5 Simple Ways To Improve Your Food Photography
I often get messages from people asking for advice or help with their food photography and I’m always happy to help whenever I can. Having students in the studio doing their internships and work-placements has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of my career throughout the years, and I enjoy sharing my thoughts on the many ways to approach photography.
So in the spirit of giving back, I’ve decided to write a few articles that I think are most helpful to aspiring photographers. I’m going to try to address the most common questions I receive along with a few other things I feel are essential for anyone looking to take a serious attempt at food photography.
This is the first article in the series - 5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Food Photography. So here we go.
5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Food Photography
Get Closer
The late Hungarian photojournalist, Robert Capa said “If your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough.” His incredible work captured scenes of adventure and combat - but I think his wisdom applies to food photography too. Food photography is all about conveying a sense of texture and depth that lies within the food. It’s this texture that delivers the appetite appeal and in order for it to translate on camera you need to be close enough so that the food ‘pops’. What does ‘pop’ mean? Well, it’s a hard thing to convey in words, but when you’re looking through the lens, you know when the food is popping and when it’s not. Think of it as the difference between an image feeling 2D or 3D. So try to remind yourself to keep creeping into the shot while looking through the viewfinder, and try to notice when the food starts to pop. One other point here, it’s a feel thing, not a ‘think thing’ so try to think less and feel more while shooting. You’ll like the difference.
2. Don’t over-light your shots
When reviewing student portfolios, I would say this is the most common issue I see with young photographers. They are always trying to fill in the shadows as much as possible. As a result the images feel flat, clinical and lifeless. The truth is, it’s the shadows that give life and depth to most shots, especially in the world of food photography. I very rarely use any fill lighting because I understand how crucial shadows are in drawing out shapes, textures and tones - it’s these 3 elements that combine together to create appetite appeal within a photograph. So don't try to eliminate shadows, embrace them and see how they can take your food photography to the next level.
3. Keep it loose
The best food shots take on a life of their own, so you need to be in tune with what the food wants to do. Have a vision for your shot, but let the food do what it wants to do, let the drink sweat, the ice cream melt, and let the cheese ooze over the burger and onto the plate - embrace the happy accidents. Food is perfectly imperfect, your shots will be much more appealing and appetizing if you allow this to come through.
Keeping it loose also applies to the way you position your camera. So don’t feel like your camera has to be locked off all the time. My preference is shoot handheld versus locking the camera off on a studio stand or a tripod. This allows me to shoot in a more intuitive way, which helps me to be more fluid in my approach to the food i’m shooting. Food and drinks are constantly changing from the moment they are put on set, so to me it just makes sense to keep your camera as loose as possible. All of the images on this post were shot handheld.
4. Keep Shooting
When you’re working with a client, keep shooting once you’ve got the approved shot. I can’t tell you how many times i’ve been able to create a much stronger shot after the shot has been approved. That moment, after you’ve got approval, is the time to start pushing things and see where you can take it. Take advantage of the fact that there is no longer any pressure and just play for a couple minutes. When you start playing, that’s where a lot of the magic happens in food photography. Maybe your client will prefer the originally approved shot, but they usually always appreciate having another option to consider. And also, maybe that extra shot is what goes into your portfolio instead of the earlier shot. Either way, it never hurts to have more options.
5. Stop Imitating
Seriously, stop trying to make your shots look like everyone else’s. Again this is something that I see too much in food photography portfolios these days. Find a way to bring something new to what you are doing. The world is inundated with pictures of pretty food. What is your perspective or style that makes your images unique? If you’re passionate about food that’s great - but try to also bring other passions of yours into the fold as well. Be inspired by all that life has to offer - film, painting, music or even nature. This will help differentiate your style from the rest by adding more depth and nuance to your work. This is the biggest challenge for all photographers, especially those looking to specialize in food photography.
Hopefully there are a few helpful pointers in here for everyone. Feel free to reach out with any follow up questions, and I’ll do my best to answer them. The next post I’ll be writing will be about equipment as this is one of the most common questions I get. So stay tuned.
Kosher Style
Kosher Style - Amy Rosen’s New Cookbook
Harissa Carrots
I recently had the pleasure of working on Amy Rosen’s new cookbook, Kosher Style. This is my third book i’ve shot with her and it’s quite different from the other books we’ve done together. Previously we teamed up to shoot Toronto Cooks and it’s sequel Toronto Eats. Both books focused on Toronto’s Restaurant scene and it’s chefs. This time around it’s all about Jewish food hence the funky title: Kosher Style.
