Photo: Karl Ludik
It’s safe to say food photography isn’t just reserved for gourmet magazines and weekend newspapers anymore. It’s everywhere. And everyone is doing it.
The scenes are the same in any café or restaurant in any city around the world. A boyfriend/husband having his hand slapped for digging into a meal before a photo had been taken. Someone teetering precariously atop a chair or stool to get the perfect coffee shot from above. Table settings being meticulously rearranged to capture that effortless vibe of casually strewn sunglasses, magazines and bircher muesli.
Google ‘food blog’ and you’re met with nearly 1.2 million results.
So how do you make sure your photos stand out from the crowd?
I recently had a chat with Matt Krumins, Retail Development Manager of Olympus Imaging Australia to find out his top five tips for snapping those savouries and sweets. Here’s what he had to say…
- Always use natural light where possible.
Natural light looks exactly that, natural. Food images look best when you feel you can dive right into it!
- Backlight your subject and use reflectors.
Light is an untamed beast but with a few pieces of simple white and black cards as reflectors and blockers we can manipulate the light to be just right!
- Use a prime lens.
Prime lenses perform much better in low light and give you that amazing blur drop-off in the background to make your food really stand out!
- Try aperture priority mode.
Aperture priority mode allows you to control the depth of field (the blurry backgrounds) yet is still automatic enough that you don’t need to fiddle with more than a single setting.
- Get creative with your camera angle.
Try shooting from overhead directly down over your subject or varying the focal length (zoom) to give your shots a different look. Many cameras these days have tilt screens (such as the Olympus OM-D E-M10) to help you compose your shots perfectly no matter the angle!
Want to learn more tricks of the food photography trade?
Book your place at the Olympus Food Workshop at Sean’s Kitchen on Tuesday 28 July 2015 from 10am – 1pm.
Cameras and equipment will be provided.
Tickets are $130 and can be booked online: http://www.diamondscamera.com.au/food
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