May 12, 2025

How To Take Pictures Of Food: 9 Best Tips For Better Shots

person taking a photo in a diner - How to Take Pictures of Food

Regarding food product photography the first step is to make the food look as appealing as possible. The better it looks, the more people will want to eat it; that goes for real-life scenarios and staged food photography. In this article, we’ll explore the ins and outs of how to take pictures of food that will entice any viewer. You’ll learn the best tips for better shots, like lighting, angles, and composition, to help you capture delicious food photos.

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What is Food Photography?

a great photo - How to Take Pictures of Food

Food photography involves taking pictures of food. And while that may seem simple, it’s much more than that. Like any other genre of photography, food photography is an art. It can breathe new life into or give a whole new dimension to our food. It can also be used commercially for advertising, marketing, and more. Professional food photography is not just for Instagram; it’s a serious commercial venture. Restaurants make use of food photography for their menus and advertisements. You can also see food photography being used for food packaging, etc. It can be a very lucrative profession.

How to Start With Food Photography

If you want to learn how to photograph food, a good first step is to look at examples of professional food photography. You can find these on packaging, on the websites of retailers or high-end restaurants, on menus, and in the online portfolios of food photographers who work in this field. Studying these images will help you understand what is expected of the industry. It’s not as simple as snapping a shot of your lunch with my iPhone. A lot of work and thought go on behind the scenes to create even deceptively simple images.

How to Take Pictures of Food: 9 Best Tips for Better Shots

taking a food photo - How to Take Pictures of Food

1. Cameras and Equipment for Food Photography (Best DSLR Cameras)

While many beginner food photographers start with something as simple as an iPhone, procuring a good DSLR camera and equipment can make all the difference when you're looking to get serious about food photography. While professionals often recommend full-frame digital cameras, you can start with a cropped sensor camera initially. Cropped sensor cameras are more affordable but behave differently with lenses and produce slightly different images. As the name suggests, they produce images that are slightly cropped. Full-frame cameras can cover a wider area.

2. What Lens is Ideal for Food Photography?

Prime lenses or fixed lenses are often best for food photography. They offer wider apertures and, hence, greater control over depth of field. An 80mm or a 50mm prime lens is often recommended for food photography when using a full-frame digital camera. You must adjust your lens usage following the camera’s crop factor when using a cropped sensor camera.

Achieving 80mm Effect on Crop Sensor Cameras

Crop factor measures how much a camera is cropping your image compared to a standard 35mm film camera. When you multiply your lens's focal length by the crop factor, you get the actual focal length at which your images will appear to have been taken. To achieve the effect of an 80mm lens with a cropped sensor camera with a crop factor of 1.6, you will have to use a 50mm lens. It also helps to have a good macro lens, which can help you make some excellent, detailed shots and close-ups.

3. Other Equipment for Food Photography

A tripod is a must-have for food photography. Tripods keep your camera stable and eliminate noise from the camera shaking due to your hand. While many food photographers prefer natural light, artificial lighting can give you much more control in a studio set-up. It can be helpful to have some flashguns, moonlights, light stands, and light bounces to help you adjust the lighting to your exact requirements.

Using Props to Elevate Food Photography

Photography props are also helpful and essential in food photography. Keeping some pretty dinnerware and ceramics on hand and fancy cutting boards and napkins can help you set up and style your shots and produce beautiful results.

4. Styling and Staging for Professional Food Photography

Food styling is so complex and involved that professionals dedicate their time to it. At the top level, food photographers work with stylists, so they don’t need to do this part themselves. As you improve your skills, you will likely have to know how to set up and style a good shot yourself. This will make your shots look like professional food photography from the start, giving you a better chance of getting hired on the strength of your portfolio.

Photographing Imperfect Yet Appetizing Food

The best food to photograph looks appetizing even when cold, has been sitting in a studio set-up for hours, and has either a sauce or a crumbling texture, which can be used to make an appealing note of imperfection. This isn’t easy to come by, and you might not get the perfect item every time. This means you must learn to work quickly, as food can melt, wilt, crumble, or collapse under studio conditions.

Artful Food Styling Details

Use a stand-in plate to plan the shot so you’re ready to go. A small trail or smear of sauce, a few crumbs, a scattered olive, or a sprig of herbs are the little details that can make food shots really interesting. Note that professional examples aren’t dirty or messy. Everything is spotlessly clean, and the items or crumbs scattered around have been placed deliberately and artfully.

Food Photography Lighting & Styling Tips

Spraying your food with water droplets or brushing it with oil, using natural light, and bouncing that light around to fill in shadows are key food photography tips. These create a more appetizing look, and the food should certainly be plumped up, propped up, pinned in place, and rearranged to give the appearance of fullness and richness.

