Food Photography Tip of the Week |7|

For today’s Food Photography Tip of the Week I have a guest post coming from the talented blogging duo Sonja + Alex, from A Couple Cooks. I want to keep this series as helpful + varied as possible, so I thought asking other food photographers for their best tips would be a great way to do that. I’ll be back next week with another tip to share! Now, read on and get ready to move!

Food Photography Tip of the Week |7|

Move Your Feet!

This tip is simple, but it’s something we have to remind ourselves of on a regular basis. It’s easy to get into a comfort zone with light direction -- you find a background you like, a sunny window, and always place your plate with the same angle of light. While this usually works, sometimes it’s just not quite right.

When a shot is well-lit but doesn’t have that special something, our instinct is to shuffle around bowls and napkins trying to capture some magic. Instead, we’ve found that rotating the camera around the subject can be even more helpful. In the four shots below, a few inches of rotation makes for a large difference in that intangible “vibe” of the photo.

Does your shot call for elegant balanced light or sassy back-lighting? Move your feet and find out!

photo credit: A Couple Cooks

Here’s a look behind the scenes of our setup: we had windows to the left and behind the subject, with a poster board providing bounce light.

If you’re trying to grab the fries out of your screen I’m sorry to say it’s not going to happen. However, Sonja + Alex just posted the recipe for their crispy baked sweet potato fries yesterday. Nice how well that worked out, huh?

Big thanks to Sonja + Alex for 1. This super helpful tip that is easy to forget to do! 2. Being my first food photography tip of the week guest poster[s]. 3. Taking rad photos!!! You guys rule.

Ashley