If you’re an Instagram foodie looking to up your photography game, you may be wondering: “How to take food photos for Instagram?” – well, you’re in the right place!
I’ve put up a comprehensive guide on food photography that includes all of my best food photography tips and tricks for capturing the most outstanding images for use on social media and your website.
Keep scrolling for plenty of inspirational ideas for your next Instagram food photos shoot!
Food Styling for Instagram
Instagram food art is a popular trend on social media, where food artists create stunning works of art with food.
No need to worry, let me tell you some amazing ideas for food styling for Instagram, so you can create your own edible masterpieces that are sure to impress.
1. Fabrics with a Pronounced Surface Texture
To give your picture more depth, place a piece of fabric on the side of the setup, whether it is a torn proofing cloth or a striped linen napkin.
It’s also essential to think about how the fabric’s color and texture impact the environment, reflect light, and how the camera captures it.
Avoid brightly colored clothes, as they may give the food a strange color cast.
When choosing a printed material with delicate or classical designs, photograph food, and iron any folds that may distract the viewer from the primary subject.
2. Accents Made of Wood
The gorgeous concentric rings of a tree’s trunk or a chopping board that has browned with use are perfect for creating a rustic feel.
Props made of natural materials may provide a domestic feel to autumn-themed entrees and sweets.
3. Plants or Flowers
It’s hard to imagine a setting without plants!
To add color to your photograph, use a flower arrangement or a pot succulent as an impromptu accessory.
Establish the time of day the photo was shot using a seasonal flower or being creative and putting petals or leaves around the dish.
9+ Tips for Instagram Food Photography
Even if you aren’t the kind to take pictures of your meal before you eat it, you probably know someone who is.
As a result, not every food photograph is of the highest quality.
Here are a few pointers for presenting your food in an appetizing manner:
1. Take Several Shots
When it is related to food photography, one viewpoint is never enough.
To convey the richness and depth of the dish, you need to take many photographs.
Note that having more alternatives to choose from after shooting is always better than not having enough, making the decision-making process that much more straightforward.
2. Selecting the Correct Composition
Overhead, three-quarters, and straight-on compositions are the most common in food photography.
It’s possible to get a bird’s-eye view of your cuisine, a diner’s perspective, and a camera that is close to the table.
Before picking up the camera, it’s crucial to examine which perspective brings out the most significant aspects of your cuisine.
Moreover, a viewpoint that works well for some dishes may not always work for others.
For instance, a bird-eye perspective minimizes depth, which might help display particular kinds of cuisine.
A towering dish of pancake, for example, would’ve been best portrayed by utilizing a three or straight-on view to illustrate its enormity.
Pizza, on either hand, is best seen from a bird-eye perspective since it is flat.
3. Use a Piece of White Paper or a Napkin
With a window in your way, you’ll get plenty of natural light.
Overexposure and washed-out subjects are common when using too much natural light.
Hold a white napkin or piece of paper on the far side of the dish, away from the window, so it’s facing away from you.
You may use this improvised bounce board to give the food the modeling treatment.
4. Accurately Adjust Your Camera’s Settings
You should pay attention to the settings even if you’re not using an iPhone camera, such as an SLR camera.
Use the numerous essential tools and settings available to enhance your images in surprising ways.
Since the camera is solid, so you can frame the image appropriately, a tripod is an excellent way to avoid blurry or low-quality photographs.
Adding a tripod or selfie stick to your camera bag is a simple and effective way to improve your photos.
The aperture determines the amount of light passing through the lenses and onto the sensor.
So, you can follow the tips that will help you adjust the best aperture for your photoshoot.
- Apertures with smaller openings allow less light to enter through the glass, while apertures with bigger openings allow more light to flow through.
- Overexposure may be minimized, and the lighting in your photographs is balanced with the correct aperture.
- The f-number may be used to alter the aperture, and you can experiment with various f-numbers to get the best results.
5. Simplify
If you’re taking pictures of your meal, remove everything that might get in the way of both shots.
This includes the table, cutlery, and even your pals. Keep in mind that less is more and that the food should be the show’s star.
6. Activate Your Senses
When it comes to Instagrammable food images, those that make you want to eat the dish are the best.
Showing off the main components is an integral part of photographing a meal since you want the spectator to feel as if they are a part of it.
A steaming bowl of hot soup, or even a droplet of flower syrup on a plate of gulab jamun, might be the subject of this photograph.
So, try to increase the visual attractiveness of your shot by letting your viewers see what you’re eating and feeling while taking it.
7. Take a Look at the Surroundings
Photographing food is an art form, and the setting is just as essential as the meal itself.
If you’re shooting from above, your dish’s place setting will be prominently shown in the final image you produce.
Take a look at how the meal looks against that background.
A tablecloth or shifting your dish on a different surface may help if it doesn’t work. Are the marble countertops or the tiling just on the bathroom floor?
You can see everything in the field of vision while taking a three-quarters or straight-on shot.
