can add copy script.

Would like to Thank Neel for his guidance in understanding Food Photography.

Food Photography: Part Eight -Food Styling

Food styling is easily the most challenging aspect of food photography.  Harmony and balance are the key principles of design. Using these two principles, you can improve the composition of the scene and make decisions like where to place certain props and what color to use.

There should be certain kind of balance in arrangement of the dishes so that it does not weigh heavily one side, and the colors should be in harmony, with focus mainly on the subject.

Garnishing is the easiest way to style the food and different garnishes can be used to enhance the plate, like chopped nuts or seeds, creams, shredded cheese, herbs or spices. It should balance with the dish and be used in limited proportion.           

We can store the collection of different tools that are used in styling. Getting acquainted with the tools and practicing how to use these tool becomes very important.

Essential tools for food styling are things like tweezers, cotton swabs, brushes, squeeze bottles, paper towels, tooth picks, scissors, cutlery board, straws, twines and many other things. Normally, I take whatever is handy and in my vision. But for this exercise, I opened the kitchen cabinets and found quite a collection....

There are many images on the net from where one can draw inspiration. The most useful images can be found on Pinterest.

I wanted to click the pictures of puffs and  saw many pictures on Pinterest. that inspired me to pick up the puffs from my cabinets and go click, click , click....

Studying, deconstructing and analysing the photographs of professionals can make us understand how food styling has been done.

PS: Thanks to Neel for his guidance in his30-day food photography Workshop.

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

Food Photography Part Six – Lighting

Lighting is the most important aspect of food photography. Too little light makes the food look dull, too harsh light spoils the image. Using the correct light that show the original color of the food is the skill that has to be learnt.

Took this picture of Macaroons in a restaurant in the afternnoon at 3pm The place was well lit, plus there was yellow light bulb just above our dining table..I moved the plate such that light was focussed just on one..hoping to get DOF

I clicked few pictures with light coming from side window and some pictures I clicked with the light coming directly on the food from opposite direction.

I realised that the best pictures I had got were when I clicked the picture from the side light.

However, when the light is coming directly from opposite side, it creates shadows. We can modify light with the use of reflectors, bouncers or blockers

We can use reflectors (can use white foam board) to change the direction of the light and reduce shadows.

We can use diffusers (white plastic bag) to soften the harsh light

We can use blockers (blinds)  to block the light falling on articles where u do not wish the light to fall

To capture the right tone, we can adjust the white balance. Bluish tone works better for cold subjects and yellowish tone works better for warmer tones.

I went to restaurant yesterday and was aware of all the lesson learnt so far, and did try many angles, paying attention to the light and frame...we were in the patio of the restaurant, evening time around 6;30pm. Clicked many shots of fish and chips, but this one I liked the best, 

With practice, one learns to understand the right tones in the food and how one can achieve it.

PS: Thanks to Neel for his guidance in his30-day food photography Workshop.

Food Photography: Part5 – Telling A Story

Besides angle of the camera, depth of field, framing and lighting, the picture should be able to tell a story.

Before preparing to shoot, you could decide what you wish to show. What time of the day it is, what is the back ground story, how many people are there in the room, where you are working,(inside the house or out in patio) are you using natural light or using a flash.  Lots of things to consider before you get ready to click a picture.

Have taken this photograph from 90 degrees top to down, a more light on the vegetable would have done justice to this picture. also the cup containing buttermilk could be little bit smaller.

This pictures tells the story of preparing a snack in the evening, the potatoes are already peeled (you can see the peels on the tray) the potatoes are grated too, its evening time, and light is from window opposite it. I could have taken a smaller container for putting grated potatoes....

A ready plate of patties served with onion salad and green chutney.

Lighting plays an important role in photography. this picture is taken with natural light coming from the window on the left. Tried many different angles and positions but this image I like the best.

PS: Thanks to Neel for his guidance in his30-day food photography Workshop.