“How to photograph food?” - this question, of course, arises less often than questions about how to shoot landscapes or portraits. And this is not surprising, because photographing portraits, landscapes and architecture attracts a large number of photographers. However, filming various dishes in restaurants can be no less exciting. This is not an easy matter. Therefore, many amateur photographers and bloggers manage to create real photographic masterpieces in their kitchens, but when they try to repeat this somewhere in a restaurant, they encounter difficulties.

In this article we will try to figure out how to take high-quality photographs of food in a restaurant.

Any photographer will tell you that natural light is the main component of high-quality photography of any food. Good lighting will make your photo look amazing, while not enough lighting can ruin any photo.

Taking this into account, photographing in daytime next to the window.

Find a well-lit table and pay attention to the following:

• Where is the light source located?
• What is its intensity?
• How is lighting distributed over the surface of the table?

The best results are obtained with light sources from the sides and behind the table. Use a reflector to highlight shadows and effectively illuminate the food on your plate.

The best, soft lighting can be obtained on cloudy days. Reflected light emphasizes the color and texture of the dish.

If you are faced with a direct sunlight falling on the table, try to disperse it by curtaining the window with a napkin or loose white curtains. As a last resort, simply stand in its path, creating a shadow, and then try to highlight the dish using a reflector.

In cases where natural light is not available to you, you will have to use reflectors or even flash. Be careful! If you use a flash, make sure you point it at the ceiling or wall. Never point the flash directly at your dish and please do not use the built-in flash! Invest some money in lighting for your camera.

Composition

Composition determines how you present the dish in front of you to the viewer. Choosing it can be the most difficult stage of shooting, but it is the composition that determines how your photo will be perceived - as an artistic image, or as an ordinary shot.

Consider what should be the central theme of your photograph? The whole dish? How does it look on a served table? How is it lit? Or maybe some details of the dish? There are many options. And you must, first of all, understand why you are taking this image. By answering this question for yourself, you can easily decide on the key theme of the image.

At the first stage, you can adhere to the rule of thirds, placing key points of the image at the intersection points of imaginary lines (or grid lines in the viewfinder), choosing the most favorable angles.

Once you have a firm grasp of the classic rules of composition and learn how to use them in your work, you can begin to experiment beyond the generally accepted rules of frame composition. Often it is precisely such experiments that make it possible to create spectacular and aesthetic images of seemingly ordinary dishes.

Find the best angle for the food you are photographing. You can use any of the angles below as starting points:

View from above. Well suited for photographing simple, neat dishes and snacks. This angle allows you to emphasize symmetry, but completely hides the volume, so to give the image depth, you can blur the background (use a shallow depth of field).

View from the client's perspective(located on the side of the dish, at an angle of 45°). This angle is suitable for photographing more complex, multi-component dishes that take up most of the plate.

"Epic angle"(close-up of the dish, at 90° to the dish). Typically, this angle is used for close-up shots, so it's great for photographing three-dimensional dishes.

It's useful to have a macro lens on hand because it allows you to take high-quality shots and significantly pushes the boundaries of your creative capabilities.

Don't forget about the background - always evaluate how good it is and how it matches the subject. Try to use simple backgrounds, but if you want to add some detail to it, be careful not to overload it with details that might distract the viewer's eye. Avoid bright, reflective surfaces, such as glasses, decanters, bottles, etc. If they fall into the frame, move them outside the frame, or move yourself so as to exclude them from the frame. Remember that in this case, less is more!

Editing

Processing is the final stage of photography. Using your favorite image editor, you can make your photo more impressive, but you have to be careful not to overdo it with editing. When processing a photo, you can easily get carried away and give the image an unnatural look.

Restaurant dishes aren't easy to film, but they're easy to edit. Find your style in editing and strictly follow it from photo to photo. Again, keep in mind that in this genre of photography, less is more.

Universal Council There is no tutorial on how to edit restaurant food photos. Just do what you love and remember that food, like people, would like you to capture it at its best.