Balance & Composition Tips

Consider comparing fast food advertising and what the meal looks like in your hand; it can often be a massive difference! Composing the frame for your food photography is the same as it is with other genres of photography. You should strive for balance, employing techniques like the rule of thirds to fill your frame or disobeying them for deliberate effect. Leading lines, like a fork or knife placed in the frame, can also be very effective.

Choosing the Right Backdrop & Props for Food Photography

A food photography backdrop will be convenient; you can invest in several to get some variety. These backdrops, such as a wooden table or a Café setting, present a neutral yet suitable appearance. Interesting cutlery and crockery will also help with your staging, though they should never be more interesting than the food itself. Food is always the star of food photography!

5. Camera Angles for Food Photography

The most obvious shot is directly above the food, pointing down at a perpendicular angle. This might not always be the most flattering way to take the picture, and if you are photographing something with height or different layers, none of that will be captured from above.

Finding the Best Angle for Food Photography

Instead, try putting your camera level with the food and shooting it from the front. Then go up to a 25-degree angle and a 75-degree angle. Compare all four shots against one another. Which is the most flattering for the dish you are capturing? Over time, you will develop an instinctive feel for which of these standard setups is right for each composition. Make sure that you test everything before you start shooting for real. Otherwise, you could waste a lot of time adjusting and re-styling, wasting the best time to photograph the food.

Using Props and Backdrops in Food Photography

You can use creative props such as wine glasses, cake stands, or just a plain cutting board to raise certain scene elements or create a more dynamic composition. Make sure that something is interesting across the frame, but remember, the food must be king again. If you go in at a different angle, ensure your food photography backdrop covers the whole space. You don’t want to set up a picture-perfect table only to have a messy background ruin it!

6. Create a Hero Shot

How do you ensure that the food remains the hero in your shot? One way is to use the depth of the field. If you focus closely on the food you want to feature while letting the background fade out of focus into a comfortable blur, you will keep that food as the central area of interest for the viewer. They will see it, while the background adds to the image without distraction. Macro techniques and lenses can be instrumental in food photography. You don’t want to rest on this as the only idea in your wheelhouse. Consider the biggest strength of the food you are shooting.

Is it the shape, color, texture, or presentation?
Does it feature fresh ingredients that look vibrant and full?
Does it give an impression of being comfort food, luxury, or a simple yet effective meal?

Emphasizing Food's Strength with Lighting and Color

When you understand why someone would want to buy the food, you can speak in a way that emphasizes that strength. You may adjust your lighting to show the texture better, change my props, or utilize a different depth of field to show what I need to show. Also, consider how to use color in your images. Your background and props should usually be neutral or dark to remain in the background while the rich colors of the food come through stronger. The best food to photograph against a dark-colored background would be one that contrasts and pops against it, standing out and making an impact.

7. Food Photography Lighting

Food photography lighting needs to be diffused. Natural light works best here, but what do you do if it’s the middle of the day and the lighting is too bright? Hanging a white sheet over a window is a good solution. It gives you beautiful, diffused light that spreads across the frame, rather than creating harsh shadows.

Use of Window Lighting for Food Photography

You can achieve this effect using a large lightbox to cover your setup. White tissue paper is the perfect filter; you can create your own by cutting out all sides and top from a cardboard box, leaving just the barest framework behind, and sticking tissue paper. The light is diffused beautifully across the whole layout.

Avoid Reflections in Shiny Objects with a Simple Foam Board Trick

If you photograph anything shiny, like a silver pan, a glass, or a liquid, you may have noticed that you often show up in the reflections. This can give you a headache and many hours of unneeded post-production, so you can avoid this issue by creating a frame of white foam board or cardboard. Cut out a circle the exact size of your lens and poke it just through. The reflection will only show the circle of your lens; everything else will be smooth white.

8. Post-processing and Editing for Food Photography

Consider the intended usage of your photographs when selecting your food photography backdrops and plates, and setting up the lighting. You may need to cut out the food from its background, which is easiest done on white. It’s a valuable skill, and doing it with precision takes time and practice.

Background Removal in Photoshop

Using Photoshop, you must select all white areas with the magic wand tool and delete them. If you have an item separated well enough from the background, this may be enough to do the job. To be more precise, you may need to use a path or other selection tools for more complex items. When working on a transparent background layer, you will need to work in .jpg unless specifically otherwise requested by your clients to preserve the transparency when you save the finished image.

