5 Food photography mistakes on Social Media to avoid and tips for better visual images with minimum equipment to take photos like a pro.
Anastasia Adamaki, a well-known Greek photographer, talks about the 5 most common Food photography mistakes on Social Media that we can avoid and provides us with great tips on how to improve ourselves with minimum equipment in order to take photos like real pros.
5 Food photography mistakes on Social Media
Bad lighting
The most important thing in Food photography as in any kind of photography, is the light. Whether we use natural or artificial light, the way we use it will elevate our image or disappoint us.
It is therefore necessary to understand light and how to handle it in order to get the desired result.
It is not necessary to have many sources of light. Even if there is minimum light, we can take the photo with more exposure and use a tripod. Avoid photo-shooting in a space such as in kitchens, living rooms with various lights on, spots, hidden lighting.
The natural light- day light near a window is amazing and good enough to create wonderful images and depending on the side creates different results.
The lighting completely from the front, which I usually personally avoid , flattens food and makes it uninterested.
Anastasia Adamaki- 5 Food photography mistakes on Social Media
The lighting from the side highlights food’s texture.
The lighting that comes from the back, in other words, creates beautiful volumes and brings out food but also creates shadow in front if we use a reflector or even a mirror helps illuminating the dark spots by creating an impressive result.
Bad Composition- Styling
The composition of the image and the styling is also a very important factor in order to have a beautiful and perfect photo.
The right lighting is not just enough but also how we will place food and all the other objects in our frame not to mention what objects will they be.
Composing an image and choosing props is quite a difficult part and can take a long time to get a good visual perception and become a habit.
But surely practice and a piece of advise that can help us significantly to improve is the less the better. Create a composition as simple and «clean» as possible.
Three to five items such as some props– utensils,cutlery, food napkin etc or some fresh ingredients are what you need in order to have a nice symmetry and balance in your image.
The surfaces and backgrounds you use should have neutral colors in order to highlight food. If the food itself has enough color then the most neutral surfaces are better.
If it does not have that much color, then we can add it with the props or a nice surface.
In general, color combinations and patterns are very basic , but even how the food will be set in the dish- food styling.
A few small touches like the fresh ingredients inside food give a nice result.
Therefore, match the colors in the image, the props-utensils, their shapes and volumes, because do not forget that food is the star and the rest of the elements simply frame it and they should not attract the viewer’s attention but the food.
Wrong perspective
The right visual perspective always depends on our subject.
Depending on what we photograph, we make us decide on the right angle.
Flat food such as pizza look much better when photographed completely from above or even below 90 degrees.
While multi-layered food, such as a piece of moussaka or a burger or a stack of pancakes look much better when the photo is taken from eye level so as layers are clearer.
Another common shot angle is 45 degrees, which works very well for several meals.
Gives depth to the image and highlights the shapes, volumes and subject’s texture.
A shooting angle that I do not recommend for food is from very low and up.
I always advise not to just click and we’re done, but to experiment as much as possible and take a few different shooting angles to see what we like best and whicho shooting angle makes the food look better, which is our goal.
Anastasia Adamaki- 5 Food photography mistakes on Social Media
Wrong focus
Another important detail for a nice photo is the right focus. We usually focus on the front of the food.
This affects what aperture we use. An aperture of f 5,6 and above(f 6,3 or f 7,1 or f 8) will bring a nice result and we will achieve our goal of highlighting the food, since it will be quite focused and not cloudy.
If the shooting angle is ¾ and we have other elements in the background depending on the aperture we use, it will make them appear or blur more.
It also depends on what we want to achieve. It’s nice when some elements-props float in the background.
If the shot is a plan view from above then there is no depth of field and an aperture like f4 or f5, 6 or f 6,3 is just fine.
Wrong timing
The food image is not so easy because very simply food, if time passes, will not be as fresh and delicious.
It is not right for food to be waiting for us in the plate to prepare and decide at the last minute how to light, what angle to take or how to complete our composition.
We should have taken all this into consideration beforehand and at the last minute to get food ready on the plate and just make the final clicks.
In addition, wrong or right timing is addressed to how long food will be cooked i.e it is good not to be much cooked but be a little raw than normal so that does not look cluttered and the colors to be kept as vivid as possible.
Her Food photography portfolio
About the Author
Anastasia Adamaki was born and raised in Alexandroupolis.
She has lived in Athens since she was 19, where she came to study photography at the « LEICA ACADEMY».
She has been working as a photographer since 2002 and has collaborated with numerous well-known magazines, as well as other customers, food and advertising companies not to mention large hotels both in Greece and abroad.
Her interest is focused on places photography, hotels and food as well as anthropocentric images.
Through her images and her own point of view she wants to express something more than just capturing the image.
She wants to capture familiar things turning them into something else unexpected.
Everything around us can be considered art, as long as one looks at it from another angle.
English (UK) 
Ελληνικά