Equipment

To take quality food photos, you'll need the following:

• the best camera available to you. We are, of course, not talking about the most expensive camera offered by manufacturers, but you simply need a decent digital camera with manual mode. , will only look good on social networks.
• reflector with a diameter of 30 cm – best friend a photographer who decided to photograph dishes in a restaurant
• small battery operated light bar
• gray card (for installation)

By the way, all this equipment can easily fit in a photo backpack.

What have approximately 50% of cafe and restaurant visitors been doing lately? They take pictures of their food before tasting it. But most of the photos are terrible and monotonous. I don't want to eat food on them. Every second Instagram user fancies himself a food blogger. That is, they first enjoy its appearance, and then the rest of its organoleptic properties. However, there is a separate category of people who professionally photograph food and, as a rule, they do it for advertising purposes. And one of them told me the secrets of his craft!

I also want to learn how to take juicy photographs of food that, just by looking at them, will make you want to eat them right away. So when I had the chance to chat with Nikolai Mirsky, a professional food photographer, I agreed without hesitation.

At the very beginning of the meeting, Nikolai explained where the tendency to photograph and draw food came from. It turns out that food photography actually has a lot in common with classical fine art: it concerns the basics of composition and lighting. So food photographers are a kind of modern still life artists!

In fact, good food photography is achieved with the right combination of two components: light and composition. Light can be either natural or artificial. So, the first rule of good food photography is:

1. A light photograph is more appetizing than a dark one.
Which photo tastes better?

The lack of light can be compensated with a longer shutter speed. But for this we need to fix our camera. Based on this, the second rule follows.

2. Use a tripod! There are a great many of them. Classic tripod, a tripod that is attached to the table surface, a flexible articulated tripod:

or, as a last resort, an ordinary bag of buckwheat or any other cereal:

And don't forget to use the delayed start of shooting. This will eliminate the shaking of your hand and the camera when you press the button, since every camera has this function.

3. The light should be soft, not hard. Plus it should be located on any side except the front. The head-on light fills in all the irregularities and makes the picture flat and unattractive. Compare the same slice of pizza, but under different lighting.

Hard light:

Soft light:

4. Food doesn't have to be perfect. It should look edible and natural. It’s no secret that for advertising food photography they often use dummies, cover the food with varnish, add chemical bubbles, assemble sandwiches on skewers, etc. But this is all the prerogative of commercial photography and the domain of the food stylist. We are considering shooting at home, so don’t get carried away with perfectionism. Try to determine whether this burger is edible or not?

5. Build an interesting composition. If possible, place an object near your subject to help you understand the size of the food. Agree, a chicken hanging on a knife looks more interesting than just lying on a cutting board:

6. The front subject should always be sharp and tasty. The mistake is to focus on food, which is located in the background, because... our eyes will not immediately pay attention to it. And this is unacceptable in food photography.
Wrong:

Right:

7. Play with food cuts. Sometimes interesting insides are hidden behind a boring shell :)

8. Modern digital cameras allow you to zoom in on objects, so don’t forget about the texture of food and take macro photographs if possible:

9. It is best to photograph liquids in the light or in backlight (when it is directed from below into the frame). If the liquid is cloudy and not transparent, then you can try to photograph the moment the liquid is poured from glass to glass. Place the glass on the table, pull a background from behind, place a light source behind it, and take photographs using a series of frames. With proper skill you should get something similar. And don't forget rule #2, use a tripod!

If you follow these tips, your food photos will be delicious, get a lot of likes, and will stand out among the huge number of other food photos. And most importantly, eat delicious and beautiful food! Let not only your stomach rejoice, but also your eyes! :)

For the advice and holding the master class, I would like to thank

At first glance, it may seem that photographing the process of eating is a simple and understandable matter, but when you start taking pictures yourself, you realize that not everything is so simple. Read this article twice, or better yet, five times, then you can count on more or less decent pictures of the cooking process and the finished dishes.

You don't have to own a professional DSLR camera to take high-quality photos. Modern digital point-and-shoot cameras IN DAYLIGHT WITHOUT USING FLASH are capable of producing masterpieces.
Make sure the camera is charged before shooting.

