2. FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
Food photography is a type of still life commercial
photography.
This type of photography is used to produce attractive
& appealing looking food. The photographs would
then be used in products such as cookbooks &
menus. Food photography can also be found in
places, such as a restaurant.
There are many people involved when producing food
photography & a lot of tricks and techniques that
will be explored in the next few slides.

3. FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
Lighting techniques:
Food photography has to have very special lighting used, or else the
photograph will look unappetizing.
There are two main ways a photographer can do to make sure the food they
are photographing looks as good as possible.
1. Natural lighting: this is the main way a food photographer will light their
photographs up. The natural light gives of a soft & gradual light which
cannot be replicated in a studio easily. The natural light also casts nice
shadowing effects on the food. The photographer should have his/her
back towards the light, so the light is hitting the food. An overcast day is
most desirable when it comes to food photography. Equipment like light
reflectors & soft boxes can also help to disperse more light, depending on
what the client/photographer is wanting. This can also help with shadows.
2. Studio lighting: Sometimes natural lighting just isn't available & a studio
environment will be needed to produce the photographs of the food. Soft
boxes & light reflectors will have to be used to diffuse the light, this will
give you a similar (but arguably not the same) effect as natural light.
Natural lighting is desired overall by food photographers.

4. FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
Compositional Techniques:
There are two main angles used to compose a photograph of food. The first
being an overhead aerial image of the food. This will allow the consumer
to see everything that is on offer in he meal. The other main angle used is
at an angle from the side of the dish. This will add dimension to food &
also allows a background of foreground to be seen (although a shallow
depth of field is usually used, which means that all the focus will be on the
food, which is a nice technique to use).
The positioning of the food is very important. The food has to look full-bodied
without it looking like it is big & bulky, which can be very difficult to do.
There are a few things you can do to make food look full-bodied. One of
these is to use hidden objects underneath the food to raise it up & make it
look fuller. Layering is also a good technique to use. The positioning also
depends on the lighting & the angle you are taking the photograph at. The
food should be placed towards the camera and the light if you are taking
the photograph from an angle.
Shapes in food generally make the food look more appetising, as it is easier on
the eye. You should try and make sure most of the food is a specific shape
or stereotypical/desired shape of the food. These shapes will the work well
together in the photograph.

5. FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
The use of colour:
The use of colour is very important when is comes to food
photography. The colour can either make or break whether he
food looks appetizing or not. Either complimentary or
contrasting colours will be used, Depending on what the
client/photographer wants.
The colour of the food isn't the only thing that is important. The
colours that surround the food e.g. in the background &
foreground are very important when it comes to making the
whole image work.
Deep & rich colours usually work the best, whilst pale colours like
light green are very hard to make look appetizing.
Colour can be changed and accentuated by the white balance,
lighting & can be changed altogether during post-production.

6. FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY
Manipulation:
There are many different things you can do to food photography during post-production. All of
these features can be found on Photoshop, which is the industry standard photo
manipulation software.
You can alter the contrast & brightness of a photograph, which can make the image look
more eye catching. Altering this is a very basic way to improve an image. Other basic
things you could do include altering the saturation & colour balance to a point which you
desire. You need to be careful with these techniques as if overdone, the photograph can
come out looking worse & over edited.
The clone stamp can also be used to remove or go over aspects of the image you do not like,
e.g. a spec of juice that should not be seen on the plate. The spot-healing tool can also
do this (even though the tools name is spot-healing).
You may feel like a certain part of the food needs to be moved. This can be done by using the
rotoscoping tool, which allows you to select a certain part of an image and move it. This
can also allow you to add to the image something if you need to.
Burning & dodging can also be used to change small aspects of an image. Burning darkens &
dodging brightens.