We do a lot of eating with our eyes. One scroll through Instagram and it's easy to see why: Food pics make us drool, give us FOMO, and inspire us to channel the inner chef that we swear is in there somewhere. No wonder that glare-y, dark overhead shot of our carbonara feels like such a #fail.
So we looked to three of the top photographers in the food-snapping biz—Instagrammer Heidi Larsen of @foodiecrush, blogger Ashley Rodriguez of Not Without Salt, and pro baker-turned-cookbook author Joy Wilson of Joy The Baker— to see what actually goes into taking ridiculously good-looking food pics. Spoiler: It's not the camera, so that's a good start!
Q. What do you mainly shoot with?
Heidi Larsen (@foodiecrush): I used to shoot with a Canon 5D Mark II, but I switched to a Nikon D750. I also use my iPhone for all of my Instagram photos rather than uploading my DSLR pics. I'm sort of an Instagram purist that way. But honestly, it's not about the camera—it's about the lenses. I've totally been converted to the Sigma Art Series lenses. They are incredible!
Ashley Rodriguez (Not Without Salt, @ashrod): I've always shot with Canon. Currently I'm shooting with the 5D Mark III. For my Instagram photos, I shoot with an iPhone 6.
Joy Wilson (@joythebaker): I shoot with my Canon 6D and a 50mm lens. I also shoot very often with my iPhone.
Q. What sorts of things do all your food pics have in common?
HL: I keep them on light backgrounds, either shot on my Carrara marble countertops or on a simple white board. I've also been known to travel with a large white tea towel I can lay down anywhere and have an automatic white background. And I almost always use white dishes to let the food be the star.
AR: Natural lighting, all real food (no fake styling), clean, natural.
JW: A lot of my food photos are taken from overhead and are just slightly messy and off center. Sometimes this is more staged than others, but generally I try to catch real, mostly messy moments.
Q. Any editing apps you swear by?
HL: I do all of my photo selects and transfer them from my card to my computer using software called Photo Mechanic. It's super fast to review the images, make changes and rename the images. Then I pull them into Lightroom for color corrections and then into Photoshop for resizing and any other dodging and burning that may need to be done. I use Snapseed for a lot of my iPhone photos because I love the fact that you can dodge and burn the shadows and highlights.
AR: For my iPhone photos I use VSCO. I bump up the contrast, sharpen and boost the saturation just slightly.
JW: On my computer, I use Aperture and Lightroom. On my iPhone, I think the app VSCO has fantastic filters and is really intuitive to use. You can buy filters that appeal to you, use them over all of your social photos and start to build a visual voice in color and tone.
Q. How do you edit images using Instagram's tools?
HL: For Instagram, I used to use VSCO exclusively, but lately I've been really into Snapseed because you can dodge and burn images to create more contrast. I don't use filters much, but have started using Instagram's Juno and Ludwig filters when I have images on white, and then dragging down to about 20-30% of the filter. They can really brighten an image but hold the intensity of the colors. I also use Adobe Spark Post to lay text over the images I use for my Friday Faves.
AR: I don't use Instagram's tools. Quite a while ago I developed a style that I like, and I've just stuck with it. I guess it wouldn't be bad to branch out every now and again, but I have a system and I do like to keep some consistency in my feed.
JW: I always find myself adding more contrast to an image because I think it helps the food pop from the picture. I also find myself sharpening an image and often brightening a photo.
Q. What are your tips for taking food pics at restaurants? At home?
HL: I mainly shoot overhead in restaurants. I recently asked for advice from one of my favorite Instagrammers, Amanda with Heartbeet Kitchen. She suggested to pull back more on my shots for Instagram so there's more negative space, and I'm liking that much better. White space is king! I shoot pretty tight for the photos on my blog for Pinterest reasons, and I was transferring look that too much to IG. It's all a work in progress...
For restaurant pics I always try for natural light, but sometimes that is really hard to do given dining at night doesn't work that way. I love adding a hand dipping chips into salsa or holding a cup of coffee to add a human element to the static photo. My husband and daughter want to kill me half the time because I'm always asking them to wait to eat their hot food!
AR: In restaurants, dinner can be tricky because natural light is best for food. So I try to get a seat near the window. I don't cause a scene and really keep the shooting to a minimum. Overhead is a great place to start and get your guests to jump into the food, and action shows life and makes the photo more interesting.
At home, you can control where you shoot. Find the light. Find the light. Find the light. Lighting is what will really make your photo pop. So while you're cooking in the kitchen, that doesn't mean the photos need to happen there, too. Move the dish near a window or an open door. Lay out some fabric or a large cloth napkin to shoot on.
Don't be afraid to mess up the plate. Take a picture of the plated food then take a bite or two and take another shot. It's often so much more interesting after it's been eaten a bit. It tells more of a story and shows more life to the dish.
JW: Always find the light! At home, sometimes that means taking food out of the kitchen and onto a wooden surface in front of my living room window. Don't be afraid to set up a scene wherever the light is streaming through a window. I generally set up next to a sunny window so I can get that glow without the direct light.
In a restaurant or cafe I have less control, and I also don't want to be completely obnoxious. I try to get a seat next to a sunny window and stay pretty inconspicuous when taking food photos. That means no standing on chairs. Sometimes the constraints of a restaurant helps me capture images I wouldn't normally set up. Just look for light and angles.
Q. What's one or two styling tricks that have never failed you?
HL: I first shoot the food the way I see it in my head. Then, I mess it up, take a bite, dip a chip, crumble a cookie. I try to make it look real. This second version almost always outshines the first because it isn't over-styled or too precious. Adding a scattering of salt, pepper or chopped herbs to the tabletop, making a smear on the side of the bowl...it humanizes the photo.
I also like to add a white towel to my photos to layer under a plate, or have the edge peek into the corner. It seems to soften the image and make it less stagey.
AR: Keep it simple. Plate the food as you would want to eat it. My background in food started in restaurants, and my first priority is always to the food. If you think about it that way—how will this plate be the most delicious—then the photo will look irresistible.
Perfection is boring. Show wrinkles in the linen, make a little mess around the plate. A chip in the plate is real life. It all adds interest to the photo.
JW: Consider why you're excited to eat what you're taking a picture of. That's exactly what what you want to capture.
Q. So, lighting is key. What's a good rule of thumb to help get it right?
HL: Move your set around the room to work with you've got. Window light at table level that is coming through from the side is going to look a lot different than if you set the plate or bowl on the floor and shoot it with the light coming from above.
AR: Food loves natural light. And don't be afraid of bright light—shadows can add so much to the photo. If you need more light, bounce off of something bright like white foam board or cover a piece of cardboard in aluminum foil to add more highlights to your image.
JW: If light is bright, direct and harsh, try to find the shaded space next to the direct light and set up there. Use a flour sack (thin white linen) towel to diffuse some of that right light and soften it if possible. The key really is experimenting.
Q. What tricks do you use that you've never seen anyone else do?
HL: I like to shoot the food with my DSLR and get it to where I feel I have a winner of a shot. Then, I take a photo for Instagram and Snapchat with my iPhone. Ironically, that puts the image in a whole new perspective and just when I thought I was done, I pick up my camera and do the version on my DSLR I just saw with my phone.
AR: I don't follow any rules—maybe that sets me apart. I'm always trying to evolve my images and push the boundaries. Lately I've been playing around with harsh lighting and bold shadows. People tell you to avoid that lighting situation. Rules were made to be broken.
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