Turn on the camera and check if the lens is clean: there may be fingerprints or it is fogged up.

Set the camera to “Auto” mode and select “Macro” in the settings. On most cameras it is indicated in the form of a flower.
Take photographs only in landscape orientation (hold the camera horizontally).

If you understand shooting modes, know what aperture and light sensitivity are, then use the following shooting parameters (the parameters are given for a NIKON camera):

1. For shooting in daylight indoors: Av mode, ISO 640 units, WB - auto. Two photos with and without flash.

2. For shooting in artificial light Av mode, ISO 840-1200 units, WB - auto. Photo with flash.

3. For shooting outdoors in daylight Av mode, ISO 100-200 units, WB - auto. Two photos with and without flash.

Daylight - best source Sveta. This could be a place near a window, on a balcony, or on an open veranda. When photographing the finished dish, place the plate near the window. The window should be behind you, allowing maximum daylight to reach your subject.

Do not remove the finished dish while standing. The mistake of many novice photographers is that they shoot the plate, basically just leaning into it from above, while it will be much better if you sit down a little and take pictures almost from table level, from the side or a little higher.

Work without delay. The faster you take the photo, the fresher the food will look. Cold, congealed meat or wilted salad look unappetizing. As a rule, the first shots are the best.

Pay attention not only to what's on your plate, but also to what's around it. Don’t overload the frame with unnecessary details, you shouldn’t shoot a table with a full table setting, at the same time, one or two items can successfully complement the composition, it could be a glass, cutlery, a beautifully folded napkin...

Small details make a big difference. Don't neglect the little things. Remember that using nice cutlery and clean dishes can make a simple good photo magnificent.

Use the surroundings. Don't be afraid to add a little life to your composition. Place a glass of orange juice next to the pancakes, a bottle of wine in front of the steak, and scatter nuts or brightly colored sprinkles near the muffins. The dish will sparkle with colors.

Just don’t overdo it: too many details can distract from the main subject. It's not difficult at all!

Cut! As in many other cases, the role played here is not only outer side affairs. Shoot food in cut form, because its main essence is on the inside. Angle, contrast, and color combinations can all play a role here. Therefore – cut!

Another trick: small dishes are much easier to photograph. Therefore, feel free to use small jars, plates, gravy boats, bowls, and dessert cutlery.

You don’t have to shoot the entire dish, but focus on one fragment or part - this can also be interesting. In addition to general shots of the plate of food, take some macro shots. Zooming in will reveal the food's texture and fine details, making your photo more interesting and eye-catching.

Use flash only as a last resort. To prevent photos from being overexposed and blurry due to the flash, for example, when you cook near the stove in a frying pan or in a saucepan, take a couple of steps back, turn on the flash mode on the camera, and use the zoom.

This way, less light will fall on the frying pan or pan because you will be standing further away.
Raw or undercooked foods often look more presentable than ready-to-eat foods, so sometimes it’s better to “click” them 10 minutes before they’re ready, and then calmly leave them until they’re ready.

When filming the cooking process, make sure that there are no unnecessary objects in the frame or in the background. Chaotically scattered cutlery and empty dishes in the frame with a frying pan where meat is fried do not look very good.

When you see another delicious photo, the thought immediately arises that a horde of professionals worked on its creation. Everything looks like this:

But in fact, to create a beautiful and bright photo, you can get by with a more modest set. Approximately the same as in the following photo: table lamps, white background and backing. In most cases, you will need a tripod - the market offers budget and high-quality models for amateur photographers. So, let's get started with our review of articles and tutorials on food photography.

Composition and style– the fourth lesson for those who have mastered the previous three and want to experiment.

Food photography in detail

Steal like an artist - ideas, solutions, composition. Copy your favorite bloggers and one day you will find unique style. To do this, study the experience of other photographers. For example, a whole blog is dedicated to food photography: lessons, examples, tips and lots and lots of photos.

Have you read everything and want to become a food stylist? Then the advice of professionals will help - they know exactly where to start.

