For starters…

Having a digital camera that has a macro mode and saturated color reproduction will greatly help you capture the beauty of your dish. Most Olympus cameras have an exclusive Cuisine mode setting that does all that for you just by pressing a button. Now you can capture your recipe with ease. Always pay attention to the picture on the LCD screen to see if you have the right exposure, if not take another shot and use the exposure compensation button to lighten (+) or darken (-) the photo. 

Here’s what to look for…

Pick a location in the sun or in the shade. Try not to have your dish in both since the contrast range will be too great for any digital camera sensor.  

When shooting in the sun…

The heat will cause delicate herbs to wilt, cheese to melt and other problems, so work fast! Try to have the sun at your side or behind the food, just not at your back since that will flatten the look of your food. You can use your flash to fill in the harsh shadows, or try mirrors and aluminum foil to bounce some light back into the food. By doing that you’ll create some specular highlights and give your dish more appetite appeal. White paper will bounce soft light back on the subject, or try gold foil to add some warmth to the shot. Placing wax paper or a white shower curtain between the sun and the food will diffuse the light and soften the shadows.  

If you choose the shade…

You’ll have a bit more time to shoot, but you won’t have any sparkle in the photo. You can add some specular highlights with mirrors or aluminum foil. A tripod might be needed since the light level is lower and you may shake your camera when taking the photo giving you a blurry result. The auto white balance feature on your camera may not compensate enough for the bluish color cast that you get when shooting in the shade. Try using the preset white balance settings in either the cloudy or deep shade modes. This introduces a warmer tone to the photograph and makes the food look more appealing. 

Food Tips…

-Consider contrasting colors and shapes of the food items

-Undercook the food so it doesn’t look dried out

-Use a brush with light oil to add shine to the food

-Spraying a mixture of glycerin and water will add droplets to vegetables and glasses

-Manipulate small elements with tweezers

-Watch for reflections in the silverware and use a small piece of putty to angle it

-Clean up the plates with q-tips, paper towels, and glass cleaner

Composition…

-Look at what elements are around the plate and move them so they frame the dish and complement it

-Try to create a circular composition, which keeps your eye moving through the photo and directs your attention towards the food

-Shoot from various angles till you find what looks best, you’ll know it when you see it

-Throwing certain objects out of focus, tilting the frame, and tight close-ups are some of the techniques to get the viewer’s attention and achieve desired effects

-Most of the time, simplicity rules… less is more when it comes to food photography  

Your photo will look like this if you are shooting under tungsten light such as a light bulb and you don’t set your white balance to TUNGSTEN

Your photo will look like this if you are shooting indoors with a flash and you have set your white balance to DAYLIGHT

Your photo will look like this if you don’t set your white balance to CLOUDY. This setting adds a little yellow and orange to compensate for the color of this light source

Your photo will look like this if you don’t set your white balance to SHADE. This setting adds more yellow and orange to compensate for the color of this light source

Your photo will look like this if you are shooting under fluorescent light, found in most commercial kitchens, if you don’t set your white balance to FLUORESCENT

Custom White Balance adjusts the presumed white point for digital cameras. Aim the camera at a white card and capture the white balance setting so that anything white will be white in your photo. I always set the white balance to manual mode. Often, I create a custom white balance to get better color rendition. Sometimes when using electronic flash, the white balance has to be set manually because the light doesn’t exist until the flash goes off. A setting for daylight is usually close.

You can use flash when you shoot outdoors in sunlight to show some detail in the harsh shadows, its called Flash Fill

Use household items such as aluminum foil (as a reflector) and wax paper (as a diffuser) to change the type of light

Use gold reflectors to add warmth to the shadows

Using mirrors and backlights helps to add dimension, gives more shadow detail, and creates specular highlights on the food or setting.  With them, food can sparkle like jewels.  Specular highlights attract attention to the food’s freshness, color, and texture, giving it appetite appeal.