CRASH COURSE
ESSENTIAL PHOTO SKILLS MADE EASY
If it looks good enough to eat, then it’s good enough to photograph. Adam Waring plays with his food…
The festive season is upon us, and it’s a time for getting together with friends and family, sharing gifts with our loved ones and, above all, stuffing ourselves silly!
But wait! Before tucking into yet another mince pie or cheese board, the smorgasbord of edible delights that festoon dining tables at this time of year affords us an ideal opportunity to try our hand at food photography. For this tutorial we’re using a variety of typical Christmassy treats to demonstrate some classic culinary captures.
It’s not enough to simply photograph each individual dish on its own – you need to create miniature ‘sets’ for each shot. A natural wooden table works well for your mini-studio ‘floor’ to place everything on, and you’ll need a variety of rustic-looking props, plates and serving utensils. Use related foods in addition to your ‘hero’ product. For example, chunks of artisan bread, chutneys and crackers are ideal for dressing a shot of cheese; colourful berries can add a dash of colour to a dessert, and a sprinkling of icing sugar works wonders with mince pies. Fill empty space with a scattering of the ingredients that go into each dish, such as dried fruit and nuts, or crumbs of bread and cheese. Light from candles and fairy lights add interest too.
It can be a time-consuming process to get everything right. Examine each shot with a critical eye, and think about what can be added to improve it. And best of all, once you’ve photographed your yuletide spread, you can eat it – it would be a shame to let it go to waste!
HOW TO SHOOT A FESTIVE FOOD SPREAD
1 USE A TRIPOD
Not only does a tripod allow you to shoot at the slower shutter speeds necessary in low indoor light, it’s critical for nailing your composition. Food photography is all about fine-tuning the details – tinkering with the positioning of your main subject, adding supplementary items, and ensuring your backdrop is unfussy. Using a tripod also keeps your hands free for holding reflectors.
2 CAMER A SETTINGS
You need to have total control over depth of field to enable you to determine just how much of your shot is in focus, so shoot in Manual or Aperture Priority mode. Use a low ISO to minimize noise, and shoot in raw for maximum editing leeway. Use a shutter release or the 2-sec self-timer to avoid jolting the camera as you shoot.
3 LENS CHOICE
You can use pretty much any lens, but primes are favoured by food photographers, particularly macro lenses, to enable superclose-up shots to show every mouth-watering detail. A 50mm or ‘nifty fifty’ is also great, as it mimics the field of view of the human eye for a natural perspective, and also enables a s
