Skip to main content
Tech Radar TechRadar the technology experts
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
RSS
Asia
flag of Singapore
Singapore
Europe
flag of Danmark
Danmark
flag of Suomi
Suomi
flag of Norge
Norge
flag of Sverige
Sverige
flag of UK
UK
flag of Italia
Italia
flag of Nederland
Nederland
flag of België (Nederlands)
België (Nederlands)
flag of France
France
flag of Deutschland
Deutschland
flag of España
España
North America
flag of US (English)
US (English)
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of México
México
Australasia
flag of Australia
Australia
flag of New Zealand
New Zealand
  • Phones
  • Computing
  • TVs
  • AI
  • Streaming
  • Health
  • Audio
  • VPN
  • More
    • Cameras
    • Home
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Opinion
    • How to
    • Versus
    • Deals
    • Coupons
    • Best
Tech Radar Pro
Tech Radar Gaming
Trending
  • Amazon Prime Day
  • Nintendo Switch 2
  • Best VPN
  • ChatGPT
  • Best web hosting
  • NYT Wordle today
  • Best laptop

Recommended reading

Android Photography
Phones Supercharge your Android phone photography with my 5 easy tips
Dodo Pizza's ChatGPT "Chicken Shawarma AI- generated pizza" on a computer chip background
Artificial Intelligence ChatGPT kept giving me bland dinner recipes until I showed it the kind of meals I actually like
Sony A7 IV lead image
Cameras The best camera for photography 2025
Google Photos interface displayed on two phones on a yellow background
Phones These 9 Google Photos features will change the way you save, share, and edit images
Canon EOS R10 cover image
Cameras The best camera for beginners 2025, all rigorously tested
Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 lead image
Instant Cameras The best instant camera 2025, based on real-world testing
From left to right, the Blurb front cover is noticeably more vibrant and detailed, whereas the detail has been lost on the much darker result of the Snapfish front cover.
Websites & Apps The best photo book services, all tested and compared by our experts
  1. Cameras
  2. Photography

How to take food photos

How-to
By Kevin Lee published 25 November 2015

The tastiest food photography tips

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

The recipe for the perfect food photo

The recipe for the perfect food photo

The holiday season is in full swing, and on top of all the family time, blustery weather and gift giving, there's eating. Lots of eating.

Whether you're celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah or Festivus, the holidays bring out all the fixings. From decadent desserts to chunky casseroles and sumptuous stews. There's so much food to enjoy that it would be a shame not to take a picture to remember these festive feasts with. Here are a few food photography tips for creating mouth-watering pictures of food.

(Shot using an iPhone 6 and Fujifilm X-T1 with the XF 23mm f1.4 and XF 34mm f2.0 WR)

Page 1 of 8
Page 1 of 8
Elementary lighting

Elementary lighting

The most important thing in photography always comes down to lighting, and nothing looks great when it's drowned in darkness. The easiest way to make sure everything in the frame is well lit is to bring your plate to the window where natural light comes straight through.

Backlighting your subject works best, because it fills the background with a dream-like glow, all while emphasising depth, texture and dimension – characteristics that make food so appealing. This angle of light also highlights any streams of steam or smoke coming off of piping hot food.

Page 2 of 8
Page 2 of 8
Dial up your exposure

Dial up your exposure

Of course, sunlight isn't going to work when it's dinner time and dark outside, or if you're dining out in a restaurant. In these cases, you'll have to dial up your exposure. Depending on the lighting conditions, you'll want to set your camera between ISO 400-1600, or even ISO 3200 if it's really dark.

You'll also likely have to choose a slower shutter speed or open up the aperture on the lens by picking a lower f-stop. It's not too hard to shoot completely manually, but you can easily get the perfect shot using semi-automatic modes, such as Aperture Priority and Program.

Page 3 of 8
Page 3 of 8
Get the white balance right

Get the white balance right

The biggest challenge of shooting indoors by far is getting the right white balance. Your food is going to look terribly unappetizing if it's too yellow or has a strange purple hue. Luckily, most digital cameras include settings for the most common types of light bulbs, including tungsten, incandescent and multiple variations of fluorescent.

If you have mixed lighting – such as a candle in addition to the dining room lights – things get a bit trickier, but most cameras also come with a way of manually setting the white balance. For example, Fujifilm, Nikon and Olympus cameras all have a one touch tool that automatically tunes the white balance based on a test shot. Sony cameras, meanwhile, have you moving around a dot on a color chart while previewing what your final shot will look like on-screen.

Page 4 of 8
Page 4 of 8
Work the angles

Work the angles

Now that we have the basics down, it's time to have some fun with angles. Shooting a plate of food is easy enough for anyone to point their camera and snap away, but always try to go for a different perspective.

Overhead shots are a great way of showing a full spread of food, especially if it's a tabletop with a whole bunch of differently colored dishes. Alternatively, if you're have a tall stack of pancakes or mile-high apple pie, why not emphasise the height by taking a portrait photo from the side of the plate. There are plenty of other angles, so play around and see what looks best.

