Maybe a priori, until now, nobody thought from the outset that his dream was to make gastronomic photography. I do not know, I think maybe we usually dream of another type of photography more evident as advertising, portraits, documentary. Maybe it's because when I imagine one of my dishes it doesn't seem the most photogenic in the world . But the truth is that over time it has been shown that gastronomic photography is pure art, pure inspiration, that there are images of food that are able to take your breath away, exorbitant your eyes, make you salivate or move your hunger intestines . If you are not very kitchenette or a fan of social networks such as Pinterest or Instagram, you may be imagining the image of a boring and ugly dish on a menu poster faded by the sun. No sir or madam, that was before, now they make real virguerías, magical compositions and impeccable staging. And you, yes you, who like cooking so much or that you have the even greater luck that someone does it for you, can get, with practice and patience, enter fully into this magical world and make us eat by the eyes, sigh watching a cauliflower soup, or get excited to tears with a raspberry pie . Let's see where to start.

RECOMMENDED MATERIAL

One of the best things that gastronomic photography has, is that you can go into it and try it with relatively little investment. You don't need a photo studio or too much material that you probably don't have anymore.

CAMERA WITH MANUAL SETTINGS AND INTERCHANGEABLE LENSES

Your usual SLR camera or your Evil camera would be ideal to be able to work in manual mode and squeeze out all the possibilities of lighting, focus, etc. If you do not have one, that this does not stop you, work with what you have, many advanced compact can give you equally good results if you do not plan to make large extensions.

TRIPOD

It is essential in product photography, mainly because sharpness is one of the keys to any type of product photography. The sharpness allows us to see the detail of textures and color, absolutely essential when working with food. When we say we eat with our eyes, it is true . The tripod will also allow you to work properly and slowly. You can thus observe carefully through the viewfinder and get up to change and improve what you think without changing the frame or angle.

A tripod will allow you to work the composition

OBJECTIVE

As for the best objective, each teacher has his booklet , but those who are probably not going to let you down are: 50mm or medium focal : It is the king of the objectives , the one that most closely resembles the human eye, and is usually a very bright optic (f / 1.4 of / 1.8), which translates into the possibility of playing with depth of field reduced. In addition it does not involve a disbursement as prohibitive as other objectives of the same luminosity and will be useful for almost any type of photography. Long focal macro lens : A long macro lens (from 60mm to 105mm) with an f / 2.8 aperture would be ideal. They are around 500 to 800 Euros depending on the brand. Here you have a recommended selection .

REFLECTOR

It may be very useful for you to have a reflector , depending on the place where you are going to take your photographs. They will allow you to redirect and model the light, they are very cheap and they will also be useful for other types of images such as portraits. Here you have this set of 5 with different characteristics (more or less intensity) for only (price not available at this time)

DIFFUSER

A simple clear curtain or tissue paper in front of a window can function as the best studio in the world. The curtain will serve to transform hard light into soft light and reduce a possible exaggerated contrast (very fast passage of the lights to the shadows) of very marked shadows.

CULINARY PROPS

Backgrounds of various shades. You don't need anything very elaborate, with some cards, a smooth wall, a wood, etc. will be more than enough to start.
Diverse crockery : plates of different sizes, designs, old or modern style spoons, casseroles, tablecloths, napkins ... You can expand your collection to scratch the madness
Woods on which to place the dishes. They are very photogenic, natural, provide texture to the image and can help you enhance the dishes. Also slate, marble, etc. will be useful.
Culinary accessories such as salt shakers, nutcrackers, teapots, coffee makers and other culinary equipment that can help you complete the history of your dish.
A vaporizer: It will help you appear fresh in vegetables and fruits

You will need varied props to unleash your imagination

RECOMMENDED SETTINGS

Although it is impossible to concentrate the amount of light variables, stage and tastes of each one, we can make some recommendations to start with until you find your own style or from which to start as a base:

