Food Photography Tips 101

So you want to take your skills to the next level? These are my top food photography tips 101

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Create A Mood Board

The first thing I want to mention in Food Photography Tips 101 is creating a mood board. This might seem like an unnecessary part of the process but I promise you it is so vital! When I started out in food photography I could not find my “signature” style. I was really frustrated by this and all my images looked different to one another.

Creating something visual, like a mood board, helps you to see what you want your overall look to be. This can be in the form of the same/similar lighting, styling and background. Similarity and consistent food colours (chocolate, muffins and cakes for example) while create an aesthetic that YOU want.

This mood board will serve as your visual reminder to stay on the track you set for yourself. For this blog post on Food Photography Tips 101, I knew this was important for beginners but experienced photographers too. If you are someone who likes light and bright images, then light backgrounds are fro you. I love using white and marbled back drops to create a clear look for my brand. You can then add white and beige linen cloths for styling etc to add to this look. This will create coherency in your images and you can also keep track of what is working for you and what is not.

Use Pinterest and Canva to create your mood boards. Find images that inspire you, that could be your favourite bloggers or designers, any inspiration you find is perfect!

Invest Yourself

If this is something you really want to pursue, you need to immerse yourself fully into this industry. And that means Investing In Yourself! I started out using my family’s Nikon D5100 which came with a 50mm lens. This was my starting point and in my opinion, you don’t need the most expensive camera, studio or even props. You just need to know how to use all of those aspects to create the best image possible!

While writing “Food Photography Tips 101” I drew on my knowledge gained from Foodtography School. This course taught me so much and I want to reiterate that you should take courses. Watching YouTube tutorials and will inspire you and teach you a lot in the process.

Don’t be afraid to ask for advice from those who inspire you. You just need to start and eventually you will see the fruits of your labour.

The minute you start taking a serious interest in your food photography, you will start to excel. This applies to any passion you have. This is because you decided that this is something you want to be good at and learn more about. If you feel like you are ready to invest in a camera, research all of the brands and find one that suits you and your budget.

Practice Like Your Life Depends On It

No one got anywhere in life by choosing to do something and stopping at that point. Once you have decided to invest in yourself, start using all of those tools to become an expert. I won’t lie and say this will come easily. Being in this industry for 6 years and I still find myself learning and growing every day. I started out with a 50mm lens and this really helped me start out. Eventually you can branch out to macro lenses to get those detailed shots.

There is no right or wrong way to go about this, you just need to start. I started out shooting baked goods that we would buy at bakeries and restaurants. I would come home and shoot those to understand how my camera works and slowly but surely I decided I needed more gear. This is when I invested in a tripod and that was something I could only figure out because I was practicing and soon realised that I was at a point where I could invest in myself and my brand even more.

“Having an Idea is concept, but working towards it starts your journey”

Sometimes You Need A Break

There have been days where I find myself shooting for 45 minutes…but in actual fact it’s been 2 hours and counting. This leads me to be become annoyed and frustrated because the shot is just not landing. This happens to so many professional photographers who have been doing this for years. It’s one of those things where the composition isn’t working, the styling is off etc. But the only way to address this, is to take a break. I have walked away from a scene, only to reshoot the next day. Trust me, it seems like a waste, but wow it is so helpful.

On days like that, I step back, pack away everything and start again the following day. I used to be constricted by the IG algorithm and felt compelled to make that post that day. But this stress is not good for mental health, and the algorithm rejects it because it’s not your best work.

On days where the whole scene and vibe is not there, pack away your things, walk away from it. Do not let the pressures of social media or even blogging get you down. It’s very easy to become competitive, but rather push out good work 3 times a week. As oppose to submitting average work and lose credibility over it.

Treat It Like A Business, Because It Is-Food Photography Tips 101

When I started my blog 6 years ago it was just for fun, a hobby if you will. But as the years progressed and I became better at shooting and editing I realised that this was something I love and I needed to take it seriously.

Very soon after that, I started working on my blog and creating tabs that I think brands and companies needed to see, for example I have a portfolio tab. I know Instagram can seem like a portfolio but it’s not and brands want more. So now I send them the portfolio link to brands, and this shows them my clientele and the quality of my work.

Create a media kit, this shows the insights into you social media (amount of followers, engagement percentages etc.) as well as your blog statistics. This helps them to see what you can do for them without back and forth emails. I also add in my rate card, this shows them in great detail how much I charge for a blog post, Instagram posts, IGTV and reels, images for their use only, images to be shared on my social, as well the cost of recipe development and ingredients. These things are not cheap, and you need to price accordingly because it is an expensive business. Never sell yourself short!

We’re almost done…

Once you have a name for your brand, register it. It took me a long time to get there but now I am registered and it shows brands your serious, it protects you and all your work and so on. Some even add watermarks to their images so they can’t be used, but this also takes away from big accounts that you would like to feature you, as they don’t really post watermarked images.

I hope this help you in some way, I wish I had someone to give me these basic tips from the beginning so I had some direction. I will be posting a lot more regarding business, marketing as well as photography gear and usage. Please let me a comment if you enjoyed this post and what you would want to see in the future!