The Art of Cakes & Other Things: Food Photography


If you have been following my blog lately, you probably have guessed that I've really gotten into food photography.  It's something that I decided to try one day since I was creating recipes for my blog and it just hit me.  I really enjoy this!  I love setting the stage, finding a way to compliment the food in an artistic way.  Even though I just started, it's something that I'm trying to progress in. Almost every day, I'm here trying to think up new recipes and photographing them!  I'm a foodie and a photographer.  The two together?  My heaven!  I love photographing people but food just has this thing about it.  I've learned some things so far and I would definitely like to share.

1.  Experimenting with surfaces and backgrounds.

Since I've just started, I don't have any faux surfaces/backgrounds to create rustic atmospheres.  I'm bouncing from room to room, chasing light and chasing the different surfaces that exist in my home.  I've used my dresser, mats on the carpet, wicker basket, my son's dresser, the kitchen table, you name it!  I've also had to angle everything according to the backgrounds.  My walls are this off white color so it's not a problem.  The difficulty comes from maneuvering around the light switches, spaces, outlets, etc, that happen to be on the walls themselves.  It makes my photos interesting but it's work.

2.  Time of day.
Since it gets darker earlier now, I find difficulty in creating dinner scenes because there is no available natural light.  Again, I do not have lighting equipment so I have to rely on my skills with my camera and Lightroom.  Planning meals ahead of time helps with this and I hope I get better with timing.

3.  What to put in the scene.
Much like props in portraits, food photography is interesting when there are element to it.  Stainless steel bowls and powdered sugar everywhere.  Antique silverware for cakes or cookies on a rusty cookie sheet.  All of these tools help create a scene and help the viewer reach in and take the food that is being offered.



Here is my "Cake for Breakfast" session that I threw together this morning.



Notice I upgraded to plain silverware instead of using the silverware with the colored handles.  I saw them as distractions.  They clashed with the scene whereas plain silverware blends in.  I kept the scene fairly dark with just color coming from the cake and the floral centerpiece.





I definitely plan on improving my food photography as I improve in the actual kitchen with cooking/baking. Hopefully this helps another foodie or photographer pursuing a different kind of photography.





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