8 Tips For Irresistible Food Photography

Food photography is crucial for restaurants venturing into the online realm.

That’s why we’ve put together our top 10 tips for capturing the most beautiful photographs of your delicious dishes! Say goodbye to lifeless, unappetising and boring imagery and say hello to vibrant and utterly irresistible photographs that you’ll be proud to showcase on your restaurant website and throughout your social media channels.

1. Get yourself a good camera

No matter how hard you try, attempting to take beautiful photographs with a substandard camera is never going to work! Invest in a good quality digital camera to give yourself the best chance of capturing delicious dishes in their best light.

2. Consider lighting

Lighting is crucial to any form of photography but is especially important in the case of food photography. When you come to choose your photography location, it’s key to assess the lighting in the area.

Asking yourself a few simple questions will help you to achieve beautiful and consistent photography as you can utilise photography lights and reflectors to direct light where you need:

• Is the light casting shadows?
• Is the light strong or soft?
• Which direction is the light coming from?
• Does the light have a colour that will impact your photographs?

Simply ensure your photography area is set up with side light and back light around the subject to ensure the focus is on your beautifully presented food!

3. Presentation is everything

Before you start snapping away, think about your brand’s values and the research the style of photography you’re hoping to achieve. If your restaurant is urban, precise and minimal then your photographs should reflect this. In contrast, if your restaurant is all about a rustic and cosy feel, your imagery should reflect this – perhaps that messy cracked black pepper or the crumbs from a freshly sliced cake might just add a sense of character and charm to your photographs.

4. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail

Before you start snapping away, plan your shots well in advance so you can make the most of the time you have behind the camera. Writing a shot list is a great way of keeping yourself in check and ensures you’ll get all the shots you need of a particular dish. Preparation may include gathering all of the necessary props and even getting a volunteer to assist you in changing up the shots so all you have to do is snap away!

5. Get creative

Photography is not only a brilliant opportunity to showcase the food you serve but also the personality and creativity behind the brand you’ve created. We encourage you to get creative with your photography – even if it means getting a designer to help out in the editing phase! Photographs speak a thousand words and can instantly make a lasting impression on viewers if they are bold, powerful or memorable in some way.

Creating a mood-board of  food photography that inspires you before stepping behind the camera is a great way to get the creative juices flowing and could push you into taking some shots you wouldn’t have thought were possible!

6. Embrace negative space

The key to a beautiful photograph is balance. You don’t want a cluttered, overcrowded and messy photograph representing your fine-dining restaurant do you? By embracing empty space you ensure that the viewer is focused on the subject itself – your delicious food!

7. Use a tripod for the sharpest images

There’s nothing worse than having gone through the all of the photography steps to perfect your images, only to realise that half of them are blurry when it comes to editing! To avoid this, use a tripod to keep your images super-sharp and highly professional.

8. Portrait Mode

If you’re short on time but have an iPhone to hand, take a few snaps using Portrait mode and we’re sure you’ll be pleased with the results! Photographs like these are brilliant for popping on your social media channels but we recommend using our tips above for your website or printed marketing materials.

If you want to revamp your restaurant website, don’t hesitate to break the ice and chat to a member of our team.