Food Photography Composition is certainly the single most successful strategy for drawing people into your food images and keeping them drooling over the dish. Beautiful lighting, wonderful props, and a well-styled dish are the norm for mouthwatering food photographs, but how you combine these components elevates what could be an ordinary shot to a breathtaking food story.
I’ve included a table of contents below so you can simply navigate this extensive food photography composition guide. Also, make sure to check out the connections to other resources and items I’ve included throughout this guide to help you put all of this information to use.
Food Photography Composition Guide
- SETTING UP THE CAMERA
- THE BEST CAMERA ANGLE ˚
- THE 45˚ CAMERA ANGLE
- THE 90˚ CAMERA ANGLE
- TRUSTED TECHNIQUES
- STYLING TO THE CAMERA
Get the right kit
It is a myth that you need a camera with lots of features to take great food photos. Entry-level DSLRs are now reasonably affordable, and if you’re shooting for a blog, the image quality will be more than enough. If you’re feeling flush, it’s worth investing in a great lens, but I truly believe that how you use the technology you have is what matters.
Try not to use a flash
Camera-mounted lights are generally prohibited for food photographs; pouring in light front-on will flatten your dish and eliminate any fine natural shadows that were previously. If you don’t have access to specialized studio lighting, the best option is to…
Always carry a tripod
Poor lighting is just one of those things. Having said that, there’s nothing worse than getting the composition just right only to realize when you get home that camera shake has turned your photo into a gloomy, blurry mess. If you’re using a DSLR, any exposure longer than 1/60 of a second could actually benefit from the use of a tripod.
Find the best angle
Certain recipes have a strong graphic identity and look best when photographed from above, whilst other themes (tiered cakes, for example) require a lower viewpoint. Try to plan your composition ahead of time so that you can focus on the meal when it’s ready to photograph; you don’t want to be concerned about glassware, cutlery, and napkin placement when the dish is ready. Believe your intuition when a composition isn’t working.
If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Break down the set and start over; you’ll certainly incorporate a few aspects from your prior composition, but it’s often beneficial to revisit an idea from a new perspective.
The Best Camera Angle˚
Having seen so much work out there, at this point, I feel pretty comfortable stating there are only two camera angles for food photography. Of course there are an infinite amount of camera angles. And you can snap away as you wave your camera around by the strap if you want to be more “creative,” but that won’t change that these two camera angles are the go to setups for professional food photography composition.
The 0-45˚ shot and 90˚ shot. Although this is not always the case, if you look at a lot of food images, you will start to notice that these two are definitely the dominate camera angles for food photography.
Why are Food Photographers in love with the 45˚ camera angle?
A more detailed and natural view of the food: not every dish looks wonderful at 45˚ and 90˚. Depending on your subject, you’ll usually have to choose between the two. If the meal is tall, such as a cake with multiple tiers, it’s best to shoot it from a 45˚ angle to highlight the delicious contents. It is also how the spectator expects to see food presented when they sit at a table. Look at the two photographs below to see what I mean.
The 90˚ perspective of these shrimp and curry potato towers does not accurately depict the dish, as the observer cannot see what’s behind the prawns. The 45˚ angle is also the view a person generally obtains when sitting at a table. It’s what the viewer is comfortable with, therefore they’ll be more responsive to it.
Using a 45˚ camera angle for food photography allows for a more immersive storytelling experience. You have a foreground and background to experiment with and style, which leads to the following reason.
Composing For Light
Light is essential and should be at the top of your priority list while planning your shoot. However, it is a monster of a subject in and of itself, and should be reserved for another tutorial.
When I consider light in my food photography composition, I focus on how my unique subject reacts. Food reacts differently to light, particularly on shiny surfaces such as soup, fruits, syrups, and even meat. Reflective foods! Look at these two lamb chop photos.
Styling to the camera
Styling for the camera is the foundation of better food photography composition. The minor flaw that dashes your hopes of compositional perfection is not having that camera locked down in one place. It’s a natural instinct to set up that table first, complete with gourmet food and props, before picking up the camera.
But you have to battle it because what your eyes see is not what the camera sees. If you want to create great photographs, begin with a blank canvas and point your camera at it. Once your camera is set, begin constructing your scene one element at a time. Layer after gorgeous layer.
• Start With The Idea
• Place The Main Dish
• Build Around It
• Take Away The Unnecessary
With each layer, return to your viewfinder to make micro-adjustments and add another element of the story, until you have a great food photography composition to be proud of.
