I find it very difficult to make brown gloop look appetizing! The lovely Ren Behan, a friend and local food blogger, kindly invited me around her house for a session on Food Styling. I had no idea there was actually such a thing. Apparently, there are people who do this for a living! They travel around to different food shoots with a van full of props. I’ve still got a long way to go but I learned a few things.
Tips for Food Bloggers
Get a decent camera! Everyone had digital SLRs and there was me with my iPhone. I got a bit lost when they started talking decimal points and aperture. However, after the session I came home and found a couple of apps that can help make your photos look like they were taken with an SLR camera. The first which I’ve been using for awhile is Camera Plus and the new one I down loaded is called Afterfocus. It allows you to choose the area you would like to focus on then blur the background also known as Bokeh.- Natural light is a must. This is difficult as we often eat late and it being winter in the UK there isn’t a lot of natural light. The trick is to set aside a portion and take a photo in the morning.
- When presenting food, apparently, less is more. I’ve had a bad habit of taking photos of it in the slow cooker, which didn’t result in appetizing photos.
- Props! Don’t go out and buy 6 full dinner sets but buy the odd plate, bowls, and cutlery. Charity shops and places like Matalan are brilliant for this. Also, start collecting pieces of fabric that you can use to add interest/colour to your photos.
- Get a collection of wooden boards. Look for offcuts at your local DIY store.
- When presenting food use odd numbers. (E.g. 1, 3, 5, 7)
I’ve only been applying these tricks for a week but I’ve already seen a big improvement in the quality of my photos.
Thanks Ren
Now it’s your turn to share your Slow Cooker recipes using the Linky below. We’re also on Pinterest if you want to see the recipes from past weeks. The hashtag for Instagram and Twitter is #scsunday