Edible Aesthetic
Food Photography is beautiful. Food is connective, transcendent, and uplifting. There are as many different types of food as there are people. Dishes can have deep cultural meaning or historical background. There are types of food or dishes that have been created that have then gone extinct, only to be revitalized in the digital age. Cooking is a hobby, a career, and a necessity. There are so many layers to cooking, eating, and creating food. How on earth do you being to capture all of it in a photograph?
As an Art
We consider food photography to be an art form. At least, with a professional camera, this is the general allowance. No doubt people can recall a time when they were mocked for capturing a picture of their meal before eating it. We scoff at the bloggers and vloggers who dare to take the time to photograph a meal that excites them. I was recently out to dinner with a friend and we both wanted to take pictures of our beautiful cocktails when they were brought out for us. Through nervous laughter, repeated statements of “I hate to be this person, oh my gosh aren’t we the worst?” we took the photos as quickly as possible, lest everyone consider us shallow and vapid people. Truly though, how can we mock people for doing what some people pay hundreds of dollars to have other working professionals do? Whether for editorials or for advertisements, food photography is in high demand. The arrangement, the background, the color theory, everything plays into a successful photograph.
Our Experience
We were fortunate enough to work with Eat Fudena, an independent takeout restaurant serving West African food out of Philadelphia. We entered their kitchen on a Sunday afternoon and the smells emanating from the kitchen could only be described as heavenly. We spent a little over an hour arranging each dish with props and colorful backgrounds to accentuate the product. It really did ring true to our experience with normal product photography. We just had free reign to be more creative with the more editorial style of the shoot.
Our Takeaways
Arrangement is Everything. We had to be very careful to make sure the food was correctly centered, we had to make sure that the colored fabric in the background was correctly arranged so that the patterns wouldn’t clash with the dishes. Every little prop had to be carefully finagled into the right area of the frame. Not too much and not too little.
Edible Color Theory. We had to ask with each dish “What are the prominent colors?” Which fabrics will accentuate the food? Which ones will clash? Which one will be too distracting. Is the food the center of the photograph? What is drawing the eye first? Color is everything and we had to make sure we were using it to our advantage.
The Beauty is in the Details. Sometimes minimalism is called for in product photography or editorial shoots. Whites, blacks, and golds are gorgeous color combinations and should be celebrated to their fullest extent. But for some shoots you need to be bold. Bold with your color and your saturation. Bold with your props. You can fill the frame and still have every little detail lined up in a cohesive and attractive way.
Conclusion.
Food photography has become a personal favorite for us. We enjoy the process. As people who enjoy eating food, we also enjoy getting to occasionally sample some of the delicious dishes we photograph. Learning about the culture behind food, photographing foods we have never eaten or seen before, has been very special to us. Sharing in a meal, even if you’re photographing it, is such an intimate and connective experience. The art of the photography is fulfilling and uplifting. Any time you have a chance to share a delicious meal with someone, you feel free to photograph your food. The medium has no boundaries and you have just as much right as any artist to capture the memory.