 |
 |
 |
*All images in the article belong to the writer
Some foodies may have often wondered about this: “How can I take good pictures of what I eat if I don’t have a pro camera in my hands?” Truth is, not a lot of skills are required for you to master food photography, and you can just do it with a phone as long as it has a decent-quality camera!
I’m in no way suggesting that I’m a professional photographer, but from the experiences I had related to food photography, both taking and exploring food photos, here are the 5 major tips that I could provide to foodies who are keen to learn a little about food photography:
Tip #1: Taking photos from different angles
|
As cliché as it may sound, you can try taking pictures from angles such as top-down, eye-level, close ups, etc. My recommendation would be using top-down since this is usually the optimal angle to capture your food because it is the clearest way to display the subject a.k.a the food in front of you.
|
  |
Tip #2: Play with the composition
 |
This depends on the type of food you’re photographing; the use of compositions is basically up to you. If you decide to photograph your meal in a restaurant, I would recommend you to adapt a really clustered composition for the subject, since you would like your audiences to see the variety of food that you consume. If it helps, you can switch on the grid function on your camera to help you better position where to place your subjects as well. |
|
 |
 |
 |
Tip #3: Use of ornamentation
 |
 |
If your instinct tells you that something is not right with the composition, you can put ornaments around to add a little twist, e.g. put your friend’s luxurious-branded wallet beside the dishes of classy food, or simply other items to match the color tone that dominates the picture. |
Tip #4: Move around to find the optimal light source
Lighting is really important when it comes to photography, and it would be ideal if you could find a natural or white light source.
|
But if you cannot find an ideal light source, you don’t need to worry about it because tip #5 will help you to resolve this issue. The use of flash is always a no-no for food photography unless it has to be used under certain circumstances. |
|
|
 |
 |
|
Tip #5: After-effects and post-processing
|
After you decide which photos you are satisfy with, you might also want to edit a little bit to enhance the visual effect of your photos. Any photo-editing app would do the trick, but I like using with VSCO and Snapseed the most: VSCO works best for filter addition and general adjustments; Snapseed works best for refining details and selective edits of the photo. |
 |
*App: VSCO on iOS devices
Aside of all these tips that are listed above, here goes a final advice that I would like to address to you foodies: BE CONSIDERATE. Your friends will probably not be your friends anymore if you spend 10 minutes just to take pictures of what you eat every single meal!