16 Best tips and tricks for culinary photography

In the last two and a half years, I have taken more than 25,000 photos of food. It's a bit staggering. I gathered some of the things I learned along the way and some of the things I would have liked to know at the beginning. There are also tips from other photographers and food bloggers.

The tips are organized according to the basic concepts of food photography, food photography for Instagram and social networks, the best equipment for food photography, lighting, restaurant photography, inspiration, composition, food and drink. edition How to stay healthy as a culinary photographer.

Basic concepts on food photography

1. Use a weak opening to isolate an item when you want to highlight a specific item

2. If you are recording with a digital SLR, always take RAW. This will give you the greatest flexibility to edit later

3. Your goal will affect the amount of bokeh you get.

4. If you have a manual model, make sure your hands are clean and hydrated. Photoshopping dirty nails is a pain, but they are very visible and unpleasant in food photos.

5. Incorporate actions if they make sense, such as pouring cream into the coffee or spinning spaghetti, but do not force it out of context. I had the biggest criticism in response to the use of strange utensils. People specialize in holding and using knives.

6. Make friends on the road. If you're working in a photo shoot with a stylist, public relations manager, or chef, stay in touch and keep an open mind about collaboration opportunities. I recently needed a cocktail stylist for a work session and ended up recommending a bartender with whom I worked in a job in a group of restaurants. It often takes months or years since I met someone and when I finished working with them, but it is surprising that you end up working with a group of professionals.

7. To photograph a table, use a higher aperture to make sure everything is focused. For commercial and large-scale business opportunities, you can connect one and use Lightroom or Capture One to control your photos as you work.

8. Frequently format their SD cards and Compact Flash, this will help you develop not strange chess along the way and make it last longer.

Food photography for Instagram and social networks

9. Authenticity is not a strategy for social networks. There are people who kill him by focusing on all kinds of things. Symmetrybreakfast has all the perfectly symmetrical images, while Higuccini has a mix of compositions. Bromabakery has mainly bright and clear images, while stems and beams are obscured. Realandvibrant publishes all healthy foods, while cheatdayeats place cheeses and desserts all the time.

10. Consistency in Instagram works better than anything else. When I was working as a Digital Media Director in a group of restaurants, I gained 100% social media followers for the 8 restaurants at 6 months. 3 restaurant accounts were on Chicago's 10 most popular restaurants list (he was a fan of data, so I kept the top 100 restaurants in town). Once I set a strategy for each account, basically does the same cycle every week (most of the time seems a combination of food, history and staff).

11. Do not ignore food trends, but all holidays with the food hashtag do not require a parade.

12. Erin 312Food: for me, sharing food in social networks is based on empathy want to create a connection to this specific dish, so that the viewer just have to go get it or share it.

The food should be a step away from eating it, that is to say, bottle caps, straws in drinks, withdrawals from any container, etc. He wants someone to imagine that moment. He must feel REAL.To that end, I also discovered that some food photos may be "too" good for social performance. If it seems too progressive / inorganic, it does not create the same empathy, even if it's an excellent photo! - and people do not respond because they are very far from the way they live the world.

13. If you go to a restaurant as part of an email exchange on a social network, clarify the details of the logistics in advance by email. Personally, it's not usually my cup of tea, so I rarely do these things, but it's better to clarify in advance and suddenly feel something you do not understand well.

14. PLEASE, please do not post bad food for the likes. If you do not like it, do not favor it!

15. From the Chicago culinary photographer, Nick Murway, I mean, it's nothing profound, but try not to look for validation of the numbers and try to do something different. We all know the handful of places, plates, and drinks, and how each one photographs them in the same way. It's a lot more fun trying to do something different, to share your voice, okay?

16. Consistency is not just about publishing a type of thing or using the same aesthetic, but having a position or a general perspective on what you publish. It's really difficult. I try to work mainly as a photographer, but because of my tracking on Instagram, which is not great, I often receive collaborations and sponsored publications. It's hard to say no.