Quick Guide to Food Photography in 2025 (Tips & Ideas)
When you see a photo of an appetizing dish that instantly makes your mouth water, it’s because of the mastery of food photography. Food photographers use their photography skills, plus a few tricks of the trade, to highlight the deliciousness of a dish. Many of the traditional tenets of photography, such as composition and lighting, are necessary to turn out a visually appealing photo.
Food photography is important for restaurants, brands, cookbooks, blogs and more. In fact, GrubHub reports that professional photography can boost a restaurant’s food sales by 30%. Food photography is a great way to combine a creative art form with a love of the culinary arts. Here’s a quick guide you can use if you’re interested in this art form.
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What Is Food Photography?
So, what is food photography called? There are a few different types of food photography. Product photography is often utilized by brands and companies to feature a food product, which can be used online or in print. There is also photography that’s used for advertising or telling a story. And then there is lifestyle food photography that can be used in blogs or to show off a recipe.
What Is the Rule of Food Photography?
With so many ways food photography can be utilized, you may be wondering, “What is the rule of food photography?” Food photography follows many of the same principles as traditional photography that was invented in the 1800s. Rule of thirds, symmetry, negative space and framing are all important rules to master before diving into food photography.
Other rules, like patterns and preparation, are also important. As with traditional photography, how you set up your photo is essential. That means having sufficient lighting and a good backdrop to take a well-designed photo.
All of these rules can help create an engaging and enticing photo. The point is to create something eye-catching that draws viewers in and makes them want to try the food. Following traditional photography rules is only half of what’s necessary for a good photo. You’ll also have to add some creativity to get the perfect shot.
Food Photography Lighting & Framing
The principles of photography tend to be important no matter what your subject is. And since food photography is considered a type of still life, you have to use good photography techniques. So, how do you take good photos of food? Focusing on lighting and framing are good places to start. These are two fundamental skills that are often covered when you learn photography for beginners. So, let’s break them down a little bit.
Food Photography Lighting
Food photography lighting is essential for a well-done photograph. Many professionals prefer to use natural light first. One of the best photography tricks is whenever it’s possible, use sunlight streaming through a window to light your subject. If natural light isn’t available, there are professional artificial lights that can mimic the look of sunlight.
In general, when it comes to food photography lighting, you don’t want to use standard interior lights, such as lamps or overhead fixtures. These often have a yellow glow that will discolor your food in an unappetizing way. However, there are ways you can adjust your camera settings, namely, the white balance if you have to use poor lighting.
Another thing to consider with lighting is the direction from which it comes from. There is backlighting, side lighting, overhead lighting and more that can affect the mood of the photo.
Food Photography Framing
Framing is also important for a good food photograph. Understanding the rule of thirds in photography is essential for achieving a good composition. The nine-square grid guide helps you place your subject and background of the shot. This also assists in guiding the symmetry of an image. An item placed in the center of the photo can show balance, while a subject off to the side can create more interesting compositions.
You may also want to consider taking both vertical and horizontal photos. Vertical photos are better for social media, while horizontal photos are better for websites. However, both can be used in print media, depending on the layout.
Food Photography for Restaurants
Food photography for restaurants is incredibly important in marketing and selling their dishes. While many restaurants may consider food photography only for their menus, there are plenty of other places to use the images — for example, websites, social media and promotional and advertising materials.
Restaurants will want to get images of some of their most popular dishes. However, you don’t simply want to take a shot of the plate and be done with it. Be sure to style the image to make the food appear as appetizing as possible. This means taking care to plate it well, carefully placing garnishes and wiping excess sauces off the plate.
Shots of a dish aren’t the only option for restaurants. You can have styled shoots that highlight your dishes in a more natural environment. For example, you can hire models to act as a couple enjoying a dinner date or a family enjoying a meal together. You can also get shots of employees in the restaurants and bartenders making cocktails or chefs working in the kitchen.
Food photography for restaurants can tell a story that’s more than just a good meal. Capturing the whole feeling of the restaurant can help bring more diners to the restaurant — whether they’re new or returning.
And, if you’re wondering how to become a photographer, especially one for food, approaching local restaurants is a great way to break into the industry. You can offer your services to take shots for local restaurants to use as promotional material. This can also be a great way to jump-start your food photography portfolio.
Food Photography Ideas
1. Close-Up Shots
Using a close-up shot is a great way to feature the small details of food that might otherwise be lost in an overall image. You can use a form of macro photography to get shots of water on lettuce or sesame seeds on a bun. Macro food photography makes a small item larger so that it's the main subject of the image. It’s ideal if you want to show off tiny details that set the dish apart.
