Food Photography Tip #2: try using small plates, bowls, and utensils

In most cases I much prefer to use small bowls, plates, and utensils in my food photos because:

the food looks contained and doesn’t wander on the plate
easier to fill, ie: like when photographing ice cream in multiple bowls
the amount of food looks more plentiful
brings more focus to the photo
highlights the food instead of distracting attention away from it
easier to fit multiple plates/bowls into the frame
small props cost less

I like to check Crate + Barrel, Anthropologie, CB2, and World Market for small pops. Crate + Barrel is one of my favorites because they have a lot of matte colored items and change their stock frequently [search “appetizer plates”].

This smaller bowl helps bring your eye to the center strawberry, as opposed to the above photo where the strawberries kind of wander..

$3.95, 5-inch bowl from C+B

Too much white space.

Using a small plate in this photo creates shadows around the edge and contains the toast without causing a distraction.

$3 appetizer plate from C+B – [same plate as above, only smaller]

In this photo using a large plate leaves a messy feeling.

However, using a large plate is still okay! Try adding a few extra touches to bring more interest to the photo.

These smaller, 4.5-inch wide bowls from World Market [very old, not sure on price] were perfect for this soup. I was able to get everything I wanted in the frame and still leave open space to help balance the photo.

$2.95, 6-inch plates below from C+B

Check out these tiny, 3-inch wide bowls from Anthropologie. I have four and absolutely love them. I think they were $3 each? The mini spoons were from C+B years ago and were $1-2.

It is so much easier to fill up a tiny bowl when shooting ice cream!