Buzz
Light is the key factor determining the quality of food photos. Image: @minhn.do
If natural light is unavailable, consider using artificial sources like lamps or warm, evenly glowing candles. Avoid direct phone flash; if necessary, bounce it off the ceiling and soften with a white card or use a white paper menu or plate.
2. Opt for the right background
In food photography, the main dish typically occupies 30% to 50% of the frame, with the background taking up around 30%. Therefore, selecting an appropriate background is crucial. Whether your food blends into a monochrome background or contrasts against a vibrant one depends entirely on your skill.
Opt for a background with contrasting colors to your dish. Image: Ninh Tito
When you look at a food image, opt for a simple background with few patterns, monochromatic is even better, this helps your eyes focus more without being distracted when admiring the dish. Choose bright colors when you want to create a light, bright feeling for the food. Dark colors like navy, brown, or black when emphasizing a particular feature of the dish. For example: a steaming hot dish with steam will easily attract more attention on a dark background, while fresh vegetables will easily blend in with a bright background.
Show off your dish while letting people know where you are. Image: Collected
Additionally, if you're enjoying a street food dish during your travels, simply hold your dish up, place it in the outside scenery, however, make sure to choose a simple scenery so the picture doesn't get cluttered. With this shot, you not only show off what you're eating but also let everyone know where you're traveling.
3. Pay attention to the shooting angle
To capture an enticing food image that makes viewers instantly crave, take shots from various angles. You'll have more options for the photo and discover unique and captivating perspectives. Some dishes shine up close, while others don't. Investing a bit more time yields perfect results, doesn't it?
3.1. Capture from top to bottom
One of the safest and most popular angles for food photography is shooting from top to bottom. With a direct top-down shot, you easily showcase all the details, textures, decorations, and presentation of the food most clearly.
Top-down shooting angle. Image: Collection
However, it's also important to adjust your camera to an appropriate height and frame the shot well for this angle.
3.2. Capture from a tilted angle
To add dynamism and the feeling of movement to the food, place your camera at a tilted angle. You can tilt to the right, making the food appear tilted clockwise, giving viewers the sensation that you're inviting them to enjoy the dish, making them constantly crave. Alternatively, tilting the camera to the left makes the food tilt counterclockwise, creating the illusion that the dish is moving away, making viewers feel like they want to grab the plate of food right away.
A tilted angle enhances the allure of the dish. Image: Dining in Saigon
3.3. Take close-up shots
Food photos become more enticing when you know how to create a multi-sensory experience. Not only showing viewers what the dish looks like, but also stimulating their other senses so they can imagine the aroma, taste, and the sensation of biting into it or putting it in their mouth. Taking close-up shots helps you achieve that. Aim for the most appealing areas, places with smooth texture or small details, making them larger and simultaneously eliminating any unnecessary elements.
Close-up shots create a multi-sensory experience. Image: Collection
4. The one-third rule
If you're in the 'Instagrammer' team, you've probably heard of this golden rule before. This rule isn't just for style shots or portraits, but also for food photography. Imagine your photo being divided into 9 parts by 2 vertical and 2 horizontal lines, the intersecting points of the lines are the 'golden points' that attract attention. Make sure to place the important parts of the dish right there.
Apply the 1/3 rule for food photography. Image: Collection
If you're using a phone and can't precisely adjust the composition of the photo, activate the gridlines feature available on your phone. Just select the Settings icon in the top right corner of the camera interface, then select to enable the grid mode, it's easy to adjust the food items to the right 'golden points' position in the frame.
5. Add a human element
Adding a bit of human presence in food photos is a huge plus, enhancing the liveliness of the image, as if being enjoyed by real people. You can utilize the human element in direct forms such as capturing moments of hands holding a knife about to cut into a cake, hands pouring sauce onto food; or indirectly like images of food being picked up with chopsticks.
The human element makes food photos more lively. Image: Collection
6. Use apps specifically for food photography
6.1. Foodie
Just hearing the name tells you this app is made for food enthusiasts who frequently snap photos of food and drinks. It offers countless diverse color filters categorized for easy use. Even the profile pictures of each filter group indicate which color suits which type of dish - from grilled and fried dishes to ice cream and desserts.
The Foodie app with standout filters. Image: Collection
6.2. Yummy Effect
Yummy Effect is also a golden name in the food photography world with 9 beauty effects for food that you can choose from instantly. The app interface is very simple, requiring no special skills. Besides color adjustments, you can also crop photos to predefined ratios, freely tweak familiar parameters like blurring the background to highlight the subject, adjusting parameters regarding brightness, contrast, blurring, etc., to make the food stand out and more attractive.
The Yummy Effect app is simple and easy to use. Image: Collection
6.2. VSCO
Surely, if you're in the 'Instagrammer' team, you've used this app at least once. But don't think that VSCO is only for landscape or portrait photography, because VSCO also significantly enhances your food photos. VSCO's addictive color tones like blue tones, deep brown tones are quite easy to use. If the filters haven't achieved perfection, adjust individual aspects like brightness, contrast, background blur, etc., to get the best photo.
The VSCO app customizes settings for each aspect individually. Image: Collection
The secret is in your hands already. Now, hurry up and embark on a trip to a new land, enjoy local specialties, and treat your friends with some high-quality food photos.
See more: How to take beautiful photos with Ulike app & Beautiful color adjustment formulas