CHEET SHEET FOR FOOD PHOTOGRAPHER

Here is a cheat sheet for a novice food photographer who has been given the task of beautifully photographing various dishes and drinks, but he does not know where to approach this task.

Do not be afraid. Based on the results of viewing the works of the most popular food photographers, a list of techniques that they use most often was compiled. Now only the completely blind and armless will not succeed. A little later, many of the points described here will be covered in separate articles, but for now - briefly, for the most savvy.
Main techniques:

macro photography. Focus on something most delicious, the rest is a slight blur
photographing a dish from above (plate on a napkin, cutlery nearby)
one object is in front, the rest are behind, out of focus

Technique:

Adjust the white balance so that white is actually white and not red, green or blue.
Never use the built-in flash. If the room is dark, you need to worry about purchasing lighting fixtures, otherwise there is no point. You can turn around and leave.
Natural light a la “early morning” is good for most dishes, but breakfasts, tea, coffee, and sweets look especially great in daylight.

Moments:

Make sure there are no unnecessary objects in the frame. Crumbs or shabby dishes accidentally falling into the frame will ruin everything.
If the dish looks boring, add details: beautiful dishes, herbs, berries, etc.
Light, clear drinks don't look good against a white background. Use something visually appealing as a backdrop for clear drinks. You can have a dark background, and sometimes it also looks good if there is some other dishware that matches the style behind it.
Greens and flowers almost always add extra appeal and freshness to a dish.
Vegetables and fruits should be fresh, clean and almost perfect in appearance. It doesn't matter what it actually tastes like.
Pizza is traditionally removed from the top, either entirely or with one segment cut off (it can lie on a wooden spatula).
Spaghetti looks more appetizing if you put a fork with spaghetti twisted on it into a filled plate.
In general, cutlery located next to the dish, as it were, invites you to eat. But they must be polished to a shine and look elegant.

That's it, now you can go and take pictures. You may not become an outstanding food photographer (that would be too easy), but your chances of taking a good photo are clearly increased.

Photograph food like a pro

Good food photography can do a lot - it can make a viewer hungry, it can convince a restaurant customer to buy a dish, and it can sell a hell of a lot of food and cookbooks. But the ability to photograph food requires special knowledge about what works best and what looks terrible. We've put together a few tips to keep in mind when photographing food if you want to get results similar to those you see in glossy magazines and books.

How to cook food for appearance, not taste

People dedicate books (and their careers) to preparing food for photography (I don't mean the actual photography, I'm talking about preparing it for the photographer). The food industry is huge and they understand the value of good photographs in selling products. So if you're serious about getting good photos (more so than about eating your food after the shoot), then you need to prepare your food to look great, not taste great.

So how do they do it?

Are you shooting a full meal?

In photographs, food usually looks better when it is full-bodied (this does not mean “big”). The problem is that often after you take something out of the oven, it loses some of its volume due to the cool air. Photographers have several techniques for dealing with this, but the simplest ones are probably the best!

• Remove food while it is still very hot and freshly cooked.
• Design the dish to make it look fatter (Sometimes this involves placing something on the plate under the food to make it look fatter. Sometimes this means stacking the food you are removing on top of something else.)

Think about the colors of your dish

Color is an important part of good food photography. In many cases, you can add decorations in a contrasting color to the main dish, which will add a pop of color to your photos very effectively. Knowing the color wheel and which colors contrast and which complement each other can help good service when photographing food. Notice the contrast of green, red and white in the photo below, as well as the complementary colors in the photo below.

The appearance of food often depends not only on what is on the plate, but also on what surrounds the plate. Preparing your table and props can greatly help (or hinder) getting fantastic photos of your food in context. Here are some thoughts.

The appearance of the table can make or break a good food photograph.

The environment in which the food is found is almost as important as the food itself. A thoughtful table design will add context and mood to your photos, so think about that for a minute. What's in the background and foreground of your dish? Or do you want to exclude the setting and shoot only your dish in close-up? Do your plates match the color of the food? Does the environment balance the composition?

