Vacations aren’t just about majestic views and high adventures. Food influences vacation decisions. With a few food photo tips, those foodie photos will be favorite vacation memories.
In a recent study by Booking.com, travelers research food and cuisine before booking a vacation. According to Pepijn Rijvers, Chief Marketing Officer at Booking.com, “not only does food play into the traveler’s decisions of choosing their next destination, but it also plays into accommodation choices, as almost a third (30%) of people think it’s important to have a great restaurant to take advantage of in an accommodation.”
I travel for both work and pleasure. On each and every trip, I plan at least one amazing food experience. Sometimes the food is a highly rated Michelin star restaurant or celebrity chef and other times it is a hole in the wall or dive bar. No matter where I eat, I capture the experience with photos.
True, I write about food, but I’m not the only person snapping pictures of the dishes. A quick glance around the room shows many tables recording the moment. But, what makes a good food photo?
A few photo tips can make the difference between an Instagram hit with hundreds of likes or an image mocked by your friends. Here are a few food photo tips from Booking.com with my personal take to make your next food photo a better one.
Foodie photos, Food photo tips, photo by Cristine Struble
Natural light
In a dark, poorly lit area, food photos can look unappetizing. The shadows can make a brightly color dish appear muted. Plus, a flash can totally change the appearance of a dish, not to mention blind the guests around you. When possible, natural light can make a huge difference.
Natural lighting doesn’t alter the colors on the plate. A flash, or artificial lighting, can turn colors in a way that you don’t see with the natural eye. For example, the bright orange sauce made from puréed carrots could look like a brownish blob. No one wants to see a brownish smear on a plate.
Unless you’re sitting on a patio or directly by a window, natural light may not be a possibility for your food photos. But, the picture perfect food memory isn’t lost. A good photo can happen in even the darkest room.
Use the light that is around you. From the candle on the table to a dining companion’s phone, work with what you have. In a pinch, filter the flash through a glass of water (clear glass, no ice). The diffused light can work wonders. Yes, the situation may not be ideal, but it can better than nothing.
Even if you can’t make the light work in the moment, edit the photo afterwards. Don’t miss the opportunity to take the picture because of bad lighting. Several photo editing programs, like LightRoom, can add the exposure, highlights and brightness after the fact. Any photo can be re-worked. Why dismiss the opportunity if the conditions aren’t perfect? Just because you take the photo doesn’t mean that you have to share it with the world.
Scallops, Food photo tips, photo by Cristine Struble
Don’t take forever taking the picture
If you are sitting with a table filled with friends, don’t delay the meal to take another foodie photo. Unless you’re at a table of food writers, people may not be inclined to wait. (A table filled with food writers will spend a long time photographing every dish, angle and tiny detail.) Why abruptly interrupt a festive occasion to pull out your phone?
Some friends may not be pleased with your food photo obsession. If others don’t want the constant photo taking, try to respect their preference. There is no reason to ruin a friendship over an Instagram photo.
Once your dish is served, try to take your photo quickly and efficiently. Over time, it will become easier. You will know the best way to hold your phone, move the plate or reposition something around the plate.
Practice does make perfect. Why not practice quick and efficient food photos at home. Snap a picture or two of tonight’s dinner, the cocktail that you made or even your morning smoothie on the way to work.
While we all may want to photographically remember the most amazing dish, the best way to remember it is eating the food. Cold food, unless it is meant to be cold, isn’t the way a chef intended you to enjoy it. Often you spent good money on that dish, don’t waste it. No food photo is worth the dish’s taste suffering.
Food photo tips, hamburger, photo by Cristine Struble
Focus on the food, not the table
If the purpose of your foodie photo is the food, make the food the focus. The busy table cloth, the brick pattern in the wall or the table full of glasses may not be necessary. Bring the photo’s focus back to the plate.
When I look at a food photo, I want to see the details in the food. Does the steak have a perfect sear? How melted is the cheese? Is the pasta sauce chunky or pureed? These little details can make a huge difference in a dish. If the photo shows a small portion of food and a big portion of table, how can I experience the food?
While the food photo is capturing a memory, the photo needs to convey a story. The old saying that we eat with our eyes is true. I can look at photos of some of my favorite meals and instantly recall how they tasted. But, those delectable photos came with practice. Many, many photos were Instagram fails.
Experiment with shooting distance. Sometimes moving the phone super close to a dish is the best way to get all the details. Other times, it is better to further away and crop the picture. Every situation is different. Unfortunately, there is no easy to follow rule. Again, practice helps.
If you can’t avoid having other items in the food photo, try to make the non-food items blend into the background. Some photo editing software can help. The blur technique is an option. In the end, keep taking photos and see what works for you.
Angles, food photo tips, photo by Cristine Struble
Angles are your friend
Everyone has seen it. The food picture that slightly angled, slanted or something else. I have no idea how this concept or trend came to be. But, a quick glance at Instagram shows that many food photos are angled.
Why do you want to show food on an angle? Sometimes the angled shot is a great way to capture detail. If the picture is just from the top down, would you know that the steak is a perfect medium rare? Probably not. If the picture was horizontally flat, would you see the flecks of sea salt on top of the sushi? Again, probably not. The angled shot can capture those details.
But, not every angle is a good one. Food shouldn’t look like it is floating or positioned in some unnatural way. Backwards pictures don’t make sense. Again, the food photo should make people want to eat the dish. If someone has to stare or figure out what’s going on in the photo, that angle isn’t a good one.
For me, diagonal with the camera lens in the upper left corner seems to work well. Based on how a plate is served, this direction often highlights the main component of the dish. Also, it works to keep all the details included.
Capture the moment, food photo tips, photo by Cristine Struble
Show yourself enjoying the experience
An amazing plate of food can be extremely appetizing. Showing someone enjoying the moment can be just as intriguing. Don’t get me wrong. No one wants to see the inside of a person’s mouth as they are chewing. Nor, do I want to see up your nose or any other super close detail of yourself.
A picture of food and enjoying the moment doesn’t even have to show a person. A shot of a picnic in the park with food laid out and everyone in the background is an option. A day at the beach with a beverage and the waves is a thought. A backyard barbecue with food on the grill and everyone in the pool is another idea.
Food is often about the experience associated with it. Would that shrimp taco tasted the same on the beaches in Miami as it would have in the Chicago snow? Possibly not. Food is not eaten in a vacuum. The locale as much as the food itself impacts your memory of the food.
From vacations to momentous occasions, try to find a way to capture food as part of the event. Maybe you are holding the best glass of wine you’ve ever had. Or, maybe it is the sun setting on the big plate of charcuterie. Even better, the candlelight table where you are celebrating your anniversary. From the food to the moment, you will want to remember every detail.
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