We've compiled the essential tips to improve your food photography, and the common mistakes to avoid. From the lighting to food styling, we've got it all covered.

1. Food Photography
12 Common Mistakes to Avoid in

2. Do not use a direct flash or
overhead tungsten light
Invest in a good quality flash, and
a reflector or bounce card
Never direct the flash towards the
food, as the light will fall harshly
and the food will lose all the
details
Use a reflector to bounce the
light towards the food
Experiment with the angles,
camera settings, and intensity of
the light to see which works best
for each food
1. Using harsh
artificial light
How to avoid this mistake

3. Natural light:
+ Gives the best effect
+ No extra cost for lighting
equipment
- Can be unreliable depending on
the weather
- The light intensity changes with
the time of day
Artificial light:
+ Consistent lighting and white
balance throughout the
photoshoot (saves you from a lot
of work in the post-processing)
+ Gives flexibility in terms of time
- Extra cost for lighting
equipment
- More tricky to get good results,
needs a lot of practice to master
FYI:
Natural Light vs Artificial Light
for Food Photography

4. 2. Not setting the light on different sides
Experiment, and see the difference they make on the food.
A safe choice as
there will be less
shadows on the food
The results look nice
enough with nothing
special
Usually used to
highlight the textures
and contrast of the
food
Makes the details
pop out
Gives editorial-look with clean,
light background that helps
turn the focus to the food
Highlights the details of the
food
Needs a lot of practice to
master
Front Lighting Side Lighting Back Lighting

5. 1. Front lighting
2. Side lighting
3. Back lighting
1 2
3

6. 3. Not using fresh
ingredients
Food photography is all about the
appearance of the food, so make
sure that every food is in a perfect
condition. A wilted lettuce in the
salad or a bruised tomato can ruin
your photo, and don’t think of
working out an angle that could
hide the flaws (more often than
not, they don’t work very
well). Only use the freshest
ingredients to save yourself from
the extra work in post-procesing.

7. 4. Shooting only when the cooking is done
Start when the ingredients are being prepped.
For things that don’t look great when they’re cooked
(soup, pasta with white sauce, or brown dishes like
chili and beans), the raw or half-cooked ingredients
look more appetising than the cooked dish.

8. 5. Taking photos
only from 1 angle
When it comes to angle, there’s
no one-size-fits-all. Different
foods have different angles that
show their best look. For
example, food platter looks best
from above, while a burger looks
best from the side. Sometimes
you need to show the food at
various angles to make it easier
for people to visualise. Explore
every possibility!

9. 6. Not taking photos with
negative space
Leaving a blank space in a photo will be useful for
your clients when they need to put a logo or
writing in it, so be prepared to accommodate this.

10. 7. Bumping up the
saturation too much
Try to get as close to the
real colours as possible,
as oversaturating your
photo would only make
the food look unnatural
and weird.

11. 8. Using too much food for plating
Too much food doesn’t look good on the camera, and would
only make it harder for the audience to keep the focus on the
important elements. Put enough space on the plate for the
audience to appreciate the food. Less is more!

12. 9. Taking photos
only from 1 angle
Work fast, as some dishes don't
look great after a while (e.g. leafy
greens in salads will look wilted,
meat will look a bit dry, etc.)
Do your setup before the food
comes so you can spring into
action when they’re ready
Use empty plates or bowls for
setting up, and replace it later
once the food is ready.
Tricks:

13. 10. Not paying
attention to the
props and styling
Keep the props simple and clean
Use neutral colors for your
crockery, tableware, and
background
Make sure everything is pristine
(unless you go for the
messy/natural look)
Know the tricks to make the food
look more appetising (adding a
bit of oil to vegetables to make
them glisten, sprinkling water on
salad to make it look fresher,
etc.)

14. 11. Keeping the food as it is
Don't just let the food sit there, untouched. Capture the serving and
eating process to make it more alive.
This cake looks more appetising when
it’s sliced, as the slices allow the
audience to see the colours and
texture inside the cake, which helps
give them a better idea of the taste.
Add human elements and
movements to keep it interesting. In
this photo, the movement of pouring
the sauce to the dessert is more
interesting than just the plain photo
of the dessert and sauce.

15. 12.
Not adding a
story or depth
to the photo
Tell more about the dish in your
photo (e.g. the origin, or the
season in which the ingredients
are harvested in, etc.).
Crockery/tableware:
using tagine pot
for Moroccan tagine, or a
banana leaf for nasi
campur
Decorations: using brown
and dry leaves in the
autumn to decorate the
pumpkin soup photos
Some ideas:

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