If you’re using a DSLR, use a narrow depth of focus or portrait mode to avoid having the dish compete with the backdrop.
8. Write a Story About Food
Showing off the dish in more detail and educating others may be accomplished by telling a culinary tale.
Food stories may be broken down into individual components and shown off one at a time, or they can be presented as visual recipes to teach people how to cook the meal and its elements.
Cuisine stories are a popular choice for social media sites like Instagram because they can visually captivate people and produce captivating content that encourages others to taste the food.
As a result, it’s an intriguing alternative for food photographers since restaurants or chefs often use food tales as their storytelling format of choice.
9. Make Use of the Shadows in the Right Way
In addition to enhancing the overall texture & composition of a picture, shadows draw attention to the more delicate elements of the subject matter.
The light source placement concerning the food product you’re shooting might cast shadows.
If your images have a lot of black shadows, you may lighten them using a white reflector or by lowering the brightness.
10. Consider the Color of the Food
Dishes with many colors stand out, particularly on social media sites like Instagram.
If you want to attract the eye, serve something bright, such as a salad or noodles, which may include various components.
Consider using baking paper and parchment paper as a neutral background if you genuinely want the dish’s colors to stand out in shots.
Instagram Food Photo Ideas
1. The Food Photography in a Commercially Oriented Manner
Readily available food items might be used as a starting point for experimentation.
- Using a mix of ingredients from the meal preparation process is one option.
- A whole new mental picture is conjured up when the meal and the equipment needed to prepare it are combined in a single composition.
- Inspect the items and the equipment for visible brand names and remove them.
2. Create a Dramatic Setting
It’s hard to go wrong with a primary photo on a plain backdrop.
- Decorating the location will, however, help to enhance both the visual and the food’s appeal.
- There are a plethora of methods for completing this stage.
- It’s OK to include a few blooms or even a piece of the food in the meal itself for business reasons.
3. Enhance Your Game by Using Different Equipment
You may also add some accessories to the scene once you’ve finished customizing it.
- To prove how busy you are, you may use your laptop as a prop.
- In addition, a few novels might be included in a tale to enhance the plot.
4. Images Based on Concepts
It’s a little more difficult to conjure up visuals based on concepts.
To convey a particular idea, you might interestingly arrange your food. Think about what you want to convey by utilizing the culinary product as a medium.
5. Place Emphasis on the Qualities of the Food
If you’re able to catch the flavor and personality of your cuisine, you’ll have a unique visual representation.
- You should use your own food’s features to make your picture stand out.
- Hot foods include things like peppers and chilies.
In your photographs, try to convey that.
6. Laugh-out-Loud Photos
Props that seem strange yet intriguing may be used to produce amusing photographs.
When it comes to making your product photography enjoyable, all you need is a little thinking and a willingness to look at things in a new light.
7. Slice It or Stack It High
Food stacking is a systematic method of increasing the nutritional value of a meal.
The two options are as follows:
- Sliced to show each component separately
- Sliced to show Piled high
This layering must be seen and highlighted in both techniques to stand out.
8. Try a New Strategy
Instead of a glass of juice, try a picture of fruits with a straw.
9. Fresh Images
Give a sense of the food’s freshness by including little details in your photograph.
10. Be Kind
It’s vital to provide some area for the topic.
- It is done by creating a breathing space or negative space.
- Overcrowding a photograph might distort its essence.
When it comes to food photography, close-ups look lovely, but you need to ensure that the overall arrangement of the shot adds something pleasing.
How Do You Take Food Pictures on Instagram With iPhone?
Learn how to take enticing food shots with your iPhone with these easy-to-follow tips:
1. Make a Point of Organizing Your Meals
When it comes to the overall picture, how you organize your food has a significant influence.
- Each aspect of the picture should be carefully considered when creating a compelling composition for food photography.
- A snapshot of a sloppy supper on a plate is the worst.
I don’t think that’s food photography at all. For this reason, it’s essential to provide your meals with an appealing and balanced approach.
2. Expose Yourself to the Best
Before you push the shutter, you should do one more step to ensure that your photo is exactly how you want it to be by adjusting the camera’s exposure level.
The term “exposure” refers to the image’s brightness.
- White dishes and backdrops might seem over-exposed in food photography’s most common exposure issue.
- You should always exposure to the highlights to prevent over-exposure.
All it takes is to ensure that the brightest elements are correctly exposed.
Besides, I found an interesting video that showed some tips on food photography that can be used on Instagram. you can refer to it too.
Conclusion
Take a risk and see what works for you!
To make your food photography stand out from the crowd, experiment with various lighting setups, shooting angles, or food styles until you discover what works best.
Finally, you can touch up your food photos with some editing tricks. The following video gives a good guide for that.
Justin Parker is a professional photographer and has been in the industry since 2007. He attended the University of Georgia. Justin combines his passion for photography and his interest in writing to give life to this blog which talks about photography in order to help and inspire young photographers.
