I have read food magazines for years and drooled over their photos. “How do they make their photos look so appetizing?” I wondered. This week’s #cbias SoFabU photography lesson give me some tips and trips professional food photographers use in their shots. Thanks to #Searsgrilling, we purchased a new grill and accessories last week. This has been a wonderful purchase for my family because my husband and son have taken over the outdoor cooking. They’ve grilled everything they could get their hands on this week- steaks, ribs, bratwurst, cheddarwurst, chicken, hamburgers, corn, eggplant (under protest) and apples. While they prepared the meat, I snapped photos.
Using the rule of thirds, which means we break images down into three parts, horizontally and vertically, I tried to capture photos that would draw the eye to the middle of the picture. This allows the subject to be more balanced and allow views to interact with it naturally.
One tip for photographing food on the grill–avoid taking pictures in direct sunlight. The high contrast will cause unflattering images. I’m sure my neighbors thought I was crazy when I kept pulling the grill into the shade.
Using pixlr. editing software I played around with the color balance, adding more or less red, green and blue highlights to add visual appeal.
Until this week, I didn’t realize photographers have eleven angles they use often when photographing food. This was my favorite part of the lesson, experimenting with the different angles to create totally different looks of the same dish.
This angle is known as the “From Above.” To capture this look, I held the camera directly above the subject and perfectly centered to create a clean contemporary look.
This method, the Tilt Away, featuring the despised eggplant, is created by tilting the camera slightly to the left, causing the eggplant to pull away from the viewer. It is supposed to cause the viewer to follow, but my husband and son said they had no desire to follow eggplant.
Another technique, the Straight On, focuses the attention directly on the subject, producing a clean contemporary look.
One thing I have learned-take lots of photos and use different angles. After reviewing my pictures for the week, I discovered I have favorite angles and snap them the most. I will be working on adding variety to my photographs.
As my photos have begun to improve, I enjoy taking pictures so much more. Of course, I am not adverse to having other people prepare food for me either. I will gladly snap pictures while my husband or son cooks. I think #grillingishappiness.
Next week I will be at Blogher so I can spend the week practicing snapping pictures of food around NYC. I’ll be the crazy lady with a camera. Remember, practice makes perfect!
WOW – this basket is more useful than I thought – I love how you made the complete meal in it
WOW – this basket is more useful than I thought – I love how you made the complete meal in it
Great shots this week! The veggie basket looks like it worked a lot better than mine did.
Looks awesome! So many great shots this week!
Nice shots! The photos from on the grill sizzle!
Oh the veggie wok looks great, and the ribs! Nice job!
I agree with you that the better you get the more fun it is! Good work this week!
WOW… you are doing great; LOVE the pictures and what a great post; I had no idea that “rule of thirds” .. interesting; thanks for sharing. I can’t wait to take pic’s of our next BBQ now..
Everything looks great. Thanks for sharing all the tips and tricks you learned over the past few weeks.
wow, looks like you’re learning a lot in this class. I had no idea there were 11 angles. So much to learn about photography. Learning it while grilling sounds yummy!
You’re quick! I just started grilling for my post this weekend. Hard to get right in there and not burn yourself…but so much fun!
I love your photos and some are just drool worthy. You are doing such a great job and look forward to seeing more.
Food is the hardest to capture…taking notes and drooling 🙂
Love the eggplant comments – LOL that your hubby and son will not follow it!
Thanks for the great photo tips, you really did a great job educating while showing off the yum factor! I will have to use some of these techniques.
girl, you are doing awesome! excited for you!
It’s been such a fun week, Pam and there was so much good info in the class! You did an awesome job!
I have so much to learn about food photography. Thanks for the tips!