Shooting food & sweets

Here are some small tips for shooting food & sweets:

1.            Shoot from a low angle: by shooting from above it makes your images look like snapshots. 

2.            Use a macro lens which reveals detail and texture and allows for small working distances (the above shots were taken with a Nikkor 105mm 2.8 macro lens, except the image of the hotel hall which was taken with a Nikkor 14-24mm 2.8 wide-angle lens). 

3.            Overexpose by 2/3 or even a full stop, according to the subject. As a result, your subjects will look fresh and delicious. 

4.            Use a swallow depth-of-field. Your images will look more pleasing and professional, but please note that if you are using a macro lens you have to close down (to f8 or f11) in order to get a sufficient depth-of-field. If you are working handheld and using a wide aperture (e.g. 2.8) it’s very easy to get out-of-focus images. 

5.            Use directional light with off-camera flashes, softboxes/ umbrellas and reflectors. If you have to use on-camera flash, point its head to the ceiling (The above shots were taken at a recent wedding. I didn’t have the opportunity and time to use off-camera flash, so I used an on-camera SB900). 

6.            In post-processing, use strong contrast, to make colors come to life.