2. Food Levitation
Floating or levitation photography creates a dynamic image. These food photography ideas may take some work to set up and multiple shots to get right, but it’s well worth the preparation. These shots may also require some post-production work to edit or combine shots for the best final image. Food levitation adds eye-catching movement, especially as an advertisement or editorial image in a magazine.
3. Artistic Still Life
Food photography is already a type of still-life photography. However, you can take inspiration from traditional still-life paintings to create artistic food images. This can be achieved with the right lighting and composition. A still-life image tends to work best with simple ingredients, such as cheese, fruits or vegetables, as opposed to a plated dish.
4. Negative Space
Negative space is common in all types of photography. For negative space food photography ideas, you create space around the food. When the composition and lighting are right, it can elevate the dish and make it a focal point. However, it’s also important to balance how much negative space is in the photograph. Too much, and the image can look boring. This is where the rule of thirds can come in handy to make a visually stunning shot.
5. Food Flat Lay
A flat lay is a simple photography style that can be very visually appealing. This involves laying out your food and taking a shot of it from a birds-eye view. Use flat lays to artistically display all the ingredients in a dish. You can lay out all the vegetables, herbs and other ingredients and shoot them from above. This style of food photography is best used with natural light so every ingredient is lit the same way and is really great if you're wanting to be a stock photographer.
6. Artistic Splash
This shot is all about timing, but when done right, it can be extraordinarily eye-catching. Any liquid food or drink can utilize a splash. Consider foods like soups, stews and sauces and drinks like coffee, cocktails and smoothies. To best capture this photo, you’ll want to put your camera in continuous shooting mode to capture a lot of images of the splash. You’ll also probably want to do some editing in post-production to combine parts of different splashes to create a better composite image.
7. Reflective Photography
A reflective surface can elevate an image. You can use a mirror, a reflective photography surface or plexiglass for these images. Place the ingredient or food on the surface and capture both it and its reflection. For this image, you may have to adjust your camera settings to capture the reflection but not the other object in the backdrop. Use reflective photography to create sleek and modern images.
8. Create an Action Shot
Instead of taking a shot of just the food, you can get the action of the dish being prepared. Take shots of a chef or a home cook whipping ingredients in a bowl or frying them over the stove. These are great behind-the-scene shots for a restaurant to show the care the chefs put into each dish. Action shots are also good for online cooking blogs. And with the right editing, they can be good for editorial magazines as well.
9. Deconstruct a Dish
Deconstructed photographs feature each element separately. Photographers take a shot of each of the ingredients and then edit them together into one image. These are great for sandwiches, burgers and other stacked dishes. You can also combine this with other food ideas like levitation for a unique image.
10. Capture a Scene
Food often brings people together, so why not capture an image that shows that? Get photographs of people sitting around a table and enjoying a dish together. These can be above shots to show the spread of food or at an angle that includes both the people and the dish. Capturing a scene like this is ideal for telling a story with food.
Food Photography Industry
Food Photography Salary
The food photography industry is vast and there are plenty of places where your images can end up. The standard food photography salary is more of a range rather than a single figure. Plus, salary can be dependent on location, experience and type of food photography. So, what is the salary for most food photographers? The national average in the U.S. is about $62,000 a year, according to ZipRecruiter. The highest paid can earn as much as $75,000, while the lower end can bring in around $23,000.
As stated, location can affect a food photographer’s salary. Photographers in larger cities like Los Angeles and New York will often earn more than those living in mid-sized and small cities. Different types of food photography may pay differently. Whether you’re shooting for a commercial, an editorial spread or a cookbook can affect a photographer’s salary. Or the size of the brand or company hiring can also affect the budget to pay a photographer.
However, there are many needs for food photography throughout the industry. So, there are plenty of opportunities for a photographer to make a healthy salary. And, if you’re looking to get started with your craft, you can take photography classes in NYC, photography classes in Los Angeles and online photography classes, which can teach you all the foundational and advanced skills you need to take a compelling photo.
Food photography has the power to sway someone’s eating choices. Many people will often see a delicious-looking sandwich or a well-photographed sauce jar and be swayed to purchase it for their next meal. Like other forms of photography, food photography requires mastery of technical skills as well as some creativity. However, once you find your niche, there are many industries, from commercials to social media to food magazines, you can take this exciting art form.
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