How to shoot food

1, natural light

It is a very good choice to shoot food with natural light. When I shoot food for fashion magazines and other media, I mostly choose natural light. But try to avoid direct light, because it will cast a dazzling shadow on food. Don't use a flash unless you want your food to look wet and greasy (the camera comes with a flash). But occasionally shooting a barbecue or something, the effect may look cool and fashionable. Try the scattered soft light coming in through the thin curtains as a backlight or side backlight, and you will find the food very beautiful.

Step 2 flash

Didn't you just say no flash? Yes, don't use the flash that comes with the machine. The flash here refers to the professional flash. The lighting arrangement of food photography should show the three-dimensional sense of dishes. The basic lighting is to use a top light with a slight backlight, combined with the main light on the side and the auxiliary light with personality. Soft light covers and honeycomb covers are usually used.

Soft light is the main food for shooting snacks such as bread and cakes; However, greasy food such as braising in soy sauce and frying requires a hard light source to avoid the food being too dull; When shooting cooked vegetables, drinks and other foods with good transparency, we should show its transparency, and then use backlight and contour light, and the effect is very good. Lighting is dead, and people are alive. In the face of different foods, creative use of local light sources will achieve amazing results.

Composition and angle

1, how to highlight the dishes to be expressed

Here, according to the actual situation of netizens, the pictures we posted on the Internet mainly want to highlight the photos of food salivation and appetite, and the sense of temptation is the most important. So simply taking the food and tableware neatly, such a simple perspective, only let us see the food itself, but did not reflect the attractive feeling. Why don't we look for the most critical part of food, such as the most beautiful staple food in a dish, or even beautiful tableware, so that viewers can associate it. If conditions permit, you can also change the container and environment of the dish itself to achieve unexpected results.

2. Use and purpose of shooting angles of 0, 45 and 90.

The shooting angle of food should be grasped according to the characteristics of dishes. Here are some simple instructions:

Western food, snacks, snacks, drinks and other foods with good three-dimensional sense are more suitable for shooting at a relatively flat angle such as 0 to highlight the three-dimensional sense of food.

In China cooking, a large number of dishes are used, or large bowls of soup and cooking dishes are used. In order to show the food in these big plates well, we can shoot at a relatively vertical angle, about 90 degrees. Of course, you can also try some interesting western food to bring different visual effects.

45-degree view is common, but we often use it to cook ordinary dishes, which requires us to mix materials reasonably, use props reasonably and avoid dullness.

Of course, when shooting these foods, special skills are essential. In order to maintain the delicious taste of food, you can also spray or smear some special liquids on food, or inject some substances into food to maintain its color, surface texture and fresh appearance.

The most typical example is when shooting fruit, coating a thin layer of oil on the surface of the fruit, and then spraying water mist, which will make the fruit have a delicious and crystal-clear effect, and then it will really make people covet through side light irradiation. Specifically, first pour a few drops of glycerin on your palm. Rub your hands, then take the fruit in your hand and rub it with your palm. Generally, after applying a layer of glycerin, put the fruit in a bowl and put it neatly according to your own imagination. Then, take a plastic spray bottle filled with water and carefully spray the water on the fruit. In this way, a layer of crystal water drops appeared on the fruit, which achieved the ideal effect.

Need to be reminded that when using the spray bottle, you must pay attention to the surrounding astigmatism lights. Turn off all the lights nearby before spraying water, and then turn on the lights when you are ready to take pictures. In addition, when spraying water, other places should be covered, because if the bowl and seamless paper are sprayed with water, the whole image effect will be destroyed. Don't put too much oil on the fruit, or the surface of the fruit will give off unnatural light, just put a thin layer of oil on it.

If you want to show the calories of food, you can handle it flexibly according to different foods. In order to enhance the steaming effect of general food, you can find a thin blowpipe, such as a straw for smoking, take a sip of cigarette smoke in your mouth, aim the straw at the inside of the food being photographed, forcibly eject a puff of smoke, and leave quickly. When the smoke rises to the best state, press the shutter in time.

When shooting vegetables, in order to show the fresh and tender texture of vegetables, it is advisable to soak vegetables in alkaline water in advance, so that vegetables can get a bright green texture. However, when some foods may change their original state as soon as they are served, they have to take a special way to make some fake foods by simulating the shape and texture of dishes with some artificial materials to restore the best state of food.

The most typical example is patting ice cubes. No matter how fast you are, the ice will melt faster than you think under the light. Therefore, when shooting ice cubes or food with ice cubes, you can get quite realistic results by choosing an ice cube specially carved with plexiglass.

Shooting cut apples should be soaked in salt water or lemonade to avoid discoloration after long exposure to the air. When shooting cooked meat and fish food, you can apply a layer of refined cooking oil before shooting to make the food look particularly fresh.

The composition of general objects can only be used as a reference, because all the atmosphere and effects can only be reflected after the food is cooked. Then improvise and make some local adjustments to make it as close as possible to the original idea.

If you are interested in photography, you can contact A5 Photography Agency in Beijing. They have their own real-life base, and the photographers inside are very skilled and have been in business for more than ten years.