Elements typically used in a food context (condiments, cutlery, napkins, etc.) can be arranged by the stylist to enhance the composition. As a rule, you want these elements to complement, and not dominate, the main subject of the photo.

Think about the colors beyond your plate

This comes back to the topic of styling the shot, but it is still very important to consider the colors of the dishes, cutlery, table, tablecloth, etc. that surround the main subject as they have a big impact on the final result.

Colors are usually deliberately chosen to be either contrasting or complementary. Both work quite effectively.

On the other hand, some colors don't work well with food (for example, it's very difficult to use light green if you want to make food look appetizing).

What you need to know about lighting in food photography

Perhaps one of the most important factors influencing the final result in food photography is the quality of lighting. The good news is that due to the small size of your subject, you can usually control the lighting quite well.

1. Natural light from the window rules the roost in professional food photography. (If you can get natural window light on a cloudy day, you're even luckier). Soft, diffused light, usually from a window that casts beautiful soft shadows, is great for most food photography. As a rule, the best picture is obtained when the light falls from the front (that is, from behind the photographer’s shoulder), but all angles of natural light incidence can be used in the work. Depending on how much light you have, you may need a tripod.
2. Reflectors – If you want to diffuse the light even more or soften some shadows, then a reflector for natural light is also one of the priorities. This can be achieved using a special factory reflector, or you can improvise with light materials (white sheets, fabrics) or reflective materials (foil).
3. Studio light - helps when you don't have the opportunity to take advantage of natural light. Using studio light for food photography is a big topic, but suffice it to say that you usually want to soften and diffuse the light as much as possible using softs and reflectors.
4. Low key food photography is a growing trend and involves using a dark environment. This is due to the use of darker tones in dishes, backgrounds and surroundings along with natural light from the window as in the example below. The result is spectacular and moody.
5. You can see more amazing examples via this link.

Other Ingredients to Good Food Photography

Proper use of depth of field

Another key to effective food photography is proper control of depth of field. As you can see in most of the above illustrations, photographers tend to use shallow depth of field to draw attention to a specific part of the photo (usually the main feature of the food or part of it). Sometimes, however, you may need to stop down your aperture to get greater depth of field. Both options are fine, but keep the shallow depth of field fashion in mind when choosing your own style.

Selecting an angle

There are two main composition techniques in food photography. The first is shooting strictly from above, either getting as close as possible to the dish (as in the example below), or showing a more general “aerial photograph” of the serving.

A second popular angle is to shoot from the side, so you can include the foreground, background, or entire surroundings of the plate, as in the example below. Obviously, there are thousands of ways to skin this cat, but the examples in our article will give you some ideas for typical compositions when photographing food.

Simple Tips for Better Food Photos

The following tips will help you if you are in a creative frenzy and want to whip up a quick but beautiful food photo.

They are not axioms and in many cases can be ignored. But when you're short on time, following these few tips can help you take better food photos than you would without them.

1. Move your shooting location to take advantage of natural window light.
2. To limit depth of field, use a wide aperture (f/1.8 – f/5.6) and focus close to the front edge of the food you are shooting.
3. Either zoom in close, leaving only your dish in the frame, or arrange the background to create context.
4. Find contrasting decorations and place them on the platter. Bright colors such as green (onion), red (pepper) and white (parmesan) generally work well.
5. Keep the portions small so that you can highlight the focal point of the photo.
6. Photograph food as fresh as possible.

Food stylist tricks

Just as photographers have a few tricks, food stylists also have their own tricks to quickly and easily provide food best view before shooting. Remember a few of them.

• All greens (like lettuce) will look greener and fresher if you place them in ice water for a few minutes before shooting. Don't forget to shake off the water before removing.
• Brush a little oil onto hot food to make it look fresher in photos, especially if it's been sitting out for a while.
• Don't add too much dressing to the salad, as this can make the salad look mushy.
• The fresher the better. True, both for taste and appearance.
• Undercook food to make it look fresher and bigger in photos.
• Make sure the saucers and cutlery are really clean. Stains from lost food on a tablecloth or where it shouldn't be can also ruin your photos.

