Comments on: Getting Started in Food Photography

By: Bobbie-Roberta

Bobbie-Roberta — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:13:41 +0000

love shooting various foods and beverage and also presentations of food.

By: JimmySlo

JimmySlo — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 07:56:10 +0000

Well done! I’d still be interested in finding out about breaking into the business side of food photography.

By: Yudith

Yudith — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:45:37 +0000

This is very helpful, I am trying to improve my food pictures for my blog.

By: Menk

Menk — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:28:40 +0000

Great tips. Thanks for sharing.
I think I gonna do some more food shooting and eating again.

By: Danferno

Danferno — Sat, 09 May 2009 19:07:03 +0000

Very interesting post on photocritic about this subject: http://photocritic.org/food-photo-tricks/ .

By: Joshua Camp

Joshua Camp — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:29:41 +0000

150watt 5600k CFL bulbs in cheap silver work lights are my new best friend since taking on food photography. No melting, no dryness. Also, ask for oil to be on hand for "moistening" the food once it does start to dry. See some recent work at Atlanta Photographers Cafe Circa Food Shoot

By: Alley-Cat

Alley-Cat — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:50:53 +0000

Ah this article is just what i’ve been looking for! I work in a cafe and have always wanted to have a go at photographing coffees in particular, but wasnt sure how to go about setting up a background and lighting. this will help a lot, Thanks!

By: Mare

Mare — Fri, 08 May 2009 11:52:01 +0000

thank you for sharing this with us. althought i photograph for a number of years, i am a beginner to food photography. i love to cook and eat so i opened a blog ‘cooking for kids (small and big)’. after a while i started posting my own photographs…and try to make them better by reading the text like yours . thank you!

By: Annie

Annie — Fri, 08 May 2009 02:08:00 +0000

Thank you for including the YouTube video. That really helped me see a typical food photography set. I’ve taken a few food shots before for a commercial client who also served food (without knowing in advance that I had to take food shots; it was suppose to be of the facility only), so I had to wing it. I didn’t have great light, so I used a 30mm 1.4 lens, which worked great.

Thanks for your tips… I liked how the guy had to use tweezers to carefully place the crumbs on the cake!

By: Tim Grainger

Tim Grainger — Fri, 08 May 2009 02:03:41 +0000

G’day Steve (and others),

Thanks for a great article and helpful tips. I’ve become addicted to food photography since helping out a friend who bought a cafe last year – it can be tedious but tremendously rewarding!

My 50mm lens is by far and away the best investment I’ve made, but a word of warning – while the shallow DOF is great, I do think you can easily overdo it. Of course, your food should be the ‘hero’, but don’t forget the context that it is presented it, which can often make or break the overall image.

For those not lucky or cashed-up enough for a fast 50, you can also do what I did, and bum along with a fairly basic marco or mid-length telephoto, both which will help in throwing backgrounds out of focus (but remember, not too much!). For those interested, my food pics at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29047559@N06/sets/72157607978906035/

(But go easy – I’m still learning too!)