Learn Food Photography & Styling Blog

Food is photographed for a lot of different purposes. It can be photographed for recipe books or for a blog. A cereal bowl can be photographed for putting on a cereal box or a newspaper ad. In general, purpose of each type of food photography is to make food look tempting and irresistible. Depending on how the photograph will be used, there are more details that should be understood. The lighting requirement, the technical knowledge and related knowledge. This post identifies four such types of food photography, their purpose and briefly outlines the knowledge required.

Packaging

Remember that lasagña on the lean cuisine package? How about that pure white milk looking thing on the cereal box, that all all food photography. There are several differences between food photography for packaging and other types is that amount of effort and technical knowledge about photography, product and meticulous details that you may need. The focus of this type of food photography is that the food should be as clear and should have as much detail as possible. Since the photograph is used on package of a product, it is important to show exactly what is in the box and nothing more. The color, the number of pieces and the product itself should be shown as realistically as possible. Legal technicalities are carefully considered here and being aware of laws and legal issues is helpful. A professional food stylist, art director etc. are required.

Advertising

Paper advertisement for products like Whopper or Big Mac need an ad photo shoot. Usually this photography has more use of fake food to make food look tempting. Although, we have categorized this type of photography as advertising, this type of photography is not just used for ads but also for menus, brochures and bill boards. Props, supporting objects can be used more generously and creatively. Working with ad agency and usually the idea and concept is already decided by the ad agency. There are some constraints here but not as many as in Packaging type Food Photography. Since these photos can be used on bill boards and large ads in the magazine, the quality of photograph needs to be very high. This translates to high megapixel and high-end cameras. 

Editorial

Photographs in recipe books, photographs in magazines, that support recipe articles or other articles in general, are considered editorial food photos. This type of photography is most popular and, in my opinion, is more exciting than the previous two types. Editorial photography has broadly saying no limit to creativity. While ad photos are restricted by the concept developed and required by ad agencies, editorial photography has only one purpose – make food look beautiful. All creative lighting in the world can be used and all props available can be placed to achieve beauty. Editorial photography allows a lot more freedom. The quality of images need to be good enough to be published in magazine or a recipe book. The camera need not be as expensive as for advertising food photography and the photo shoot itself can be cheaper than ad photo shoots.

Blogging and Web

This is very similar to editorial photography and in fact can be called as a subset of editorial type of food photography. The difference here is that food photography in blogging is limited to online publishing. Most of this photography is done at home without much pomp and show. Knowledge of food styling and art in general is required and usually the photo shoot consist of two-three people. Since most images are published on web, photographs need not be high megapixel. Food Photos for blogging and web can be very well taken by entry level DSLRs and in some cases even point and shoot compact cameras. This type of photography requires very little to no knowledge of legal aspects of food photography.
(Disclaimer: I am not a legal expert, this article represents my understanding of the industry. Consult a lawyer/expert for details on advertisement, packaging and other photography laws and legal aspects.)

Have You Been There?

So now tell us about your experiences shooting any of these type of food photographs. Have you ever been on food photo shoots? Tell us about your experience.

Photo Credits

• manila food and drink by chotda
• sperglar by Krstnn Hrmnsn
• Bacon Swiss Breasts by conradh
• fava bean stuffed tomatoes by olgucz

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