Food Photography

Why food styling?

When I first started taking photos of food, I’d sit a plate on the table and shot. I figured getting the shot was about showing what a recipe looked like. It did. But, I learned quickly that a snapshot doesn’t entice. It doesn’t beg you to eat it. It doesn’t cause people to run to the grocery store and buy stuff for dinner.

Food photography has come a long way in the last decade. Compare cookbooks from the late nineties to those on shelves now and you’ll see a movement toward natural light, less stylistic setups, very inviting organic styling which makes you feel like you’re sitting at a table with a friend. This shift in food styling and food photography techniques shows our evolving approach to food. From perfectly coiffed 1950’s housewife dinners to real food that looks like something you’d really want to eat. Keep it simple is the rule of thumb stick to concentrating on focus shapes and color if you get them right in camera the rest is post-production.