TAKING PRETTY PICTURES OF FOOD �
TAKING PRETTY PICTURES OF FOOD �IS ACTUALLY �PRETTY SIMPLE
Hi, I’m Helen Rosner, �I wrote this presentation! �(I also took all these photos, unless otherwise credited.)
Ask yourself two questions before taking a photo:�
1. What is REALLY here � in front of me?� (What’s the subject? What does it really look like? What angle am I seeing it from?)��
This is what photographers high-mindedly refer to as “learning to see.” It just means seeing the world as OBJECTS, getting rid of your associations/assumptions, really flattening your perceptions. Sometimes it can be helpful to close one eye. Sometimes it’s helpful to just ignore the world and only look inside your viewfinder. �
Whatever method, remember that the ultimate “eye” that is going to see things is your camera, not your eyeball. So prioritize your perception of what the camera is actually recording.
Ask yourself two questions before taking a photo:�
1. What is REALLY here � in front of me?� (What’s the subject? What does it really look like? What angle am I seeing it from?)�� 2. What is the story I want � this photo to tell?� (In other words: What about the live, physical experience of this moment do I want to capture in the� photo? Noise? Emotion? Scent? History? Drama? Deliciousness?)�
When you’re dealing with a photo that has a subject (rather than an object, more on that later) it’s not just about capturing a shape — it’s about capturing an additional aspect. What’s the thing you want your viewer to take away from this? The story doesn’t have to be a narrative. It can be as simple as “this is beautiful,” or as complex as “It’s fall and I feel oppressed by the passage of time and I just got dumped and I miss her, I miss her so much.”
Ask yourself two questions before taking a photo:�
1. What is REALLY here � in front of me?� (What’s the subject? What does it really look like? What angle am I seeing it from?)�� 2. What is the story I want � this photo to tell?� (In other words: What about the live, physical experience of this moment do I want to capture in the� photo? Noise? Emotion? Scent? History? Drama? Deliciousness?)�
A successful photo is one that bridges the answers to these questions
THE MECHANICS OF A GOOD FOOD PHOTO
KNOW YOUR MACHINERY�Know your hardware!�Know your software!��What kind of camera are you using? �How does it respond to different scenarios?�How can you get it to behave its best?�How can you compensate for its weaknesses?
You don’t need a fancy camera to take beautiful photos. �All the photos on the next slide were taken with an iPhone — �many with an iPhone 4. A FOUR! Not an 8 or an X. A 4!
THE MECHANICS OF A GOOD FOOD PHOTO
KNOW THE WORLD OUTSIDE YOUR CAMERA��What’s the subject of your photograph?�What’s the background/context around your subject?��What’s the light like?
Fluorescent? Tungsten? Halogen? Sodium? Natural?
(diffused natural light is always the best)
Here’s how you learn about light: Take lots of photos. Lots and lots and lots of photos. Figure out why the ones that work, work. You can take a class or read a book — great options to accelerate your understanding of the mechanics of these. But nothing replaces just taking pictures and being honest with yourself about when a picture is ugly. (This is where the “learning to see” part comes into play. A 2am street-vendor taco might look beautiful to your eyes, because your brain is automatically correcting for the intense yellow of a sodium-vapor street light, and you don’t see that. But in the camera frame, those sins aren’t forgiven, and it’ll look like a brown mass of nothingness. The way to learn about light is to learn how to see light.)
THE MECHANICS OF A GOOD FOOD PHOTO
KNOW THE WORLD OUTSIDE YOUR CAMERA��What’s the subject of your photograph?�What’s the background/context around your subject?��What’s the light like?
Fluorescent? Tungsten? Halogen? Sodium? Natural?
(diffused natural light is always the best)
Here’s how you learn about light: Take lots of photos. Lots and lots and lots of photos. Figure out why the ones that work, work. You can take a class or read a book — great options to accelerate your understanding of the mechanics of these. But nothing replaces just taking pictures and being honest with yourself about when a picture is ugly. (This is where the “learning to see” part comes into play. A 2am street-vendor taco might look beautiful to your eyes, because your brain is automatically correcting for the intense yellow of a sodium-vapor street light, and you don’t see that. But in the camera frame, those sins aren’t forgiven, and it’ll look like a brown mass of nothingness. The way to learn about light is to learn how to see light.)
THE MECHANICS OF A GOOD FOOD PHOTO
KNOW THE WORLD OUTSIDE YOUR CAMERA��What’s the subject of your photograph?�What’s the background/context around your subject?��What’s the light like?
