I don’t always promulgate myself as an expert.
Alright sometimes I do, but then I let you know it’s self-proclaimed, as opposed to be being based on education and science and….stuff.
Yeah, stuff.
My literally swagger astounds even me these days.
Equally as frightening is my comfort level, or lack thereof, for fancy pants food photography.
DSLR this, shutter speed that, one $2,000 lens, and you’re officially on your way. Plus two cameras, ten food prop bowls, three tablecloths laced with a partridge in a pear tree and one light room later…unless of course you suddenly need a spoon. Then you’re screwed or you use your fingers if you’re not above that sort of thing.
Me, I like to get dirty. Sometimes, if I’m feeling really frisky, I lick the edges of the bowl when a bit of soup sloshes over. It might not be the most poetic solution, but it sure is effective; tasty too.
I will be the first person to tell you elaborate food set ups, with professional cameras, can lend themselves to beautiful photography. The same can be said for an iPhone too. It’s what I use for all of my pictures, mainly because it’s more fitting with my pay grade and mental capacity, with emphasis on the latter.
Since we can’t all be experts, I thought it’d be fun to share my ten super simple tips for food photography; the ones which don’t require a strain on your brain or a dent in your wallet.
Ten Super Simple Tips for Food Photography
- Embrace what you like. Food photography is subjective, so do you. Take lots of pictures from lots of angles, and then pick the one which speaks to you. This sandwich sings to me. That could also be the cheese.
- Use natural light whenever possible. I take 95% of my photos in our backyard, and the brick backdrop you see in all my pictures; yeah, that’s our actual house.
- Square and rectangular plates rock for circle foods because circles get lost when placed in other circles; kind of like this sentence. Put them on a square and make them pop.
- Stacking. Even the most delicious of creations can look super sad when strewn across a plate. Stack them up high, and you’re in business. Place parchment paper between them for extra substance.
- Cut a piece out. Whether it be cake, pizza, brownies or a loaf of bread, take a slice out. It brings depth to the object of your affection.
- If you burn it, it’s simply boring visually or downright ugly, you can cover it. It’s almost always tastier too.
- Add ingredients to the pictures so people know what’s in it just by looking at it.
- Spice it up with your serving vehicle of choice or your food props, like a festive spoon or a colorful napkin. White is nice, color is living.
- Action shots are hot. Enough said.
- PicMonkey is your friend, and it’s also free, user friendly and hella intuitive. I use it for all my photo editing needs from sharpening the picture to honing the colors, creating collages and adding text.
Is anyone else hungry now, or is that just me?
What are you favorite food photography tips?
And…..bookmarked. This is exactly what I needed. Thanks so much for putting this together Meg!!
mylittletablespoon recently posted…WIAW: Simplicity! and Slow Cooker Chicken Recipe
Happy to be of service.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Love these because they are truly accessible for the beginner! I felt so overwhelmed at first but I love your suggestions of thinking angles, natural light, props, and action shots. Starting to focus on just one or two helps and then you wind up incorporating more. Also pic monkey is the best!
Michele @ paleorunningmomma recently posted…WIAW – Sick Day Comfort Food
Yep, I adore Pic Monkey. It’s been my go to for years.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
great tips! and love your colorful food! i can’t use square plates anymore. they bother me. haha. But you make it look so pretty
Oh no, I love square plates. Rectangles and oblongs too. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Love these!! Often photography posts are more technical, which is awesome, but sometimes I just really want one with some tips that touch more upon styling and this one fits.the.bill! Thank you 🙂
Jacklyn @ Jack’s Balancing Act recently posted…What I Ate Wednesday: My Struggle to Keep Up With the Joneses
Yeah I don’t do technical so much either. I like keeping it simple.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Love these! I’m SO not a photographer and my blog isn’t even a “food” blog, so I can’t justify buying an expensive camera. I like using the camera+ app for iPhone for a lot of my photos cause you can adjust ISO and white balance really easily.
Kelly @ Kelly Runs For Food recently posted…Eating ALL the comfort foods {WIAW}
Yes, the iPhone has great editing software too. You’re right.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Thanks for the tips! Definitely something I’ve been thinking about lately. And I’m very impressed that you use your phone for all your shots.
Misti @ Finding My Inner Kate recently posted…week in review:
Thanks Misti. Using my phone makes it simple for me, and I like simple.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
These are great tips! Thanks so much for sharing. I love that you use your iphone, since the majority of us can’t afford DSLR or even know how to use one! Your pictures are great, I love the brick background! And your tips are fabulous, I was drooling at EVERY.SINGLE.PICTURE.
