Tips for taking better food photos

Tips for Taking Better Food Photos
Whether at home, in a restaurant, or in your studio, these tips will help!

Most of the food photography I do is "run and gun". Just like you, I go into restaurants, order a dish, and shoot in whatever conditions the place allows. Even when I shoot food for print, sometimes with the full cooperation of the kitchen, I can be limited by being in a crowded restaurant with bad light and an anxious chef. There's no controlling the environment or minimizing the chaos. So I've tried to perfect the run and gun method over the years and am sharing my tips and techniques here.
Every day hundreds of thousands of food images are uploaded to the web. Many of them are not so good. With the popularity of Instagram, Yelp, and others, lot's of folks like you are trying their hand at food photography. Cool! Make em' good! It doesn’t take thousands of dollars worth of equipment or tons of studio lights to take great food photos. Mostly it takes time, patience, and a little know-how. Here are some simple tips to help you start getting great food shots.

#6. Get Involved

7/21/2018

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I saw the sushi chef preparing this dish and simply asked if I could photograph him. A process shot can be so much more interesting than a shot at the table. It gets your viewers involved in the food prep. If the kitchen is busy or off limits, forget it. But it never hurts to ask. This is where you gotta have your chops down in operating your camera! Shutter speed and depth of field matter!

Ask questions and have a sense of curiosity about what you are eating. Pay attention. See if you can talk to the chef, the owner, or ask your server. Educating yourself about the process of how your food was made will help you take better food photos. Plus, sometimes if you show

interest restaurant staff get invested in helping you get a great shot. You don’t have to be a gourmet to appreciate how and why food is made and plated.
Look around and see if there anything unique going on. Ask staff at the eatery if they can think of any interesting shots. Ask about the process of making their food. Anything unique makes a great photograph like the shot using a torch to finish sushi.

Anyone can shoot things like table side guacamole prep. And look at those colors... blue and brown! Gesture adds visual flavor to your food photos

How to photograph cocktails for your food blog

Craft cocktails have become a big part of the food scene. Capturing the intricacies of their creation can make for a dynamic shot and be a lot more interesting than a brown drink in a glass!

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Chip Weiner is a Tampa food blogger and an award winning freelance photographer specializing in portraiture, food photography and photojournalism . He has been a photography instructor for over 10 years and teaches Tampa photography classes throughout the year. Have a suggestion for a food event or restaurant? Contact him here

For information on photography classes and workshops, feel free to call me or look under the Tampa Photography Classes section of my website. Photo 101 is by far the most popular! I also give private individual lessons on camera operation and making better photographs and would love to work with you one on one to make you a better photographer. Photography instruction gift certificates are also available. They make great gifts for the photo enthusiast in your life. Let's talk about what you need! 813-786-7780. See you in class!

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