With the proliferation of digital cameras and cell phone cameras and the explosion of social media sites, everybody has become a food photographer, diligently uploading shots of restaurant food before consuming it.
The intention is not so much to make online viewers drool, but to call attention to oneself and make a running visual commentary on one’s life. Food selfies, as they are called (not food porn), are like postcards. They say “I’m enjoying eating this,” in the same way that a postcard says “I was here” or “wish you were here.”
True food photography, done professionally, is intended to sell the food to potential diners. Kitchens can make dishes as appealing to the eye as they are to the palate, but that is never enough to make them camera-ready. Food is like models and actors. It needs to be dollied up with “makeup” to look photogenic.
And then there’s the critical issue of lighting. Food selfies make do with whatever lighting is available, the plates not even turned this way or that for a better angle. We’re just so lucky digital cameras have auto white balance, or else food shots taken under fluorescent lighting would have a sickly yellow-green cast.
FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY ON THE JOB
Where’s the color? The texture? How do you convey flavor and aroma in a photograph? It requires proper, professional food styling (the makeup) and appropriate lighting, camera angle, and setup.
It also requires knowing in advance what to expect. Shooting food one plate at a time is completely different from shooting a whole table of dishes. Shooting with a live model multiplies the complexity. Are you going to have some control over the background or the setup around the plate?
Are we shooting for a magazine, newspaper, tarpaulin banner, or website? Besides image size, we need to consider lens, color depth, RAW post-processing time, and even storage space. To be really technical about it, we can even make a decision whether to prefer the image processor of one camera over another.
All these matters were gathered before we headed out for Lartizan Boulangerie Française [French Bakery] at Serendra. Lartizan bills itself as a restaurant and tea salon, a place for morning breakfasts and pastries, light lunches, sandwiches, afternoon teas and coffees, dinners, and desserts.Having been told the photos would be for a poster and for Facebook, we brought a Nikon D5300, which contains enough resolution for large reproduction, and an 18–140mm Zoom-Nikkor.
THE MOOD
As we said earlier, shooting a product one at a time requires different skills and equipment from shooting several at the same time. We were informed that we’d be shooting a plate at time, and setting up in the dining area.
That meant our background and setting would have to be in the photos as well, even if by suggestion. We wanted to convey the impression of an airy, cheery, bright dining area appropriate for breakfast or day dining. Unlike formal dining areas, in which the lighting is subdued, daytime dining areas are usually bright and airy, consistent with greeting a new day and starting up our body batteries.
Although the plan was to frame each plate semi-tightly, we made sure to make room for other items on the table, including Lartizan’s silverware and large plates. All this taken together, add up to communicating an exquisite dining experience, quite unlike food selfies taken on the run.
THE BACKGROUND AND PROPS
As we checked the framing for each shot, we worked with the staff in clearing or adding to the table. Specifically, we made sure to merely include those items that not only were part of a table arrangement for a particular dish but also those that would act as props and background, enhancing the appreciation of the subject. For example, appropriate glasses and bottles, condiments, serving spoons.
In another type of setup elsewhere, we could work with a palochina table top, wooden chopping board, or rattan basket in the background. It largely depends on the objective. Food photography is almost never shot in a vacuum, with nothing else in the photo.
Anything that does not belong or does not add to the appreciation of the food item is a distraction. Even out-of-focus objects in the background, if not appropriate, can detract from the focal point.
After checking the background and surrounding area for distractions, we took both vertical and horizontal shots, and both tight and loose framing to give the client options in laying out their materials.
Why not just use a plain white background? That would probably make things easier for the layout artist. As one photography website puts it, plain white backdrops are common in stock photos because they are dropped into layouts with no regard for setting or mood.
In the book Food Styling for Photographers, the authors write, “When you sell food via photography, the goal of the stylist and photographer is to make the viewer want to buy that food. Today’s commercial food photography shots are much tighter on the food. The mood of the shot is created by lighting and by insinuated atmosphere…The shot tells you a story.”
THE SETUP
We made arrangements with the restaurant manager for the kitchen to prepare and bring out the food according to height, so that we would only need to readjust the height and position of the light and reflector minimally for each item.
Since some food items required more time to prepare, those in charge in the kitchen requested they be informed when we were about to finish shooting a setup. By closely coordinating with them, we were also given warning about how fragile some food preparations were. The Chicken and Wild Mushroom Vol-au-Vents, for example, is held together with small pastry, which quickly starts to soften and lose its shape, so we knew enough to work fast with it.
(Text and photos by Neil Garcia)