Thanks Sarah. I’m glad you liked the post and I hope the tips help.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Thank you so much for showing me I can actually do photography decently with an iPhone. I am not looking to spend a lot of $$$ on a camera right now but do want to improve!
I’m happy to be of service.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Wow, I literally was just thinking that I needed some food photography help. So thankful that you shared this this morning!
Emiyl recently posted…Eating to Live
Look at that; we’re on the same wavelength. I hope the tips help you.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Great tips!! As a photographing newbie – these are super helpful. I only have white plates right now, so Im looking to pick up some colorful plates to bump up the colors in my recipes and food shots!
Kat recently posted…WIAW 12.2.15
White plates work too, and you can dress them up with colorful accessories, like napkins, utensils or even the food itself, provided it’s colorful. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
This is the best food photography tip list I’ve ever read. I’m so grateful that you don’t recommend buying some fancy equipment. Ain’t got no time for that noise ya know? Your tips are actually doable for the lazy lump who is I. Thank you!
Danielle recently posted…Week in Review: Turkey Trottin’ to NOLA
“Happy to be of service my dear,” she says as she curtsies.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
I didn’t know that round foods were supposed to go on square plates! I’ve been doing my pancakes wrong all this time 😥 And you work some serious magic with that iPhone, lady. I can’t take a good iPhone shot to save my life, which is maybe why I’m so MIA on insta all the time
Amanda @ .running with spoons. recently posted…monthly favourites – november 2015
Aaaand my monkey emoji didn’t show up in the comment! Shenanigans…
Amanda @ .running with spoons. recently posted…monthly favourites – november 2015
I happen to think your pancakes look amazing, especially on that circular plate with the lacey edges. See – I can still picture them. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
YES! So helpful, and you made it easy. Thank you thank you thank you.
Julia @ Lord Still Loves Me recently posted…How to Survive the Holidays with an Eating Disorder (Part 2)
You are most welcome.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Do you know how hard it is to get natural light in my house? I love the fact that you take your pictures outdoors, and I’ve actually tried that as well. I love these easy and relatable tips that you share. It’s good to see that it CAN be done on an iPhone — also my tool of choice. Great post, Meghan! 🙂
Ashley @ A Lady Goes West recently posted…A short and sweet stay in Orlando and some food pictures
Cozy on up to those windows, the east facing ones in the morning and the west facing ones in the afternoon. Or you can do what I do, which is to take the whole show outside. I keep a little table by our backdoor specifically for this purpose.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
I love how clear your photos are! And always so colorful. One day I will upgrade to a nice camera and have more than just my i-phone. I call that post-grad life.
Kate recently posted…Study, Eat, Repeat (WIAW)
I love how easy it is to use my iPhone, and I’m going to keep on using it for the foreseeable future.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Love this post! So helpful, honesty and to the point! Thank you. I could use the assistance in a no nonsense cut to the chase sort of way of advice. I hate taking photos or spending time on photos so this really helps.
meredith @ Cookie ChRUNicles recently posted…Recent Eats 12/2/15
It’s ironic. I love trying to make the food look pretty. It appeals to my visual nature, but I have no interest it all the technical details. Glad you liked the post.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
These are so great!! Thanks Meghan! My food photography sucks right now, so I could definitely use all the help I can get.
And, yes, now I am very hungry!
Heather@hungryforbalance recently posted…WIAW: Repurposed Leftovers
Glad you liked it, and hope it helps. I suspect your pictures are not as bad you think. We’re all out own worst critics.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Great tips! Thank you!
Torry @ A World Without Wheat recently posted…WIAW #6
You’re most welcome.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Needed desperately!! Pinning for future reference as well 🙂
Jen@jpabstfitness recently posted…What I Ate Wednesday
Hooray. I’m glad you liked it and I hope it helps.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Hungry? More like ravenous. All that cheese definitely sang to me, too.
This might very well be one of my favourite posts on food photography so far. Simple, applicable and written in that tone only you possess. I’m with you on prefering intuitive handling over shutter speed/ISO and what not all though I do try to further my knowledge on and experience with these as well.
Miss Polkadot recently posted…Why #goals might not be what they seem like
I took a free online class last summer and was completely at a loss. Granted my camera couldn’t do half the things they wanted, much less me understanding what they were asking, so I just sort of stopped using it and went with my iPhone altogether because I was more comfortable with it. It’s working for me.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Thanks so much for this! I love seeing behind the scenes stuff for food photography.
