Professional food photography is a world away from a quick snap you might take of a dish and upload to Instagram.
Professional food photography is a world away from a quick snap you might take of a dish and upload to Instagram.
Shoots that involve food as the main subject are rarely an impromptu event. They are meticulously planned weeks and even months in advance, to ensure the food stylists and photographers are happy with the end result.
These mouth-watering shots are not always what they seem. Far from the delicious dishes presented in the photograph, some of the most visually appetising photos require some very inedible and unexpected ingredients to have the desired outcome on camera.
If you’re interested in finding out more about food photography from professional photographers already working in this fun and exciting niche, then visit the Peli UK Photography Hub.
Below, we’ve brought together some of the most unexpected (and some downright disgusting) hacks used by professional food photographers to style their shots.
Hot studio lights and scoops of cold ice cream could spell disaster for food photographers. To avoid getting themselves into a sticky situation and to guarantee a perfect shot, food photographers report using scoops of mashed potato coloured with food dye to replicate the cold, smooth creaminess of ice cream. Imagine digging your spoon into a mashed potato sundae!
The humble mashed potato makes an appearance yet again, but this time it’s partnered with a large syringe to give the illusion of perfectly plump poultry.
On a food photography shoot, hot food (such as a roast chicken) can be left under the studio lights for hours on end which can lead to a less than perfect appearance. For this hack, the food photographer will load a syringe with smooth mashed potatoes and carefully inject them underneath the skin of the bird, to provide a plump, freshly cooked appearance.
Visual cues such as a frosted glass full of ice cubes are made to make your mouth water, but these effects can be tricky to achieve under the hot lights of a studio.
Here’s just some of the fake frosty hacks photographers use:
Whether you’re a professional food photographer, or just starting to get acquainted with this genre of photography, you’re going to need something to carry all of your food photography equipment in. Take a look at our range of hard camera cases which could be the perfect solution if you’re travelling around with lots of equipment.
We’ve all seen the photos in recipe books and magazines of steaming hot bowls of food, but just how do photographers capture this in all of its glory? The answer is simple, they fake it!
When photographing dishes with garnishes like croutons or sprigs of basil, it can be annoying when they start to sink into the dish they are decorating. To overcome this, food photographers will often upturn another, smaller bowl and delicately place the garnish on top, to keep everything floating above the surface.
When champagne is left in a flute for more than half an hour, it can lose its fizz and start to look a bit flat. One trick that food photographers use when shooting champagne filled flutes is to mix a concoction of water, soy sauce (for the tint of colour) and alka seltzer to create long lasting bubbles.
These are just some of the weird and wonderful food photography techniques that have been developed by professional food photographers, to ensure their shots are as appetising as possible.