Taking Better Food Photos

building your restaurant’s digital identity

TAKING BETTER PHOTOS

Easy Steps to More Appetizing Shots For Facebook, Instagram, E-mail Blasts and more

Smile for the Camera!

Over 50% of American consumers use smartphones and many more have digital cameras built into devices like iPods or tablet computers.

Your customers are taking photos of your restaurant, your staff, and your food every day and sharing those photos on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yelp, Foodspotting and other social networks.

And though you can’t control the visual quality of the photos THEY take, you can make sure the official photos YOU take of your restaurant, your staff and your food are as eye-catching and appetizing as possible. You should be using those photos regularly to promote your business via e-mail, Facebook and your website.

Devices like Apple’s iPhone 4S take shockingly good pictures, and many of your employees probably have one already, so grab your phone and let’s have some fun!

10 Tips to improve your iPhone photography 1. Don’t forget to check and clean the lens 2. Lighting is everything Even if your phone has an on-board flash, it’s best to avoid using it. Always choose natural light. Avoid lamps and overhead fluorescent lights. Shoot near a window with indirect sunlight coming in. Direct sunlight will “blow out” the highlights of the photo with a bright white glare.

The tomato on the left was shot using a flash; on the right, using natural light.

3. Keep the camera steady Ideally, shoot with an iPhone tripod (available at Best Buy, Target, Ritz Camera or online at Amazon.com). If one is not available, brace the camera on a counter or small stack of books. If you have to hold it, lock your elbows to your body and hold the iPhone with both hands about 12 inches from your face. Take the photo with your thumb; don’t stab at it with your finger. This is easier on an iPhone running iOS 5, as you can use the volume buttons on the side to snap a picture. If possible, rest your elbows on a firm object like a railing.

Tripods made especially for smartphones help reduce camera shake giving you crisp, clear photos.

4. Get your timing right Phone cameras are notorious for shutter lag – snapping the picture long after that fake shutter sound – so count to three for your subject but take the photo on ‘two’, and keep still a second after you’ve pressed the button to avoid blur. Taking lots of shots lets you practise but also means you capture people at their most natural moments, before they pose.

5. Get their heads together The iPhone is great for taking candid shots. The problem is, most people aren’t good at having their pictures taken. When taking pictures of a happy couple in your restaurant or bar, make sure their heads are touching. If they aren’t, it’ll look there’s a space between their heads you can drive a truck through.

6. Your feet are the best zoom You know that slider that lets you set the zoom level on your iPhone? Forget it exists. If you need to get closer to your target, walk.

The phone’s zoom is digital, not optical, and using it will cause pixelation.

7. Avoid Interference Make sure your phone case is not interfering with your pictures. If you see white fog over your photos, this is a telltale sign of your camera flash reflecting off the thick sides of the case’s lens cutout. Outside sources of light can also flare up like a white rash in your pictures. If so, shade your lens with your hand like a hood.

8. The default camera app on your phone is often NOT the best way to capture photos Explore other photo-taking apps including Instagram, Hipstamatic, Photo Toaster, Camera Sharp, Camera+, Camera Awesome.

9. Once you’ve got the shot For additional photo processing and editing, check out apps like SnapSeed, Apple’s iPhoto app and Adobe’s Photoshop Touch app.

10. Find More Tips Online For the aspiring iPhone photographer, there are loads of helpful resources online: photographer blogs and pages like www.facebook.com/StephenHamiltonInc, YouTube videos (search for iPhone photography tips), Lynda.com tutorials, and many books at Amazon.com, including iPhone Artistry, Master iPhone Photography, iPhone Photography & Video for Dummies, The Art of iPhoneography, Sixty Tips for Creative iPhone Photography, and Create Great iPhone Photos: Apps, Tips, Tricks and Effects.

15 Tips to improve your Food photography 1. Turn off your flash

8. Shoot from a lower angle than you think you should

This is the cardinal rule that you will hear again and again in food photography tutorials. It doesn’t matter if you are using a point-and-shoot, SLR or smartphone, TURN THE FLASH OFF. Using a flash makes the subject look flat or washed out and creates unflattering shadows.

Some may argue that food is usually seen from a 45% angle looking down, so why photograph food from a different angle?

The truth is that photographing food from a fork’s-eye view is different, and in the world of photography, different means unusual and unusual means interesting.

