5 Easy Tips for Enticing Food Imagery

How food looks is just as important as the taste - beautiful images of signature dishes appeal to our senses and have a powerful impact on our emotions.

Professionally styled culinary photography on eye-catching menus, catalogues, flyers, websites and social posts can capture attention and convert customers. 

A little know-how can take your food photos from ho-hum to yum - we share our top tips for capturing stunning culinary imagery, even on a smartphone.

1.     Make it appealing

The key ingredients for enticing food photography are lighting, colour and texture. Used individually or together, these elements add interest and create a more engaging image. Where possible, think about incorporating movement, such as steam rising from a bowl of soup or cheese bubbling and melting atop lasagne, to immerse the viewer in the scene.

2.     Lights, camera, action!

Lighting is vital in food photography and can make a huge difference in mood and style. A single light source works best, either it’s strobe (flash) or continuous (lamp). When lighting a food item, it is easy to concentrate on where the light falls, however, shadows are equally important to create shape and form, highlight texture and inform the mood.

Helen’s Roast Pumpkin & Bacon Savoury Muffins with flash, natural and lamp lighting.

3.     Create a scene

Backdrops control how much your hero menu item - whether a savoury tart or a sweet muffin - visually pops on camera and allows you to tell more of a story with your imagery. As a general rule, plain backgrounds or simple tabletops make the best backdrops for beautiful food photography. You can use found surfaces such as benchtops, tiles or wooden tables with a wall in the background.

4.     Casting extras

Props can elevate and add context to food imagery, however, it’s a good idea to use them sparingly to avoid visual clutter. Textured, neutral-toned pieces such as a linen tea towel or wooden serving spoon and timber or stone benchtops add subtle texture without pulling focus from the subject. Avoid large items, objects that will catch or throw light in an unfavourable way or organic pieces like delicate flowers that may wilt quickly. 

5.     Know your angles

While the bird’s-eye view or top-down angle is a popular perspective in social media food photography, a slightly elevated angle is ideal to shoot most menu items on a plate, regardless of how the food is presented or how high it sits. A low angle can be unflattering - yes, even food has a good side! If you can’t get high enough over the plate, angle the food item towards the camera.

Helen’s premium savoury and sweet products always look appealing on the plate and are handmade with love, using fresh, seasonal ingredients from traditional family recipes. CONTACT your Helen’s rep or local distributor about the eye-catching menu items that will capture your customers’ attention.