Food Photography Props and Angles | May Merriment Day 17
Posted by Katrina Kennedy on May 17, 2011 in Blog, Photography | 4 commentsA bowl of soup. A piece of bread. A cupcake. A slice of pie. They all look good (and sound good when it’s close to lunch).
How can you make them more appealing? Provide context. Capuring your 365 is about remembering context. The bits and pieces of our lives. By placing the soup bowl on top of a placemat and adding a spoon, we can now remember more details than the bowl alone. By capturing the artichoke on the dinner plate with the rice and tomato, I’m reminded of the dinner from my garden shared with my mom the night before her knee replacement surgery.
Try placing the cupcake in the container it arrived in. Now I have multiple memories, including the fact I never ate it. Or capture the cookie in the hands that will be eating it.
Find something to give your food a little more life, a little more pizzazz. During her Creative Live workshop Penny de los Santos called it “sexying it up.”
Consider just a few of your prop options.
- ingredients
- spices
- utensils
- napkins
- place mats
- serving platters
- measuring spoons
Think about how they add texture and contrast to your images. We call them props, but really aren’t they just pieces of our life?
As you find props that add to your dish, consider the angle of view you shoot from. I learned and have always practiced the 3/4 view of food, but after watching Penny’s workshop I’m sold on going above for dramatic, graphic, sexy photos of my food. It may require a ladder or footstool gets drug into the kitchen from time to time. I can live with that!
Shoot from all angles to see what you love, but don’t neglect going above. I’ll be practicing Penny’s advice to mess things up a bit as well, moving away from the perfect everything in it’s place photos that don’t really reflect the life I live!
Tastespotting and Tasteologie are fabulous websites for food photo inspiration with the added bonus of one click taking you to a corresponding recipe! I’ll be taking photos right along with you this week. I have a lot to learn!
How do you give your food photos a little bit more life?
I tried 15 unsuccessful shots of oranges in orange jello before I read this blog. I was overjoyed to add a colorful plate, a wet spoon and different lighting and finally got one I like. I was so surprised at how little dimension jello has photographed too close. Thanks for the tips.
Sandi, you are welcome. I’m so glad this was a helpful post! I’d love to see your photos!
Katrina…loving your photo ideas! Thanks for sharing them with us…..
You’re welcome Kasandra! I’m so glad you like them!