Page 5 of 8
Page 5 of 8
Get in close

Get in close

Getting closer to your subject is a basic rule of photography, and it makes complete sense when shooting images of food. This will not only give you a closer look at all the delicious details, but it also helps create a shallow depth of field. By adding more blurry bits into the frame, you can add layers of depth and color to your food shots, essentially allowing the viewers to "taste" the dish with their eyes.

Page 6 of 8
Page 6 of 8
Capture the process

Capture the process

If you want to tell a story with your food photos, shoot a few images of making the dishes, too. Capturing the process shows the transformation of raw ingredients into culinary art, and it's a fine way of presenting the story behind the final dish. It could be as simple as a cutting board of vegetables to a simmering sauce or meat browning on the grill.

Page 7 of 8
Page 7 of 8
Show the aftermath

Show the aftermath

One of the basic tenets of food photography is that you can't take a bite before you take a picture, but this is really a rule that I say you should break often. The image of a perfect plate of food is so very rote at this point. Why not break from convention and capture a partially or half-eaten plate?

Taking a few bites makes the scene much more active and realistic. While untouched plates make for gorgeous still life photos, there's something warmer and more natural about seeing an image with scattered bones, smeared gravy or half-eaten bread on a plate.

  • Here are the best iPhone camera apps
Page 8 of 8
Page 8 of 8
TOPICS
Fujifilm
Kevin Lee
Kevin Lee
Social Links Navigation

Kevin Lee was a former computing reporter at TechRadar. Kevin is now the SEO Updates Editor at IGN based in New York. He handles all of the best of tech buying guides while also dipping his hand in the entertainment and games evergreen content. Kevin has over eight years of experience in the tech and games publications with previous bylines at Polygon, PC World, and more. Outside of work, Kevin is major movie buff of cult and bad films. He also regularly plays flight & space sim and racing games. IRL he's a fan of archery, axe throwing, and board games.

See more Camera How Tos
Read more
Android Photography
Supercharge your Android phone photography with my 5 easy tips
Dodo Pizza's ChatGPT "Chicken Shawarma AI- generated pizza" on a computer chip background
ChatGPT kept giving me bland dinner recipes until I showed it the kind of meals I actually like
Sony A7 IV lead image
The best camera for photography 2025
Google Photos interface displayed on two phones on a yellow background
These 9 Google Photos features will change the way you save, share, and edit images
Canon EOS R10 cover image
The best camera for beginners 2025, all rigorously tested
Fujifilm Instax Mini 12 lead image
The best instant camera 2025, based on real-world testing
Latest in Photography
Leica Monopan 50
After 100 years making cameras, Leica finally unveils its first-ever 35mm film – the surprisingly affordable Monopan 50
Northern Lights taken with the Nikon Z6 II
Missed the northern lights? Don't worry, scientists predict 50 years of intense activity – here's how to plan your next photo trip
Three images; a massai scanning the terrain from a high rock; a chimpanzee in a zoo with painted wall background; two lions lapping from puddles
“If AI erodes people's belief in photography, then we have problems” – we talk AI and cameras with the winner of the Sony World Photography Awards 2025
Printerpix photo book front cover
Printerpix photo book review: an imperfect, yet super-simple way to print memories of a lifetime
Orchids and flowers from the New York Botanical Garden
I snapped hundreds of flower pics with the iPhone 16 Pro, Galaxy S25 Ultra and OnePlus 13 — and the results surprised me
Vista Print photo book on table with pink wall and plant in background
VistaPrint photo book review: quick, easy, and flexible editing – but lacking absolute precision
Latest in How Tos
Emma Raducanu preparing for Wimbledon 2025
How to watch Raducanu vs Xu online: live stream Wimbledon 2025 tennis FREE
A woman dances on a friend's shoulders at the Glastonbury Festival held at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset on June 29 near Glastonbury, England. The festival, founded in 1970, has grown into one of the largest outdoor green field festivals in the world.(Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
How to watch Glastonbury replays on BBC iPlayer (it's FREE)
Max Verstappen leads the pack at the beginning of the 2024 Austrian GP.
How to watch Austrian Grand Prix F1 on ORF On today (it's free)
Jake Paul and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in their face off for their fight on 28 July.
How to watch Jake Paul vs Chavez Jr live on DAZN tonight – best PPV prices, start time
Sione Katoa of the Sharks scores a try during the NRL Preliminary Final match between the Penrith Panthers and the Cronulla Sharks
NRL Premiership live stream 2025: how to watch rugby online, FREE options, streaming guide
Maro Itoje in training for British & Irish Lions
Western Force vs Lions FREE streams: How to watch British & Irish Lions tour live online from anywhere now
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. 1
    Apple Music is celebrating 10 years with a personalized ‘All Time’ Playlist, and there’s a way for Spotify listeners to get in on the action
  2. 2
    ChatGPT kept giving me bland dinner recipes until I showed it the kind of meals I actually like
  3. 3
    This Lenovo Chromebook uses a CPU not found in any other laptops - and it should give AMD and Intel a run for their money
  4. 4
    This touching viral AI video of Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s mom hugging him is also sparking a fiery debate
  5. 5
    70% of new hires click on phishing links within the first 3 months of employment - here's how to stay safe

TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Web notifications
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...