Chocolate Babka
Mandelbread
Our goal here was to give a modern look to traditional kosher foods. This was a really fun learning experience for me and I got to try all kinds of foods i’d heard of but hadn’t had the chance to try like Gefilte Fish, Knishes and Blintzes.
Meatloaf with Hardboiled Eggs
Gefilte Fish Loaf with Horseradish
I was fortunate enough to shoot this cookbook with an incredible team. Michelle Rabin handled the food styling and Madeleine Johari was the prop stylist. I couldn’t be happier with the results. The book doesn’t come out until later this fall, but i’m happy to be able to share a few of my favourite images with you.
Roasted Sliced Brisket
Breakfast
Inspired by David Hockney’s photo collages, I wanted to take a similar approach and apply it to my world, food photography. This series was quite fun to shoot, and a bit of a challenge to pull together in the end, but I’m pleased with the results. I’ve always been attracted to photographing the most simple food. It’s just more relatable, more honest, more real. So this breakfast series is the simplest of the simple breakfasts: egg, toast, and grapefruit.
Steam Bath
New Year, new resolution. Stay on top of updating my blog. I haven’t been very good at that lately. So here goes.
Most of the work I do here in my studio is food focused. I shoot mostly with commercial clients and my specialty is food photography. One of the things I try to do at least quarterly is to take some time away from the more commercially inclined work I do and carve out some time, typically a week, to shoot creatives that give me a chance to try out new techniques or creative concepts. Sometimes this work falls under the category of food photography, other times not. The main goal here is to play around, and create work that I typically don’t get to do on the jobs i’m working on.
I think it’s really important for photographers to make time to do this, especially when they are busy and running a successful studio. If you don’t, it’s easy to fall back into a certain creative complacency and your growth can become stunted.
The first series I shot is titled Steam Bath. The goal here was to create atmospheric shots while maintaining a minimalist approach. I think we achieved this quite nicely. Really the only propping elements in these shots are reflection and atmosphere.
I’ll be posting more shots from my creative week in the coming days. All of these shots were done with stylist Madeleine Johari, my wife and creative collaborator.
Vegetarian Any Day
Vegetarian Any Day is finally out. I shot this book a while ago and have been eagerly awaiting it’s release. The recipes in this book are so good, especially the mushroom and caramelized onion pizza with brie and maple.
This is my fifth collaboration with Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming (The Quinoa Sisters) these girls are amazing. Food styling by the wild and crazy Nancy Midwicki. 😉
Toronto Eats
Toronto Eats, the follow up to Amy Rosen’s Toronto Cooks is out now.
Shooting this project was like speed dating 50 of Toronto's best chefs - big thanks to them for making this beast of a project come to life. Stay tuned this week for some of my favorite shots from the book.
2017 Photography Awards
It’s always an honour to have your work featured amongst your peers in one of the photography annuals.
Here is some work of mine that was selected as a winner in the Communication Arts 2017 Photo Annual and the 2017 Applied Arts Photography Awards.
You can see the rest of the winners at the following links:
Communication Arts 2017 Photography Annual
2017 Applied Arts Photography Awards
Communication Arts Winner
PC Black Label Recipe Photography - Advertising
Shortlisted
CMYK 2 - Self-Promotion
The Bobbette and Belle Cookbook - Books
Botany 2 - Self Promotion
PC Black Label Action Photography - Advertising
2017 Applied Arts Photography Awards Winners
The Bobbette & Belle Cookbook - Complete Book
CMYK 3 - Conceptual
Lick Your Plate
Lick Your Plate by powerhouse sisters Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat comes out this week. I don’t shoot as many cookbooks as I used to, but i’m really glad I got to shoot this one.
Stylistically, we took things in a completely new direction. Hard punchy light with crisp defined shadows and lots of negative space for the food.
This was so much fun to shoot!
We shot this book over 10 days in my studio. The lovely Nicole Young was our food stylist and Catherine Doherty did the prop styling.
The book is in stores now and the publisher is Appetite by Random House.
Here are a few of my favourite shots from the book.
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
This is a companion shot for the Crab Cake Burgers recipe.
Decadent White Chocolate Pecan Pie
Companion shot for the Pistachio Crusted Lamb Chops
Grilled Sesame Tuna over Napa Cabbage Slaw
Fusilli with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Spinach & Kale
Thai Turkey Sliders with Peanut Slaw
Companion shot for Baja Fish Taco Salad with Creamy Chipotle Dressing
Cheesy Manicotti with Turkey Bolognese
Companion shot for Golden Edamame Dumplings
The Studio Top Ten
As a follow up to the top ten shots of my personal work from 2015, i’ve decided to do the same for my work done here in the studio.