Websites and resources dedicated to food photography

Hopefully we've given you some basics here, but there are still some amazing online resources to explore. Below are some of our favorites (in English).

My husband looked at my torture of Photoshop and searches beautiful pictures and said - why are you suffering so much? Don’t you have a couple of rags and a couple of cups, jugs, vases to put near the plate, why does it take so long to photoshop?

I'll give you a hint! Beautiful background

Scrapbooking paper.

You can find any beautiful background from bricks, flowers, music pages to all sorts of brutal pieces of wood. We need the most ordinary sheet, one-sided.

30*30 Price is from 6g and a little higher

Second-hand stores - you can find a bunch of knitted napkins, pieces of vintage fabrics.

Square rubberized napkins for wiping surfaces (different colors)

A piece of wood from knocked down boards - paint it in one layer and go over it with sandpaper

This is what scrapbooking paper looks like

A tile (stone) purchased for the oven - you can lightly sprinkle flour through organza, scatter spices, tear off a piece of baking paper, crumple it slightly and put the product on it......

There's a sea of ​​options

I found this information about beautiful backgrounds.

Choose a background. Part 1: Textiles

The background is what we place the photographic objects on and/or (if a frontal angle is selected from the level of the object or table) what is behind them.
He doesn't just serve" blank slate", on which we compose a composition, he himself is part of it and can help us create a mood, color palette, convey emotions, style, attract attention, or, conversely, remain neutral.

The choice of dishes, cutlery and napkins will depend on what background we choose. At the same time, the choice of background depends on what we are going to photograph, because... its task is to emphasize and highlight the dish, its consistency, or to support the overall atmosphere of the photograph.

Speaking about the background, it is impossible not to touch upon the topic of color (today we will not consider it in detail, we will say only a few words).

The most frequently used and the most universal colors- it's white and black.

White background helps create perfectly flat empty space to draw attention to the subject.
Black background works just as well, and perhaps highlights what you're photographing even more than white.

*When comparing the two photos below, note that it is against the black background that the chocolate frosting on the cupcake looks brighter (even though it is dark color), not to mention orange tangerines...

Both of these colors are suitable for photographing any dishes; you can easily match them with any dishes and any napkins.
But it should be remembered that a white background, like any white objects, reflects light.
And black, on the contrary, absorbs it.
Therefore, choose a white (or light) background when there is insufficient lighting. And black (or dark) if the object in the photo is well lit.

Also quite universal colors will be any light, pastel, neutral colors such as light brown, beige, gray, etc.
It is enough to add to the composition against such a light background some bright detail, and you can get an interesting photo...

Bright colors as a background make the photo very contrasty. They must be used with caution, because... most often they reflect their color onto the utensils and onto the dish and can make all the colors in your photo reddish or yellowish or bluish, etc. If you are not sure that you can fix this (using camera settings or graphic editors on your computer), then it is better to choose more neutral colors.

I usually try to "dilute" the bright background color a little with white or light details.

In this, the first part of the topic about choosing a background, we will talk about textiles, i.e. about various fabrics, which we can use for food photography.

Perhaps one of the simplest background options that you can choose is ordinary tablecloths. All kinds of colors, different fabrics, different shapes and size: for sure, each of us has a favorite tablecloth (I, for example, really love checkered tablecloths). All you have to do is take it, spread it out and take a photo of the dish on it. What could be simpler!

You can also use small tablecloths rather than large ones cloth napkins. They can, like a tablecloth, simply be laid as a plain background, or you can use a napkin in combination with a tablecloth of a contrasting or similar color.

Another option for a textile background is fabric cuts, i.e. just small pieces of fabric in different colors. If you or anyone in your family is into crafts, this background material will be a snap to come by.
*I borrowed some pieces from my mother, who is into patchwork, and bought some myself in a special craft store (where you can find small pieces of fabric in interesting colors, they sell them already packaged, especially for patchwork or other projects)

When choosing fabric for the background, you need to pay attention to its color and pattern: will it match the dish you want to photograph.
Simpler colors and patterns suggest a simple dish and homely serving, while a more elegant fabric design suggests a more sophisticated or unusual dish and elegant presentation.