Fluorescent? Tungsten? Halogen? Sodium? Natural?
(diffused natural light is always the best)
Here’s how you learn about light: Take lots of photos. Lots and lots and lots of photos. Figure out why the ones that work, work. You can take a class or read a book — great options to accelerate your understanding of the mechanics of these. But nothing replaces just taking pictures and being honest with yourself about when a picture is ugly. (This is where the “learning to see” part comes into play. A 2am street-vendor taco might look beautiful to your eyes, because your brain is automatically correcting for the intense yellow of a sodium-vapor street light, and you don’t see that. But in the camera frame, those sins aren’t forgiven, and it’ll look like a brown mass of nothingness. The way to learn about light is to learn how to see light.)
DIFFUSED NATURAL LIGHT IS ALWAYS THE BEST
BUT!
What we’re going to talk about today isn’t what’s inside your camera
and it isn’t what’s outside of it.
We’re going to talk about the place where the two intersect
We’re going to talk about
What we’re going to talk about today isn’t what’s inside your camera
and it isn’t what’s outside of it.
We’re going to talk about the place where the two intersect
We’re going to talk about
THE FRAME�!!!!!!
Like your viewfinder. Or your iPhone screen. Or whatever you’re using.�(Or your Photoshop window, but generally it’s best to frame well in-camera so you don’t have to go crazy in post.)
~quick philosophical detour~
A food photo is just like any other photo.�
It just happens to be a picture of food.
Or is it?
Instead of thinking of a food photo as �a regular picture�
think of it as
a portrait.
A portrait bridges the difference between reality
and
story
Here’s a bunch of photos of famous people. They’re snapshots — off-the-cuff representations of what the people and environments looked like
in the course of simply reaching out
with a camera and hitting the shutter.
In contrast, these are PORTRAITS of famous people. They’re thoughtfully composed, with consideration given to the positioning, distance, lighting, color — sometimes props, sometimes emotional elements. They are, on the whole, more able to intentionally communicate something about their subject than would be conveyed by the average snapshot. (Also lol please enjoy my volume indicator that got caught in the screenshot.)
This generally involves �a little bit �of manipulation.
This generally involves �a little bit �of manipulation.
(When you make a pot of pasta, do you really serve in thoughtfully mismatched bowls, get parsley & cheese everywhere, & start eating right next to the pot?)
This generally involves �a little bit �of manipulation.
(When you make a pot of pasta, do you really serve in thoughtfully mismatched bowls, get parsley & cheese everywhere, & start eating right next to the pot?)
In many photographic contexts, it’s NOT okay to stage a shot. But when you’re trying to communicate visual information about certain things in artistic ways — including about food — manipulating the context is a valuable tool.
We make visual choices — not to reflect stark reality, but to tell the story �that we want �to tell.
We make visual choices — not to reflect stark reality, but to tell the story �that we want �to tell.
CRUMPLED WAX PAPER?
AWKWARDLY BALANCED CINNAMON STICKS?
IT ALL JUST SCREAMS “AUTUMN!!!”
Who really balances cinnamon sticks on top of a mug? But by showing the sticks from a number of angles, we give the viewer more visual points of entry into what’s happening in this autumnal drink.
The Rules
These are the
basic rules of
food photography.
Like all rules,
they’re made
to be broken.
But you need to master them
before you can
break them.
The Rules
The Rules
On the left: A tomato shot under overhead light. On the right: A tomato shot with the lights turned off. It’s softer in both highlights and shadows, more naturalistic in its tone, and generally just looks more appetizing. If you’re shooting on the fly in a restaurant, you might want to request a table by the window — or even choose to eat dinner at an ungodly early hour, to catch natural light before sunset.
The Rules
The Rules
(framing, aka composition, is 90% of everything)
SO. OKAY. LET’S TALK ABOUT
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE FRAME.
WHAT’S YOUR ANGLE?
WHAT’S YOUR ANGLE?
Generally, with our eyes, we see our food from a three-quarter view.
WHAT’S YOUR ANGLE?
Generally, with our eyes, we see our food from a three-quarter view.
I took this shot by holding my iPhone up to my eye. It’s the actual angle from which I saw this plate. (It’s cropped a little, so the distance isn’t quite exact [more on that later] but the angle is accurate.)
THIS IS, IN A WORD, BORING.
The mistake lies in thinking that the camera should be a stand-in for the eyes. Eyes can do a hundred thousand things still cameras can’t: they take in atmosphere, context, peripheral images, motion. A three-quarter view in our eyes and brains has a lot going on in it. In a camera lens, it doesn’t.
