It’s safe to say that many of us can spot a great food photograph when we see one. Something that stops you in your Instagram-scrolling tracks and keeps you there for a moment, just taking it in. Suddenly, whether you’ve ever had shakshuka or not, you’ve got a serious craving for eggs in tomato sauce. 

But what goes into a great food photo? If you’ve ever tried to take a drool-worthy snapshot of your dinner–delicious as it may be–only to be crestfallen with what you see on your screen, we’re here for you. We’ve broken down the absolute basics of what makes a great food photo in this blog post and how different variables affect the overall image outcome. 

Essentials of a Great Food Photo

• Beautiful Food Styling

• Proper Equipment and Lighting

• Professional Editing

• Selective Prop Styling and Composition

To illustrate the importance of each essential piece, we called in a little help from a total novice, our staff photographer Allie’s dad, Steve. Allie and Steve went head to head in a couple rounds of “photographer versus civilian” for your knowledge and enjoyment. Here’s what we unlocked.

Food Styling

We wanted to capture the difference between an average person taking a photo of a dish and a professional photographer doing the same. To do so, we decided to use a pretty basic lemon meringue pie recipe using store-bought ingredients. Also, it’s one of the six approved things Steve will eat, so we had to entice him into this challenge with dessert.

Using store-bought pie dough, lemon filling, and meringues that Allie quickly whipped up, they each made their own pie. I think we can tell which crust belongs to the food stylist:

Putting thought into the overall looks of a dish from the beginning is a consideration many food photographers make almost every time they cook, whether intentionally or not. Despite not being a baker, Allie thought ahead to make the pie crust edges look more intentional and interesting, as well as swirling the meringue on top of the pie (as seen below). She also topped the pie with fresh lemon zest to give the viewer a subtle indication of the flavor.

Equipment & Lighting

Obviously, food photography has a lot to do with the equipment used. While it’s often said “the best camera is the one you have available,” knowing how to efficiently use even an iPhone camera can set one food image apart from the next. Here, Allie used her professional camera and natural window light, which was gently diffused through cloudy skies on an overcast day. Steve used his iPhone, and didn’t check whether the flash would fire automatically or not (spoiler alert–it did). The flash causes harsh highlights in the image, some weird reflections from the pie plate, and an overall lack of dimension in the image. Lighting the pie from the front using the camera flash makes it feel flat, resulting in an overall less appealing photo.

Allie’s Image using natural light and professional equipment:

Steve’s image using an iPhone flash and camera:

Upon Allie’s suggestion, we had Steve turn the flash off just to see the difference in even an iPhone image, which is pretty remarkable. 

Steve’s image using natural light and an iPhone camera:

Editing

To show how powerful some editing can be, Allie edited the aforementioned natural light images from herself and Steve. The professional image was edited in Adobe Lightroom, while the iPhone image was just edited using only the tools readily available in the standard Photos app found on the iPhone. We left this portion to Allie, as when asked what editing he would apply to his image, Steve replied “Maybe I’d cap it. Crop it? I don’t know.”

Edited Professional Image:

Edited iPhone Image:

Prop Styling and Composition

This was arguably the most fun part of this little experiment–seeing how Steve would “style” his finished pie. He was posed with the following scenario–“you made this pie and are really proud of it. You want to share a pretty photo of the pie with your friends. What would you do to set up for your photo?”

“Well, I’d probably get some lemons,” Steve replied. “And uhh. I’d probably take a slice out of it and put it on a plate. And maybe some sort of–THIS. This towel is just perfection.”

Behold his masterpiece to the right, for which he gets an absolute A for effort.

Allie consulted the collection of props readily available and decided to use blue plates, a color that would contrast nicely with the yellow in the pie. She, too, used fresh lemons, but cut some in half to add interest and strategically placed the cut and whole lemons throughout her scene. She opted for a matte black pie server and forks to add to the modern feel she was going for, which matched the black colander she picked for the lemons. Finally, she took advantage of the daffodils blooming in her yard to naturally add another yellow element to the image. Allie’s image truly shows that a few small, intentional decisions can really make an image significantly more visually appealing. 

Food photography is definitely an art that may seem a bit easier on the surface to the viewer. While clearly the professional has an edge on the competition here, we hope showcasing some of the elements that go into a well-composed food photo will help even the most novice of photographers. 

And when in doubt, hire a pro.

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Post written by: Allie Beauchesne

Julee Ho Media offers professional food photography and video production. Click here to learn more about our services.