Taking pictures of food on the fly in restaurants can be a big challenge. From dim lighting to camera position to annoying others, there can be so many reasons to discourage all but the most intrepid foodies from trying. Here are some tricks that will make photographing food a seamless experience!
- Make sure your flash is turned off. Often the default setting for the flash to come on is Auto, so it is left to your smartphone to make the decision. Flash should actually be turned off because it tends to wash out the picture. Some other solutions for better lighting include asking for the best lit table when you arrive (thank you to WWL-TV’s “The Food Show’ host Tom Fitzmorris for this suggestion), and asking your friends at the table to turn on their smartphone’s flashlights and point at the food. Ask for a window table for daylight food shooting. The more light the better, so make sure you get a table where there is lots of light – typically a table by the window.
- Diffuse light by asking another person to hold up a white napkin. Holding up a white diffusion tool is a technique often employed by professionals to soften the lighting, but anything white will do.
- Food is best shot with light from the side or from behind but there are certain angles that capture specific foods better than others. Burgers are great at table level, and from the side so you can see the layers. Flat food like pizza is best from above. Some plates and drinks are best from a 45 degree angle. It often is intuitive, so listen to your gut on this!
- Use the RAW format rather than the standard JPG which leaves a lot of information out because it compresses the size. Since many smartphones don’t offer shooting in RAW mode, download apps like VCSO or Hallide and use their internal camera to capture the photograph in RAW mode.
- Editing and using filters with apps after the fact may lift a mediocre food photo to sublime. Use apps like Snapseed and VCSO to do your editing post-production.
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