10 Take our special photo challenge!
Send in your best food photos for your chance to win a Lowepro bag worth £98!
Your mission this month is to send us your finest examples of food photography. You can interpret this brief however you want, so don’t worry if you aren’t a Michelinstarred chef, or don’t live near one.
Great food photography isn’t just about capturing mouth-watering shots of an elaborate banquet: it can encompass many different types of food imagery, including fast food and the increasingly fashionable street food. Then there is food and restaurant culture, how food is prepared and served, the people who produce food and so on. Really, there are as many different types of food photography as there are cuisines.
That said, as with all photography, it helps if you have some kind of connection with your subject. Maybe you are friends with the chef or farmer, love the restaurant or love that particular type of street food.
Many of the principles of portrait photography apply to food. You need to get close enough to the subject, and carefully set the focus where you want it to be. Shooting with wide apertures helps, as it helps blur out distracting backgrounds and comes in useful in the low light of a restaurant.
Get started today
* It’s fine to use flash, but make sure the light is not overpowering or unnatural. Off-camera flash and studio lights make food look great. * There are various ways to make food look appetising; cooking it will help, as the steam can make it look tastier. Squirt a little water on fruit or vegetables to make them look fresher.