HOW TO… take food photography

For LESTER V. LEDESMA, trying different kinds of food is a major reason to travel. But how do we best capture an exotic creation on camera?

WHEN WE’RE TRAVELLING WE often devote much of our attention to the local food, so much so, a wonderful meal can turn into one of our fondest travel memories. But many travelling shutterbugs forget to take pictures of the dishes they eat along the way. If it looks good enough to eat, it’s probably good enough to shoot, so, foodie or not, read on for food photography tips.

Tip 1: Go for flat lighting

Food photography essentially thrives on detail. Think of thick, glistening, bright-red tomato sauce as it settles into a bowl of al dente angel-hair pasta, and you’ll understand what I mean. It’s the little visual pleasures like these that make a photograph of food look almost real. One good way to bring out detail in your subject would be to illuminate it under flat, even light. Some open shade or daylight coming through a window works well in this regard; try to get a window-side table if you’re serious about shooting your food. Better still, dine alfresco – you’ll get near-perfect lighting and a good dose of fresh air.

Tip 2: Watch your focus

With a mouth-watering palette of colours and details, a well-prepared plate of food can be a feast for the eye. Unfortunately, however, this visual impact doesn’t always come across through the camera lens. The same elements that make the food interesting – evenly or imaginatively sliced vegetables, brightly coloured sauces, or the texture of grilled meat – can end up as a jumbled mass of lines, shapes and colours through

your frame. A good way to handle this is to use a shallow depth-of-field (set your lens to a relatively wide aperture, like f3.5) and focus on just a few details, letting the rest of the image blur away. Doing this leaves you with fewer elements to organise, allowing you to create simpler but more visually appealing compositions.

Tip 3: Get close

If that dish looks so delicious you can’t take your eyes off it, it’s probably time to get close to the object of desire. Attach a normal or medium telephoto lens (anywhere between 50mm and 90mm in terms of lens focal length) to your DSLR or set your digicam zoom to the corresponding setting. Next, move in close – really close – until the food (or your favourite part of it) dominates the frame. There’s a good chance you’re now crossing into the realm of macro photography here, so do turn on the “macro” mode if your camera starts having difficulties focusing at close distances.

Tip 4: Use props

Sure, the sight alone of a beautifully presented fillet of cod with roasted eggplant covered in olive oil may be enough to kick start your salivary glands, but you can create an even more tempting shot by adding a few well-placed props. These, of course, serve to enhance the ‘atmosphere’ around the meal, giving hints of a dining experience to be savoured along with the dish. Fine-dining china and cutlery, for example, can suggest a swanky restaurant setting, while wooden chopsticks on a weathered table will place your food in a humble hawker stall. It’s all about presentation.

Tip 5: Shoot in the kitchen

Part of the charm of the perfect meal is the way the ingredients are combined. While most proper restaurants don’t encourage guests to stick their heads into their kitchens, many other food establishments are run in a less formal setting. In Asia, you only have to make a beeline for the nearest food court or hawker to experience a meal being prepared in front of you while you wait. A wide-angle lens works best here, as it will easily capture the whole cooking process. The image of a smiling hawker deftly preparing a curious dish might just make the most memorable picture of your trip.

LESTER V. LEDESMA’S stunning imagery earned him the 2009 Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Award as well as a host of others. He is currently a photo editor at Ink Publishing in Singapore and a field editor for Asian Geographic magazine.