Delicious Food Photography Tips to Avoid Common Mistakes

Food photographers are hungry to make food look beautiful. Photos of food should make you want to grab that dish and gulp it down. But sadly there are some food photos that just cause you to lose your appetite. This type of photography requires you to be aware of every little detail in the image, all while the subject is either melting, wilting, or losing its freshness. There is no substitute for practice and making mistakes, but this list can help you overcome a few common pitfalls before your next shoot.

Camera Angle
This is probably the most common mistake that’s made. Camera angle plays a very important role in food photography. The temptation to take a quick photo as soon as you get the camera from Beachcamera.com in your hand may be strong, but don’t let that cloud your imagination. To save yourself from this mistake, change the angle. Try climbing on a chair or kneeling down on the food’s level.



Getting Too Close
Make no mistake, filling the frame with your subject is important. Sometimes though, some of us go overboard. We zoom in way too much or take a few too many steps. We get so close that it’s absolutely impossible to recognize the dish. The easy solution to this problem is to simply step back and take a photo.

Patterned Dishes
Using dishes with patterns and lots of colors takes viewers away from the main subject of a food photograph – food. A plate may look absolutely beautiful without any food in it. However, once food is plated and you are taking a photograph, food becomes the most important thing. Everything that is distracting you from food is just that, a distraction. To solve this, start with plain white dishes. Once you start to understand colors and food photography a little better, then start experimenting.


Cluttered Backgrounds
When you’re setting up a shoot, address any conflicts with the way in which the colors and textures of the background and props interact with the food. Less is more in this regard. You always want the subject to be the star of the show. If something isn’t adding to the desired impact of the image, then it’s taking away from it and you should consider removing or replacing it. Color is usually the biggest offender.

Mixed Lights
When you first begin to shoot food, the natural response is to turn on all the lights in the house and open all the blinds in an attempt to let in as much light as possible. The problem with this is that different light sources have different color temperatures. So when you mix light sources you end up with images that have many different color tones in them. Instead, turn off all the overhead lights and open up the curtains to let in the natural light. If you cannot use natural light, then close the curtains and set up lights.

No Food Styling
Food styling is crucial in food photography and one of the toughest things to master. Look at some of the mind-blowing food photographers and inhale some inspiration.


Using On-Camera Flash
Don’t use on-camera flash directly on your subjects. Flash directly pointed at a plate of food will make it look flat and feature-less. Colors just wash out and make the food look unappealing. So just don’t use flash. Or use it with a diffuser from Beachcamera.com. With these tips, you should be all set to shoot some delicious pictures of food.