Be careful when choosing fabrics variegated bright colors, because they can overshadow what you're photographing, and your dish can get lost in a bright, patterned background.
Particularly problematic There will be fabrics with large patterns, with some characters or animals, large bright flowers. Very often a dish disappears against such a background, because... The viewer's eye, when looking at the photograph, will be distracted by the details, patterns and different background colors around the plate.

*For example, the fabric in the photo below is very beautiful, but it is quite difficult to use as a background due to the many different patterns and colors on it. I chose her for this photo because... I photographed only one item - bread. I placed it in the center and “emphasized its presence” with a wooden board of the same tone. In this case, the bright fabric became a “frame” around monochromatic item in the center and did not drown it out, but decorated it.
And if a colorful dish was photographed on a plate with patterns, it would undoubtedly disappear against such a multi-colored background...

What else can we use as a textile background?

Kitchen towels- a completely acceptable, convenient and cheap option. But here you need to again be careful with the pattern on the towel (see above) and it is better to choose one that resembles a tablecloth in appearance, color and texture.
Those. the best option is a smooth, monochromatic one, or with small drawings or patterns (without large characters, animals or flowers that distract attention). Looking at the background covered with a towel, it is better if the viewer does not guess that it was not a tablecloth at all...

May also be suitable waffle towels, because their textured surface usually looks good in photos. Against such a background, it is good to photograph a variety of baked goods, for example, bread. Or some simple dish.

Terry towels are not very suitable for food photography; it is still better to leave them for other purposes, because in life we ​​will not lay them on the table and serve dishes on them.

They are very popular natural fabrics- burlap, linen, embroidered or knitted napkins. They help create a warm, homely atmosphere; the dishes they choose are homemade and simple.
Burlap can be raw, slightly crumpled - this gives the background an unusual look and is used to create a “rustic” style.

Let's talk a little about how to make the background more interesting and how you can use fabrics, tablecloths and napkins for this.

The traditional and most modest option: simply place a napkin under the dish in a rectangle or so that it peeks out at the corner. Another simple way is to place the fabric in a rectangle in the center and place a dish on it.

But you can also experiment: position the fabric diagonally, to the side of the subject or in the corner of the frame.

Don’t be afraid sometimes to not just lay out a napkin or tablecloth evenly, but to drape it beautifully, fold it, or even crumple it. All this will help make the photo more interesting.

To conclude the topic, I would like to recall about the background of the photo, which can also be called its background. We often see photos where, behind the main objects, completely unnecessary details fall into the frame.
How to avoid this?

If you have a long enough table or other surface that you're photographing on, then you don't need to worry about this at all. It is enough to remove unnecessary objects from behind, leaving only what is necessary in the frame.

If the table is small and there is a risk that there will be something unnecessary in the background, then you can use a technique that we have already mentioned more than once: arrange the tablecloth in a wave, lifting it from the back.
This technique works best with plain background, because in the photo later it is completely invisible that it was raised from behind. In this case, it is better if the “wave” is very smooth and even, without a sharp bend and there will be no folds on the raised part of the tablecloth. Here I had one stripe in the middle, left over from folding the tablecloth; in the final photo I made it less noticeable using a graphics editor.

Fabrics with patterns are less suitable for laying them in a “wave”, because the design will highlight the slight fold at the back. But for lack of best option, it is quite possible to use this technique for non-uniform fabrics. For a long time, I myself photographed all the dishes exactly as shown in these photos (on a small table, with a raised tablecloth, which was placed behind the back of a nearby chair).

Another option: put something behind the objects (in this case, I used foam).

You can also use fabric and hang it at the back to create an interesting background (the same color as the background below, or a different, contrasting shade)

Or simply lay the fabric in voluminous folds at the back, and choose the right angle when photographing so that nothing unnecessary gets into the frame.

