If your business is focused on food, you probably have some great looking products that easily win people over once they taste them. Unfortunately, it’s still not possible to taste and smell how good your products are through a website! That’s why it makes sense to try and get the best out of your product photography, and make your images look as tasty and appealing as possible. There are certain tips and tricks that can really set your food photography apart, so here is a rundown of our most important recommendations.

1) Hire a professional product photographer

Maybe this is no surprise, but we really believe this is a crucial starting point. If you work with a professional you’re guaranteed to get great results every time, which certainly isn’t the case if you go for a DIY approach. There are lots of pitfalls if you’re photographing food, but a pro will be able to avoid these, and when you get your top quality photos you’ll be glad you made the investment.

2) Natural lighting

This one applies to a lot of types of product photography. One of our top tricks for getting the best possible pictures of food is to use natural sunlight wherever you can. It won’t normally work if you take your pictures outside or in direct sunlight because of the harsh shadows you’re going to create, but instead of using overhead artificial lighting it would be ideal to find a well-lit room with big windows. This will bring out the colours in your food and avoid any unnatural brightness or dark shadows which can spoil the overall look.

3) Be careful with backdrops

A cluttered background can distract from your food and doesn’t make for great product photography in any situation. If you can blur your backgrounds you might get away with it, but the best thing to do is ensure you have some kind of backdrop, such as a plain coloured wall or even a large piece of card or plasterboard. For food items, our favourite way to jazz up basic photos is to use a patterned background on the table or wall behind – this adds a bit of fun and quirkiness to your composition.

4) Use different angles

This is a really important point for food photography, because once you’re all set up it’s easy to move around and take snaps from many different angles. It works well for complex dishes and large plates of food to take pictures from directly above looking down, especially when you have a lot of colour and want to make something look truly unique. However, this method can leave out a bit of the close-up detail. For simple home-cooked snacks and smaller items you might be better off taking close-up shots from unusual angles, and then you can decide later which one shows off those finer details the best.

5) Presentation is everything

Your products might be quite simple, or you might be taking photos to accompany your recipes, and it can be tricky to make your product photography look exciting if you don’t have any packaging to include. The best thing to do in this case is add a bit of staging and some extra fun details, which can really transform an image from dull and generic to unique and attractive. Add serving suggestions, garnishes, fun utensils, quirky plates and other decorations to make your food and drink photography really stand out.