9. Presenting Your Food Shots

Presenting your food shots after they are taken can be just as important as the skills needed to take them in the first place. Consider the intended usage of your photographs when selecting your food photography backdrop and plates and setting up the lighting. You may need to cut out the food from its background, which is easiest on white. This is a valuable skill, and it takes time and practice to do it precisely.

White Backgrounds in Photoshop

Using Negative Space in Food Photography

If you can leave some negative space in your shots, areas not taken up by subjects or noise, then this is a good technique. Your photographs will be more useful, as text can be added to these spaces. Think of them sitting in a magazine layout or on packaging with space for barcodes and other information.

What Settings Should I Use for Food Photography?

person with high tech camera - How to Take Pictures of Food

Manual mode enables consistency from shot to shot by controlling the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance. If you don't use a DSLR camera, apps like Halide can help you control some of these settings on your phone:

Aperture

Aperture controls the amount of light that reaches the sensor by opening and closing the aperture ring of your lens. A wider opening, which allows the most light in, has a lower f-stop value (the ratio of the focal length to the aperture's width). The f-stop value significantly impacts your depth of field, how much of the foreground and background is in focus. The higher the f-stop value, the larger the depth of field. A low f-stop value, such as f/2.8, corresponds to a wide aperture opening and produces a very shallow depth of field. A high f-stop value, such as f/22, has a much greater depth of field.

Choosing the Right Aperture for Sharpness

The more you stop down your lens (i.e., the more you increase your f-stop number), the more focused the foreground and background will be. Due to the phenomenon of diffraction (when light waves bend after passing through your lens), fine details will get less sharp. For food photography with a full-frame DSLR, a mid-range aperture like f/11 will produce the sharpest photos, balancing a clear foreground and background and fine details.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is the time your camera's sensor is exposed to light. A slower shutter speed, such as 1/15th of a second, allows more light but will blur any motion you're trying to capture. You'll need to use a slower shutter speed when using natural light. A faster shutter speed, such as 1/1,000th of a second, will freeze any motion in the frame. This works best for action shots, like pouring a beverage from a glass or showcasing the bubbles in a carbonated beverage.

Flash Sync and Ambient Light Control

Check the manual for the camera's flash sync speed. A value of 1/200 second is common. A faster shutter speed will reduce the amount of ambient light, such as overhead lights or light from a window, that reaches your photo. When using flash for food photography, block out as much ambient light as possible to maximize control over the light's shape and direction.

ISO

The ISO setting adjusts the sensitivity of your camera's sensor to light. A lower ISO value, such as 100, allows the least light and produces the lowest amount of visual noise, or clutter, making it ideal for brightly lit outdoor scenes and when using flash. Visual noise looks like random discolored specks in your image, which can ruin the appearance of colors and deep shadows. For food photography, using the lowest value you can for the light you need is best. Check your camera manual for the native ISO, often between 100 and 200, as this will yield the best quality.

White Balance

Different light sources have varying white balance values, measured from warm to cool on a Kelvin scale. For example, an incandescent lightbulb has a value of 2,700 K, giving off a warm glow, while natural light on a cloudy day may have a value of around 6,000 K, which a camera perceives as cooler in tone. You can find the best white balance for your scene in your camera's menu items. Avoid mixing warm and cool lights when composing your scene, as this will make it difficult to balance colors in your photo editing software. If you plan to use daylight or flash, turn off artificial lighting.

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Benefits of Great Photos for Food Businesses

a great food photo - How to Take Pictures of Food

You never get a second chance to make a first impression, especially not in the food business. In most cases, food photography is your first handshake with the customer, on packaging, menus, ads, or online listings. A high-quality image can instantly signal freshness, quality, or indulgence, while a poor one can turn people away, even if the product is excellent. Your visuals need to pop off the shelf or screen in a crowded market.

Build Your Brand Identity With Food Photography

Photography helps shape the tone of your brand.

Is it rustic and handmade?
Sleek and modern?
Family-friendly or gourmet?

Through lighting, styling, props, and composition, photography translates your brand’s personality into a visual language that customers instantly understand.

Food Photography Drives Purchase Decisions

People eat with their eyes first. Mouthwatering photography on websites, food delivery apps, and social media can trigger impulse purchases. The more appetising and authentic the image, the more likely consumers are to trust and try the product.

Tell Your Unique Story With Food Photography

Food photography can show more than just the finished product. It can tell the story of how it's made, where the ingredients come from, or the lifestyle it supports. This is especially powerful for brands focusing on sustainability, artisan craftsmanship, or wellness.

Food Photography Enhances Visual Consistency

Strong visual branding ensures that wherever your product appears —on Instagram, in-store, or in a brochure, it looks recognisably you. Consistent photography helps reinforce trust and recall, making your brand feel cohesive and professional.

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