But by choosing a dynamic angle — an angle that doesn’t replicate standard human perspective — you free yourself from the doomed-to-failure task of using the camera as a tool to recreate what the eye sees.
Liberate yourself from the tyranny of the three-quarter view!
Use the camera as a tool to show off what the camera sees.
WHY ARE 90 AND 180 THE BEST?
They’re not the angles from which we usually see our food. �They take something familiar and present it in a context that is unfamiliar. �
A familiar thing + An unfamiliar context = Tension! Excitement! Interest!
WHEN SHOULD YOU USE A 90° SHOT?
A dead-on shot is perfect for emphasizing verticality.
This is great for: cross-sections of sandwiches, towering desserts, drinks, and things that are flat and boring (cookies, biscuits) that can be stacked for interest
(It’s also great for shooting against white)
(Because it emphasizes shape, structure, and architectural forms)
BUT USUALLY, A 180° SHOT IS THE RIGHT CHOICE
To be fair, direct-overhead food photography is definitely having a moment.�It’s a trendy angle. But that’s because it WORKS.
A 180 shot works because it tells a total visual story: �The whole plate, everything on it. Sometimes the whole table. �Or a portion of a plate, but an interesting portion.
(Plus, if you look at how a chef sketches a plate, it’s often from directly above. Plating is a birds-eye-view art.��The camera is uniquely equipped to present �a plate as it wants to be seen.)
ONCE YOU’VE FOUND YOUR ANGLE, �IT’S TIME TO FILL YOUR FRAME
First: How close to your subject do you want to be?
There’s not really a right answer. It’s about the story you want to tell:
Context? Invitation? Detail? Texture?
ONCE YOU’VE FOUND YOUR ANGLE, �IT’S TIME TO FILL YOUR FRAME
First: How close to your subject do you want to be?
A pulled-back shot provides CONTEXT. The edge of a table. A magazine. A napkin.
One step closer replicates the natural distance between the eyes and the table (2-3 feet). This is an INVITATION to the viewer.
One more step provides DETAIL. Flecks of pepper, the difference between cheese and lemon.
Get close enough, and it’s about TEXTURE: it stops being food, and starts abstracting into shapes, colors, and shadows.
The Rules
WHILE YOU’RE SHOOTING,
WHAT ELSE SHOULD YOU CONSIDER?
A great food photo generally succeeds at employing two fundamental aspects:
and if the photographer can’t nail those, she’ll turn to one of these:
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY IS REALLY ALL ABOUT CIRCLES
It’s the fundamental geometric element of plates, platters, fruits, vegetables, meats, bottles, glasses, spills, droplets — everything is circles. (And things that aren’t circles are interesting mostly because they’re not circles.)
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY IS REALLY ALL ABOUT CIRCLES
�
So many circles in big, pulled back table shots!
(Photos by Kat Odell, Farley Elliot, and Farley Elliot)
But as you’ll see on the next slide, circles are the foundation of close-up images as well.
�(Photos by Olee Fowler, Meghan McCarron, Maureen Giannone, and Erin Perkins)
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY IS REALLY ALL ABOUT CIRCLES
�starring Kat Odell, Farley Elliott, and Farley Elliott
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY IS REALLY ALL ABOUT CIRCLES
�
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY IS REALLY ALL ABOUT CIRCLES
�Specifically, it’s about broken circles.
Broken circles create tension and visual motion.
If you can’t or don’t want to break a circle, create interest elsewhere:
�starring Kat Odell, Farley Elliott, and Farley Elliott
TENSION CAN ALSO COME FROM JUXTAPOSITION
�
LIKE COUNTERBALANCING CIRCLES...
�
LIKE COUNTERBALANCING CIRCLES...
�
LIKE COUNTERBALANCING CIRCLES…
WITH STRAIGHT LINES & RECTANGLES!
�
LIKE COUNTERBALANCING CIRCLES…
WITH STRAIGHT LINES & RECTANGLES!
�
LIKE COUNTERBALANCING CIRCLES…
WITH STRAIGHT LINES & RECTANGLES!
�
BUT NOT EVERY PHOTO IS GOING TO LEND ITSELF TO GEOMETRY AND VISUAL TENSION
That’s okay! �We have other ways to keep the viewer’s interest.
For example, we can use the camera �to turn the food from a subject into an object.
Instead of telling a story of appleness, tell one of�shape (round?), color (red?), or texture (smooth?)