ISO : An ISO as low as possible will ensure a lower appearance of noise in the image and, therefore, greater sharpness. This value is usually around 100 or 125, depending on the camera.
Diaphragm opening : To highlight certain parts of the plate, we usually use diaphragm openings that allow us to work with shallow depth of field (low values ??such as f / 1.4), to be able to isolate and emphasize the main subject, in this case, the food.
Speed : If you are using a tripod and photographing a static element, in principle it should not be a problem, but if you want to add an artistic point to your compositions and photograph the movement (flour falling, salt, honey, spices ... whatever you can think of) then you must remember that to freeze it you will need a lot of light and very high speeds, and to show its path, slower speeds.
Spot metering mode : it is the most accurate and the most recommended for photographing static subjects, since it is the one that will give you the best results.
AdobeRGB color space : It is the one that stores more color information, and in the case of ingredients and food in general, where everything comes into view, color becomes vitally important.
Histogram : Do not trust your eyes, the only reliable test in terms of correct exposure is the histogram of the image and above all, a good interpretation of it.
RAW: It is more than likely that you are going to edit the image after making it, so shooting in RAW in order to have the most information available in the file will ensure you better results.
Type of approach : The most suitable for static subjects is the AF-S or One Shot, being the most accurate.
White Balance: Controlling the dominant hue of the scene (warm lights can dye the scene orange or cold lights of blue or green) is an essential part of gastronomic photography. Remember that food should seem natural and appetizing.

COMPOSITION

If you do not know where to start, I recommend that you do so by following the rules or rules of basic composition that, for starters, will give you good results and help you place the elements in an orderly manner within the frame. The most used are:

Rule of thirds : According to which, the center of interest of an image is located at the intersection caused by the division of the image into three horizontal and vertical thirds. That's where the point of greatest interest in photography is located.
Negative space : Everything that surrounds in a neutral way (without providing information) to the main subject, is known as negative space .
Vertical format : I always encourage you to try this format in all disciplines, but if one is almost essential it is gastronomic (among others, of course )
Less is more : Compositions crowded with randomly placed elements make the viewer's eyes get lost in chaos. It is better to put few or justified elements in the image, and guide the gaze of the one who observes the image, through the lines , the rule of thirds, and so on.
Human factor : Do not forget that in any image in which a human element appears, this takes on special importance, since it allows us to empathize, suggests closeness

Take care of the composition

POINT OF VIEW

It is a field where you can give free rein to your creativity, since culinary photography allows numerous and daring points of view capable of completely transforming an image.

Angle of 45º : They say that it is the angle from which we place ourselves when we are ready to eat, and therefore we conceive it as a very natural angle.
Zenith : Allows compositions of several elements (or one) from an elevated point of view (completely from above). If you use this view, it is very important that you try to keep all the elements in focus.
Normal : Or at eye level, it offers us a greater sense of depth in order to play with the different planes.

Remember that you should not settle for a single image, take several photos changing the point of view, move around the scene, get closer, get away ...

ILLUMINATION

It is key in any type of photography but even more, if possible, in the one where you are able to control and model it as you wish, such as “studio” images (whether homemade or not).

Side light : It is surely the most used lighting angle in gastronomic photography, since it emphasizes the volumes and textures of the elements.
High key and low key : If you go around the network in search of gastronomic images, you will see that high and low key (sometimes under the title of dark and moody ) are widely used.
Lighting schemes such as the Rembrandt or the Split (side), will give you good results. Check out this article in which we offer schemes for portraits but that you can apply to any type of photography.
Soft and diffused light : Start looking for this type of lighting more "friendly" with the elements and more photogenic and simple to use.
Natural light : the most photogenic and easy to use and the one that will give you the best results. Search for the place with the best available lighting , study how light rays impact, at what time the best results are achieved, and install your small lighting “studio” there.

Basic side lighting scheme

EDITION

The most important thing when retouching your images is that you remember that food should look like food , that is, an HDR in a tomato may seem very cool, but nobody will feel like eating a tomato in HDR. The edition must respect the textures and natural colors at all times, so it is important that the entire edition focuses on:

The food should look like food.
The food should look fresh and in good condition.
The texture of food is essential, since through it our sense of touch is activated.
The colors are very important precisely to convey the good state of the food but also to make us stand out to our main protagonist.
The white balance is the dominant hue of the scene, and it helps us transmit coldness, warmth or a neutral tone to the image.

Take care of the edition

INSPIRATION

Pinterest and Instagram are, surely, where this type of photography has devastated with more virulence, but you can find this type of images in practically any social network. If you are a kitchenette, or someone close to you, or if you are simply lacking in inspiration and want to try something new, I strongly recommend giving gastronomic photography a chance. You can practice at home, at your own pace, without the need for great prior preparation or specific material and the best, after photographing it, you can eat it I hope you liked this article. If so, please share it with someone you think may be interested in it. Thank you very much and until next time