This was a really great year. I took the summer off for the birth of our daughter. We shot 4 cookbooks which will all be coming out in 2016. I produced a book of my personal travel landscape work. Did some shooting in Kauai and a big road trip from Vancouver to Whitehorse.
As a follow up to the top ten shots of my personal work from 2015, i’ve decided to do the same for my work done here in the studio.
This was a really great year. I took the summer off for the birth of our daughter. We shot 4 cookbooks which will all be coming out in 2016. I produced a book of my personal travel landscape work. Did some shooting in Kauai and a big road trip from Vancouver to Whitehorse.
I worked on more motion projects this year. It’s been interesting to see things are heading in the industry. In responding to my clients changing needs it’s become apparent that the future of my commercial work will be a seamless integration of photography and motion. This is very exciting for me.
So here are my top ten studio shots from 2015 with a brief description of why I chose them.
1. Death by Chocolate
This is my favourite shot from the Death by Chocolate series. The dark copper tones and the way the focus falls off the chocolate drip is why this is my top pick from 2015. This was shot with probably my all time favourite lens for the Canon - my 24-70 f2.8 lens - such a versatile lens.
2. Crab for Lick Your Plate
This was shot as a companion to a crab cake recipe for the Lick Your Plate book that is coming out in early 2016. I'm very excited about a lot of the shots from this cookbook. We took things in a completely new direction in terms of lighting and compostion. Hard punchy light with strong defined shadows and lots of negative space for the food. Love this look!
3. Grilled Pork Belly Burger - Hawaiian Style
This is from the Kauai story I shot. One of the things that really sticks with you about Kauai is the vibrant colours. I wanted to bring this into these shots, so I taped some coloured gels to my lens. If you look closely you can see the pink and aqua tones creeping into the top left and bottom right of the frame. I love the colour gradations and softness that creep into the frame.
4. Summer Grilling for House & Home
Shot for a summer grilling story for House and Home Magazine. I love the props in this shots, especially the contrast of the shrimp against the dark platter.
5. Camels
Camels - Taking a closer look at a bad habit. I love the light and texture in this shot. For a shot of this nature, lighting is everything. I always enjoy pushing light as far as I can to draw out a particular mood or tone.
6. Fall Apples for Best Health
For this shot, our goal was to create a rich and moody setting for an Autumn story we were shooting for Best Health Magazine. I love the shadowy directional light in this shot. The red tones in the apple just pop off shadows. I shot this with the 90mm tilt shift lens - looking closely, you can see the focus fall off at the top of the frame. It's subtle but it helps to create depth and dimension, especially when shooting from overhead.
7. Cocktails for Elle Magazine
This was shot for a cocktails story for Elle Magazine. Full focus, hard light, defined shadows and punchy colours.
8. Cupcakes for Lick Your Plate
As you can see I'm very excited about the photos for the Lick Your Plate cookbook - 2 of the shots made my top ten. I really enjoy the pastel tones and graphic nature of this shot.
9. Eggs at the crack of dawn
The goal here was to create rustic, farm-fresh eggs in morning light. This was an exercise in lighting and I think we pulled it off nicely. I love the early morning feel of this shot.
10. Spicy Kauai Shrimp
Another one from the Kauai food story. It's a simple shot, but I love the texture and tones in this shot. You can barely make out the gels in front of the lens, but they do add another layer of depth to the overall shot.
Honourable Mentions
I love shooting doughnuts and this is one of my favourites. This was shot with the 85mm 1.2 lens. It's a bit of an unconventional lens for shooting food because of it's horrible minimum focus distance. One way around that is to use an extension tube to shorten the minimum focus distance.
Better together - love the concept here. Bacon & eggs - fries & ketchup - cherry pie & ice cream. This is another simple shot in terms of composition and propping, but the vibrancy of colour in the food makes it work for me.
Sometimes it's best to just get right in there and fill the frame with the food. This chocolate almond brittle benefits greatly from this.
Autumn Suppers
Here is some new work we shot for Best Health Magazine. I love the summer and never want it to end, but there is something about autumn food. This story is all about cozy fall comfort suppers,
Art Direction: Jackie Shipley
Food Stylist: Ashely Denton
Prop Stylist: Suzanne Campos
Recipes: Alison Kent
Biryani style chicken with apples and raisins.
Maple apple baked beans
Roast pork tenderloin with cider sauce and potato apple gratin