How do I photograph food so it looks good?

Side or back light for texture, a considered angle for the dish shape, and speed — most food photographs fail because the food had already gone cold and dull before the camera came out.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 20 min
Read: 4 min

Short answer

Move the plate next to a window and light it from the side or slightly behind, never from the front and never from the ceiling. Shoot flat overhead for anything on a flat plate, and at around forty-five degrees or lower for anything with height. Use a white card opposite the window to lift the shadows. Photograph it immediately — food looks its best for about ninety seconds.

Food photography looks like styling and it is mostly lighting direction. Front light flattens a plate into a coloured shape; light coming from behind reveals steam, gloss, crumb and texture, which is what makes food look edible.

Step by step

Move to the window.The dining table under a ceiling light is the worst possible place. Take the plate to the brightest window in the house, turn all the artificial lights off, and shoot there even if it is a windowsill.
Light from the side or from behind.Put the window behind and to one side of the plate, so light rakes across the surface. That is what produces the highlights on sauce, the shadow in a crumb and the glow through a glass. Light from the camera side kills all of it.
Fill the shadows.White card, a folded napkin or a baking tray lined with foil, placed on the near side of the plate just out of frame. Backlight without fill gives a dark front to the dish; a card fixes it in one move.
Choose the angle from the shape of the food.Flat things — pizza, a bowl of soup, a spread of dishes — work from directly overhead. Tall things — a burger, a layer cake, a stacked plate, a drink — need a low angle, twenty to forty-five degrees, so the height reads. A three-quarter view suits most plated meals.
Get closer than you think.Fill the frame with the food. A photograph that includes the whole table, a salt cellar and someone's elbow is a photograph of a table. Move in until the dish and a little of its surroundings are all that is there.
Tidy the plate.Wipe the rim, clear stray crumbs, straighten the garnish, and align the cutlery. It takes ten seconds and it is most of the difference between a snapshot and a photograph.
Keep the background simple and dark or plain.A wooden board, a plain cloth, a slate, a sheet of card. Anything patterned competes. A darker background makes food read as richer; a light one reads as fresh.
Work fast.Steam disappears, salad wilts, ice cream slumps, sauces dull, and bread goes matt within a couple of minutes of plating. Set up the light, the background and the camera position before the food arrives, then place it and shoot.
Add human elements deliberately.A hand reaching in, a fork lifting a piece, a poured stream, a torn edge. Movement and imperfection make food look real; a perfectly untouched plate can look synthetic.

Tips

A slightly underfilled plate photographs better than a full one. Negative space on the plate reads as considered.
Brush a little oil on meat, bread or vegetables just before shooting — the gloss is what the eye reads as fresh.
Shoot on an overcast day if you can. Direct sun on food creates hard shadows and blown highlights on any wet surface.

Common mistakes

Using the flash or the ceiling light — On-axis light removes every shadow, so texture disappears and the food looks flat and grey. Overhead light lights the top surface only and leaves the sides black.
Photographing the whole table — The dish becomes small and surrounded by clutter. Move in close and photograph one thing.
Waiting until everybody is served — By then the steam has gone and the food has dulled. Photograph the first plate as it is put down, or accept a worse picture.

If it doesn't work

Food looks flat and unappetising

Cause: Light coming from the camera direction — Fix: Move so the window is behind or beside the plate, and add a white card in front.

Colours look orange or green

Cause: Artificial room lighting — Fix: Turn everything off and use daylight, or fix the white balance in editing.

Half the dish in deep shadow

Cause: Strong side light with no fill — Fix: White card opposite the window, moved closer until the shadow opens.

Photo sharp on the front, blurred at the back

Cause: Wide aperture close in — Fix: Stop down to f/5.6 or f/8, or shoot from further back and crop.

Questions people ask

Overhead or angled?

Overhead for flat compositions and for a spread of several dishes. Angled or low for anything with height, because from above a burger is a circle. If in doubt, take both — they take seconds and the food is already there.

Is a phone good enough?

Very much so. Food is static and usually near a window, which is exactly what phone cameras handle well. Tap to focus, drop the exposure slightly to protect the highlights on sauces, and avoid the ultrawide, which distorts plates at close range.