Let's continue the topic of choosing a background for photographing different dishes. We have already talked about the importance of the background and the use of textiles. in the first part.
Fabrics and various textiles are perhaps the easiest to use and most popular background for food photography (and probably the most natural for perception, because it reminds us of a table covered with a tablecloth)

What else can we use to make the background interesting and original?
Let's try to get creative, using the most unexpected objects as a background...

Let's start with the simplest...

Paper

Just like textiles, paper is used quite often.
It could be ordinary White paper, whatman paper, suitable for any dishes, especially if there is no white tablecloth, or parchment (for example, if you need to photograph a freshly baked bun or pie).

Can also be used colored paper(as in the photo below with pieces of bread) or packaging, plain or with patterns - suitable for the dish that you want to capture in the photo.
The only downside to using a paper background is that it quickly goes out of use, i.e. gets dirty and torn, less practical than textiles.

Paper napkins

A good solution for those who don’t have fabric ones. Interesting paper napkins with drawings will help make the background interesting and visually highlight the dish.
But just like paper, paper napkins are short-lived, and besides, they cannot be draped beautifully like fabric ones.

A beautiful lace background can be created using a large paper napkin for cake. It will look especially impressive against a dark background.

Wood background

Various wooden surfaces, boards or tables are one of the most beautiful backgrounds for food photography, creating a cozy homely atmosphere.
Many food photographers use special aged wooden boards, painting them in different colors, creating the effect of scratches on the surface, etc.
But even ordinary light wood will also look good.

For these purposes, I bought myself an ordinary board at a hardware store, which now serves as a table for me to take photographs. I often use it even without a tablecloth, because... I like the way natural wood looks in the frame. In the photo with eclairs, the same board was used as a background, i.e. the objects do not stand on it, but on the table, and the board behind them is perpendicular to the floor.

Dark wood can also serve as a great backdrop: it looks bright and creates interesting contrasts with the objects you place on it.

At our house we still have the old, old table of my husband’s grandmother. This table is already all worn out, scratched, and for a long time I dreamed of just throwing it away... until I became interested in food photography. Now this is one of my favorite backgrounds, because... the old shabby wooden surface looks very impressive and makes the photo “alive.”

Cutting boards

Wooden cutting boards create a beautiful wooden surface, while at the same time helping to highlight the object you place on them, because... They look like a frame around a plate.

It’s good to have different boards for photos - different sizes and shapes, and it’s better if for their intended purpose (i.e. for cutting something) these boards are not used at all or are used to a minimum, very carefully (so as not to damage them surface).

I never cut anything on the boards I use for photography; I only occasionally use them to serve something (for example, I serve pizza on a round one).

Baking tray

This is a universal black background on which any dish will look good and bright. Especially if you don't have black fabric...

You can use it for the background too.

Slate boards

Photos where a slate board with a chalk inscription is chosen as the background look very unusual. Typically this background is used for desserts or small baked goods.

And here is the same board, only I turned it over reverse side. In the first photo, taken from afar, you can even see the loop by which this board is hung on the wall. But on finished photo It’s completely unnoticeable that the plate stood against such a strange background, one might think that it was some kind of unusual table...

Wicker baskets

If you have a large wicker basket with a flat bottom at home, then you are the proud owner of a beautiful textured background for food photography! You can put something inside...

Or you can turn the basket upside down and place the plates directly on it. Why not...

Various baking dishes.

They can also serve as an unusual background for... various baked goods.

Or even not for baking at all...

Hot coasters.

They help to diversify the background and make your photo interesting, no worse than cloth napkins...

Lattices.

For the grill, for the oven, for the steamer... or some other... Various grills are indispensable for photographing hot dishes or baked goods, as if "just out of the oven". The dessert in the first photo was also hot...

Large dishes, frying pans, trays.

If you have them, and there is no time for a complex composition, then why not make these objects the background, occupying almost the entire frame with them.

Self-adhesive film

This film is easy to buy and stick to thick thick cardboard of any shape. You will get a practical, washable backdrop in an interesting color. I chose marbled...