Food Photography: Styling

Food Photography: Blog 4
Styling Concepts:
Styling is the basic purpose to make a dish look tasty. "When starting out, it is a good idea to practice on room-temperature dishes," (Gissemann 80). These are often easier to style and it gives time to capture the right photo. Taking photos of raw vegetables, cakes, or sandwiches helps develop photos as a beginner.

The layout/styling concept is to capture the whole display

of cakes and pastries

Becoming a Storyteller:
Great food photos tell stories. "A photo of a cut cake immediately makes the viewer wonder who ate the missing piece, (Gissemann 80). Photos like this lead the viewer to invent different stories that fit the image. Authenticity, plausibility, and reality are constantly trending now with food photos. The unthinkable details such as empty plates and half-eaten food are now being used as food photos.

Choosing a Theme:
Choosing a theme is a great approach and gives you plenty of scope for developing your own ideas and food photography style. With time, you will discover different techniques and styling devices you enjoy. To choose a specific theme, inspirations such as seasons, region/national food, matching colors, shape of food and new perspectives. Once you pick a theme, all props and accessories have to fit in. A polished silver spoon doesn't work with rustic themed photos.

Blue theme correlates to the sea because of the dish

fish & chips

Neutral white theme matched the concept of the overall dish

Backgrounds:
The background is just as important the subject. Color is also an important factor. Neutral white or dark grey can be used on a daily basis. These two basic backgrounds can enable you to quickly conjure a "bright & airy" or "dark & rustic" atmosphere.

The background is mainly neutral white,

which goes well with any dish

This section of the text was an eye-opener to the importance of a theme and story behind a photo. A single photo of an object can immediately draw people's attention to the meaning of the picture. Everything from background and certain theme comes from individual preference. Before taking a picture, it is also a good idea to have an idea of the picture layout.

Question: For those that post often on social media, do you have a certain feed that you want to achieve or what type of themed pictures do you often post?

Gissemann, Corinna. Food Photography: a Beginner's Guide to Creating Appetizing Images. Rocky Nook Inc., 2016