TENSION CAN ALSO COME FROM JUXTAPOSITION
�
Photos by Rachel Blumenthal, Devra Ferst, helen Rosner, Hillary Dixler, & Jakeisha Wilmore
Telling an effective story about
SHAPE and TEXTURE�generally requires two things:�
Terrific light & shadow�Crisp focus��Here’s the litmus test:�The image should be just as �visually interesting in black and white �as it is in color.
TENSION CAN ALSO COME FROM JUXTAPOSITION
�
TENSION CAN ALSO COME FROM JUXTAPOSITION
�
Another way to create visual interest is to create (or capture) repeated, regular patterns
Another way to create visual interest is to create (or capture) repeated, regular patterns
BREAKING THE PATTERN CREATES TENSION!!!
The Rule of Thirds
The Rule of Thirds says that if you divide an image into thirds vertically and horizontally, you’ll identify the places in the image where our eyes want the focal elements to go—often at the points where those third-lines intersect.
It turns out that a perfectly centered image isn’t always the right answer — in fact, it very rarely is.
Circles
Forever
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY IS REALLY ALL ABOUT CIRCLES
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY IS REALLY ALL ABOUT CIRCLES
Remember when we discussed this?
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY IS REALLY ALL ABOUT CIRCLES
Remember when we discussed this?
These lines
(the rule of thirds) and circles (circles!) work together to create...
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MARCUS NILSSON
MOVEMENT & FLOW
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MARCUS NILSSON
Here are two examples of ways to deal with overhead images of pasta. They have similar color palettes — black, white, yellow/brown — and they both have a lot of movement. But they express very different moods and feelings — and it’s not just because one has a dark background and one has a light one.
For starters, the image on the left is of one unit of pasta, and on the right we have three units. What does that mean for how our eyes move through the image?
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MARCUS NILSSON
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MARCUS NILSSON
On the left, it’s a spiral — we start in the center, move around in the dish, and end up outside. (This is subtly reinforced by the radiating lines of the burner the pot is resting on.) On the right, it’s a zig-zag, starting at the top and going to the bottom. (Or starting at the center and going up and back, then down.)
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MARCUS NILSSON
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MARCUS NILSSON
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MARCUS NILSSON
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MARCUS NILSSON
And of course, these overlay beautifully with the Rule of Thirds
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MARCUS NILSSON
Here’s an example of a photo that has A LOT going on in it.
Why does it work? What makes it compelling?
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MARCUS NILSSON
For starters, the visual flow is a spiral: We’re drawn immediately to the center, the brightest part of the duck legs, and the bones radiating out from the center bring us in that spiral motion around the platter. The direction is reinforced by the downward-facing forks, which curve a bit to the right to bring us all the way back to the cup at the top right, which is where the eye ultimately rests.
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MARCUS NILSSON
That cup is subtly balanced out by a similar object at the diametrically opposite position. You may not have noticed it at all in your first look at the image, but it’s doing subconscious work to keep that half of the picture from feeling empty, which would be a distraction.
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MARCUS NILSSON
The forks don’t just contribute to the motion of the spiral, they also add straight lines to an image that’s almost entirely circles — and they echo the straight lines implied by the duck legs’ bones
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MARCUS NILSSON
The primary shape isn’t a true circle — it’s an oval, which makes sense in a horizontal photo of just one dish. But of course, an oval is just a flattened circle.
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MARCUS NILSSON
The duck legs themselves have a lot of *implied* circles in them — the three-dimensional rise of their shape is reminiscent of spheres.
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MARCUS NILSSON
And the currants are little circles throughout, texturally breaking up the smoothness of the duck skin and helping give the eye more places to rest.
The Rules
No one* likes fuzzy food photos.
*Some people do, but it’s�advanced-level photography�to pull off an intentional error�as an artistic choice, and�let’s be honest, most of us �probably aren’t quite
at that level yet.��
Not sure? Overwhelmed?
Entirely confident?
Raring to go?
However you’re feeling, the next step is the same:
Not sure? Overwhelmed?
Entirely confident?
Raring to go?
SHOOT FIRST,
EDIT LATER
However you’re feeling, the next step is the same:
Not sure? Overwhelmed?
Entirely confident?
Raring to go?
SHOOT FIRST,
EDIT LATER
your camera roll shd look like this →
However you’re feeling, the next step is the same:
DOZENS OF ALTERNATE ANGLES, DISTANCES, FOCUSES, CENTERS, FRAMES, ET CETERA.
GIVE YOURSELF OPTIONS!
The Rules
��