Well, I am sure that at least once you have typed #foodporn on Instagram looking for a place to eat in the city you live or are visiting. For this, we have the food influencers/bloggers. We all love food bloggers and honestly, I don’t think we give them enough credits. Tell me that it didn’t happen to you to just watch a picture of tasty food and the next second to crave for it and to think that you would love to go to that restaurant and eat that? It always happens to me, even more, I sometimes pick the place to dine, based on Instagram hashtags and it never went wrong.

Ok, so, how do I prepare for my food photos, even though I can’t call myself a food influencer (I am not even close to that!)

Preparation is everything

Ok, so nothing is more annoying than a table filled with hungry guests especially if they need to wait for you to take your perfect shot of the food. Choose in advance what plate you will use, and which cutlery or glass you will include and of course if you want to add any other elements to your picture. Additionally, you should try to take some test photos to see if you enjoy your composition or anything that needs to be changed to have the perfect shot. Nobody likes a dirty glass, for example, so you need to pay attention to every detail so you can later enjoy looking at the most attractive photo. This way, if all is well prepared in advance, you just need to get your meal and take the perfect one-shot! Bon appetite!

A tasty styling

The perfect food shot needs to be stylized. For example, adding a few drops of dressing instead of your normal serving will make your food look better and once you finished the picture, you can just add as much as you like. A brown stew will make you fresher by adding some green fresh herbs.

Choose natural light

Nothing is better than natural light which will reflect brightly in your food. Tasty food photography demands natural daylight, so try to put your plate as close as you can to a window to enjoy this light. Don’t use direct sunlight since that will create harsh strong shadows. Trick: A piece of foam or cardboard illuminates the shadows and there you have your perfect shot!

Experiment with perspective

A good perspective helps your food picture to tell a story which will make it more interesting, especially if that perspective is taken from above (also called flat-lay). These types of pictures score quite high on Instagram in terms of likes. But don’t stop here, play with the composition of your shot, go for a close-up, look for interesting angles, ... Go for food photography from different angles and your perfect food shot is there, for sure!

Play with your food

A food picture that looks extra yummy? Play with your food! (Sorry mama, but this time it really works.) Cut a piece of your cake or crumble some of your brownies. Customized food looks a lot nicer! In other words, try cooking new dishes and look to improve your pallet as nobody wants to see the same type of dishes photographed over and over.

Food photography: Getting started

Roll out your sleeves and fly to the kitchen! Keep in mind my 5 tips and make the perfect food shot. Do you want to bet that your picture will make everyone crave for your dish even though those are just some French fries?

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