How To: Food Photography

by Nick Vagnoni, Posted Oct 6th 2005 @ 1:12PM

Photo: Nick Vagnoni

For all you aspiring food pornographers out there, Shutterbug magazine has a pretty good guide on photographing food.

The article is geared more towards professionals than hobbyists, but there’s still a lot of good advice to be taken away from this piece. I hadn’t thought to microwave wet cotton balls to simulate steam behind a plate, and I don’t know that I’ll ever need to do that to shoot food at home. Still, good to know.

The section on lighting and food texture is also pretty useful. If anything, going over some of these professional tips can help a food blogger/photographer make the most out of what he or she has at home.

I know that since I don't have anything in the way of professional lighting, I usually just try to make the best out of the natural light I'm fortunate to have in my kitchen. The coffee-soaked dates with cardamom and cinnamon you see here were photographed under only natural morning light from a south-facing window.

Filed Under: Magazines, How To