February 23, 2009, 09:20 AM
Say Cheese
When snapping photos became an increasingly regular part of my job, I did a little research about how to take good pictures. While one of my pictures landed in USA Today and my food pix are a regular part of Washingtonian, I am still camera shy.

My Metrocurean pal came by for the cocktail party Frugal Foodie and took some great pictures including these gougeres, left. She turned off the flash and used the light from a soft, gold lamp. It's a trick I've been using on Frugal Foodie photos ever since. While Metrocurean is quick to point out that she's no pro, she shares a few foodie photography tips to make your pictures look as scrumptious as your dish tastes -- even if you're using a basic point-and-shoot camera.

The flash is not your friend. Unless you're a pro, photographing food with a flash is a bad idea. It washes out the colors and makes it look unappetizing, which is probably not your goal.

Natural light, natural light, natural light. Position your food in a bright window or take it outside. You'll get the truest color. At night, try placing food under a bright lamp.

Shoot close-ups for high impact. Most basic point-and-shoots have a close-up or micro setting. Get right up to a good looking corner of your food, focus the foreground and shoot. It'll make your photo look practically professional.

Put down the camera phone. Especially in restaurants. I know you really want to capture that fantastic dish, but the results are likely to come out dark, grainy and not as pretty as the real thing. Take a mental picture.

When in doubt, leave it out. Ask yourself if a bad, unappetizing photo is better than no photo at all.

From Ray Anderson (08/20/2009)

Download the free photo utility Gimp, which gives you most of Photo Shop's capabilities, but for FREE. Often I have to lighten the pics and increase the contrast. Now I can't shoot without the post-picture-taking work with Gimp.

Labels   food photography , Metrocurean

From Stacey Vaeth (03/02/2009)

Great tips! One more: Find the food's "best side". A bubble on pizza crust, or a split in the top of the muffin can really give dimension to the photo and realism to the food. So spin it around, see what catches your eye, and focus in on that.

Labels   food photography , Metrocurean

From KMango (03/01/2009)

I've been using the Lowel Ego light and a "Gorillapod" (mini-tripod to stablize my point-and-shoot) for the past few months. The quality of my blog photos went up instantly and dramatically. Well worth the investment.

Labels   food photography , Metrocurean

From J.W. Hamner (02/27/2009)

Do you have any specific tips for lighting? Killing the flash has worked great, but I can't seem to light my photos properly. I do most of my cooking at night, so I wonder about type of lamp and light bulb I might use.

Labels   food photography , Metrocurean

From Laura Elizabeth Pohl (02/26/2009)

Another tip: Shoot at a low angle or from directly overhead. Sometimes the food has a pleasing pattern from above. Beautiful!

Labels   food photography , Metrocurean

From Mags (02/24/2009)

Thanks for the tips! I came to this post via Metrocurean. I'm a lover of food and a (very) amateur photog, so I'll look forward to trying your tips in my kitchen!

Labels   food photography , Metrocurean

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