5 Tips for Taking Better Food Photos

As dietitians we love food, and we frequently share food photos on our social media platforms. It’s a great way to showcase how eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring and bland. Except, sometimes a photo just doesn’t capture the food the way we imagined. Have you ever wondered how some Instagram stars get such great photos of their food? Here are 5 tips that are guaranteed to help you take prettier pictures of your food with either your phone or a nice camera.

Don’t use flash!

The number one rule of taking pictures of food is to never use flash. When you take a photo using flash, you overexpose the front of your plate and underexpose the rest of the photo. Plus, you are usually using flash when there isn’t enough light to get a good picture of your food like in a darkly lit restaurant. If there isn’t enough natural daylight coming in the windows to light up your food, just enjoy your dinner and skip the photo! The same goes for taking photos of your food at home. Try to only take photos when you can use natural daylight coming in from your windows. Food photos taken under your kitchen lights at night often look too red or yellow.

Pay attention to the background.   

This was a mistake I often made when taking photos of my food. I looked through my old archives and found that I once took a picture of my dinner plate held up so that the Christmas tree was the background. It was terrible! Make sure your food and not your cluttered background is the focal point of the picture. One trick I have learned is to take photos of my food on simple backgrounds like a white marble counter sample I picked up for just a few dollars at a kitchen renovation shop. Wood tables, chalkboards, and black or white foam board also work well as backgrounds.

Simple is better.     

A nice food photo doesn’t always have to have lots of props. Some of the most popular food photos on Pinterest and Instagram are those with just a bowl, spoon, napkin on a simple white background. Remember that the food is the star of the photo, so keeping the rest of the photo simple will help it stand out.

Overhead angle is best for phones.  

If you look through Instagram, 9 out of 10 food photos will be taken from overhead. The overhead angle also allows you to get a great picture of the whole plate or bowl. It also helps you avoid getting an awkward angle when photographing from the side that makes your plate look like it is about to slide off the table.

Use filters sparingly.

So you’ve got this great photo of your brunch, now you’ve got to add the best filter to make it really pop, right? Not so fast. Too often we add filters that oversaturate the colors of the food, making it look unnatural. I’ve found that either no filter, or just a simple filter from an app like VSCO Cam is all that you need.

Now practice taking photos of your food with these 5 tips! To make your photos are even better, there are several great photo apps that allow you to make adjustments to your photos on your phonte. I will often use an app to add a bit more brightness and saturation. The following apps are some of the most popular: Camera+, VSCO Cam, and SnapSeed.