2. Use natural lighting

From a lower angle, the food’s thickness and height become much more apparent than if the shot was taken from a high angle or from above. Often, the “directly above” angle is the most boring angle. If you can’t see the sides of an object, you have no idea if the thing has any height or not. So if you shoot a 3” thick steak from directly above, it might as well be 1/4“ thick. Shoot close and from a low angle.

You’ll need a good light source. Shoot near a window or consider shooting on an outdoor table. If you have harsh sunlight beaming directly onto your subject, drape a thin cotton sheet across the window as a diffuser. The idea is to use soft, ambient light. Of course, there are artificial light sources that can be used if photographing during the day is not convenient for you. Lowell Ego lights work well. Watch out for standard kitchen lighting - overhead fluorescents can be harsh, or give a yellow cast to your photos.

3. Organize Try to plan out the elements of your shoot long before you prepare your food. This includes de-cluttering your work space as well as the camera’s field of view (look through the viewfinder for distracting objects). In addition, pick out props and choose dishes for plating. Having the scene set will help you swiftly execute your shoot, which is important because food always photographs better when it is fresh. Pay special attention to dishes with creamy sauces like alfredo or items with melted cheeses like pizza or burgers, as they quickly start to break down and look less fresh and appetizing.

4. De-Blob and clean up Give plates and cutlery a wipe before shooting. A blob of food in the wrong spot or fingermarks on a wine glass may not be totally noticeable when you’re setting things up, but could become glaringly annoying once you view the pic on your screen.

9. Always be on the lookout for ideas To get inspired, browse through food magazines on the newsstand or on your tablet computer. Take note of the angles the professionals shoot from and what makes the food look best.

Online food blogs are another great way to quickly browse many food photos and pick up some new visual techniques.

Here are some of the best food blogs of 2012: http://bit.ly/ONPirD

10. Use depth of field Using a low aperture setting can blur the background and soften other elements while emphasizing the dish you’re shooting.

If you’re taking photos with a smartphone, you cannot control depth of field with the default camera app, but several apps make it easy to do that after you get the shot. On an iPhone, try SnapSeed or TiltShiftGenerator.

11. Use color to create dynamic compositions Plating and presentation are a big part of culinary artistry.

Make sure your plate presentations POP with contrasting colors.

12. Find a photo editing program you like 5. Use a tripod That food isn’t moving, so there’s NO EXCUSE for blurry food photos. Stabilize your camera for clear, usable photos every time.

On your laptop or home computer, use Apple’s iPhoto or Adobe’s Photoshop Elements to adjust color saturation, increase clarity and make exposure adjustments.

6. Take lots of photos

13. Shooting food with a phone? Use filters sparingly

Taking pictures from various angles will increase the chances for photos with “wow” factor. Just by shifting the camera’s perspective slightly, a frame can go from boring to spectacular.

So move around your subject and play with camera angles.

Save up for a large, fast memory card for your camera. It’s worth the extra few dollars, as it will give you the freedom to shoot as much as you like in a single session and capture the food quickly, while it’s at its best.

Popular apps like Instagram, Hipstamatic or Pixlr-o-matic apply vintage or grungy filters to your photos, but food doesn’t look great in a sepia-tone, or in the style of a 70s polaroid, unless you’re trying to recreate your grandmother’s old cookbook. Food also looks bad in black and white. Try straightforward shooting with good, natural lighting to make your food look its best.

14. Learn More

Taking “mise en place” photos, some work-in-progress shots or some special ingredient photos to help tell a recipe’s story.

Part of the magic of cooking is using simple elements like butter, flour and spices to create something delicious.

YouTube.com has many Food Photography Tips videos, or browse Amazon.com for books like Digital Food Photography by Lou Manna, Food Photography: From Snap Shots to Great Shots by Nicole Young or Plate to Pixel: Digital Food Photography and Styling by Helene Dujardin.

7. Try and capture the YUM factor

15. Backup!

Think about what makes your subject really delicious and then aim to highlight this characteristic in your shot. This is especially important because your food photos will act as advertisements when you post them on Facebook or your website. The yummier they look, the more likely your customers will be to share them with their friends and give you the free publicity you crave!

You’ve spent lots of time and energy getting those perfect shots, so remember to back up your photos onto a hard drive or cloud storage service.

Tips compiled from blog posts by Philip Tang at lonelyplanet.com, Heather Baird at pixiq.com, Malcolm Bedell at fromaway.com, Mark Crump at mac-talks.com and Jules Clancy at digital-photography-school.com