How to Take Food Photos That Make Stomachs Growl

I have a friend who will not even attempt a recipe if there’s no picture to go with it. She says that she can’t be sure whether she’s successfully recreated the dish unless she has a basis for comparison.

Of course, true success can only be measured in the tasting, but I understand the sentiment. There’s a sense of security that comes with having a model when preparing the perfect souffle or satay.

Furthermore, visuals actually do improve learning for many people. One clear, tantalizing image of a crepe gives your audience an immediate sense of what will be required of her in recreating it. It will give her a clear goal to aim for, and it will provide her with motivation. Because don’t we all want to serve up something that looks like this to our loved ones? Mmmmm.

Image via Christina’s Cucina.

Adding drool-worthy images to your food blog doesn’t just help your readers, however. It also improves your SEO. When you create an image that entices, your readers will want to share it on Facebook, Pinterest, and other social media channels. Those links let Google know that your website is a reliable, trustworthy, and beloved source of information.

Show your dishes in their best light.

By best light, I mean natural light. The more of it the better. There’s a reason people quit letting pies cool on their window sills. Natural light makes food look irresistible.

Often, artificial indoor light isn’t bright enough, shines at an unflattering angle, creates weird shadows, and makes food look flat. If you’ve got to shoot indoors, turn off the kitchen light and invest in an adjustable light that you can position to shine on food from the side or from behind.

Experiment with color.

Colorful images add vibrance and energy to a blog post. Keep props in a variety of colors on hand so that you can experiment with combinations. This is particularly important if you’re shooting a dish whose rich flavor is undermined by a drab appearance. Many a delicious goulash has been passed over because it was misrepresented in a photograph.

If you’re a purist and you prefer a white dish, an understandable choice, place it atop colorful napkins or a whimsical tablecloth. Add bright green garnish or a nasturtium in all of its garish orange glory.

Make it Pinnable.

Shoot at least one gorgeous image per blog post in portrait orientation. Doing so will make it more Pinterest-friendly.

Also, be sure to add text to each image on your post. Including your blog name as well as the recipe name in an unobtrusive spot will ensure that new followers can easily find your blog and begin basking in the glory of your culinary expertise.

Shoot RAW.

If you’re using a camera that offers the option of shooting RAW, take advantage of it. A RAW image captures all of the information in the still life masterpiece you’ve so painstakingly created. JPEG compresses the information, leaving “unimportant” bits out.

Alas, your camera is not nearly as smart as you are, and it can’t always tell which information is the most important. That means when you come back to edit a JPEG image, there are limitations to how much you can actually alter it.

When you shoot in RAW format, however, you’ve got the very highest quality image with the absolute most data. You are the master of the image.

Aim just below perfection.

First of all, you’re only almost perfect. Striving to create a perfect image is always going to flop while putting a damper on the fun you have in the kitchen.

Second of all, your readers are also slightly flawed. If you happen to be one of the few totally perfect humans in the world, it’s going to be hard for the rest of us to relate to you. Likewise, if your photos look “too good,” there’s a chance I’m not even going to try to make it because I’ve seen enough Pinterest fails to know when something is out of my range.

A beautiful, charmingly imperfect photograph is just the thing to help your audience feel eager and confident when they’ve finished reading your post. And isn’t that exactly how you want them to feel?