Haley @ Better With Toast recently posted…WIAW #3
You are most welcome. The behind the scenes stuff appeals to me too; sometimes even more so than the recipes. It helps keep it real.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Oh my goodness you’re so smart! I don’t care that much about food so I don’t take pictures of it but when I do then yeah, natural light. Although my best creations are usually done in the middle of the night (breastfeeding made me hangry at 3am like nothing else) but no matter, because the food disappeared too fast to try to take pictures anyway. Yes, I’m hungry now. Thanks a lot. xo
Suzy recently posted…Woozy Wednesday: Let Out the Tramp Stamps
I still love your one picture of the beer. Did you ever blow it up and hang it?
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
No, not yet. Maybe I’ll ask for it for Christmas!
Suzy recently posted…Let’s Have a Block Party
Do it. I would like one for Christmas too, of your beer that is. I’ll send you a veggie picture in return. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Easy Breezy Tropical Orange Smoothie Recipe
Ohhh man those action shots, and that brick wall!! YUSSS.
Brittany recently posted…Runners Trots
You are now completely familiar with the brick wall. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
This made me laugh. Just because I was eating a tomato avocado cheese sandwich whilst reading this post. And this pizza made me crave pizza so badly that we went to that magnificent pizza place tonight.
Though I never like the pictures I take on square plates I totally agree that it makes the pancakes pop. Gorgeous!
And as I already said as long as your pictures look so great with your phone camera I see no reason in upgrading to a dslr.
For me personally shooting with my dslr ia second best about food blogging. Right after eating the stuff
Also my phone camera sucks and colorful food props rock!
Juli@1000lovelythings recently posted…“The time has come,” the walrus said….
I love that you’re still eating the tomato avocado sandwiches. I should make myself one of those this weekend. So. Much. Goodness.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Man this really makes me want to do more food photography! You got the touch, or the words, or whatever its working!
Jayne recently posted…Week #3 In Review: Put your Snow Boots On.
Thanks Jayne. I appreciate that.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Love your tips Meghan – it’s just what I needed. Also your pictures are beautiful and do exactly what they should… Because now I’m hungry!
Also I use pic monkey but never realised I could edit my photos there! Look forward to try that out!
Jen @ Chase the Red Grape recently posted…5 Top Tips on a Tuesday – How to gift with a twist!
Yep, I’m a big fan of Pic Monkey. I definitely recommend it and I’m glad I’m not the only one hungry after seeing (writing) this post.
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
I thought this was going to be another blogger post about a fancy ass camera or a tricked out light box. I should have had more faith. Well-played, preggo.
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table recently posted…Our Fridge Is Empty & Our Tree is Full [WIAW]
You should have had more faith. You know homie don’t play that. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Ten Super Simple Food Photography Tips for Beginners
Thank you so much for this! All the tips are so accessible and I LOVE that you put examples with your points. 🙂
Ellen @ My Uncommon Everyday recently posted…Thinking Out Loud #36
Thank you Ellen. I appreciate the feedback. I’m a visual person so I had to include example pictures for it to make sense for me. I’m glad you liked it too.
Meghan recently posted…Week In Review: #8
Stoked you shared this- I still remember over a year ago when you told me you used the trusty iphone! Bookmarking this, these tips are timeless, irrespective of what camera you do have!
Arman @ thebigmansworld recently posted…Healthy 1 Minute Cookies and Cream Cake
Thanks buddy. I appreciate that.
Meghan recently posted…Week In Review: #8
You had me at super simple. I think what really makes all the difference is natural light. The photos look so much better when the lighting is not artificial. I do like to still filter the natural light though.
I know some people can do artificial light really well, especially with the use of light boxes and extra bulbs. I am not one of them though and I find it easier just to shoot in the outdoors. My favorite time is when it’s overcast so I don’t have to deal with the bright sun. 🙂
I love the simplicity of these tips!! You are a good teacher and I envy you because you can pick out things that you do that have probably become second nature.
Also I always just assumed you had a brick wall in your kitchen and was super jealous. Also also I can’t believe all of your photos are done on your iPhone. Excuse me while I pick my jaw up off of the floor..
🙂
Amanda @ Diary of a Semi-Health Nut recently posted…Double Chocolate Almond Biscotti
What a lovely compliment. I very much appreciate that. Thank you!!
My kitchen backsplash is actually copper which would be very cool in pictures except my gorgeous granite countertops are way too busy in pictures. I adore it, but it makes my photos look awful so stay away.