When people think LA food photography, the first thing that comes to their minds is the “food” itself. Food photography is more than just the food. Professional food photography basically is a team effort, involving a photographer, art director, prop stylist, food stylist, and assistants for the respective professionals. The process typically starts with recipe conception or alteration, execution, and then the photography. Some photographers may even use fake chemical effects or colorants to make the food look enticing, but that in reality would leave the food inedible.
Food photography is an extremely specific domain, demanding a passion for and deep comprehension of products. Someone who understands food behavior should know fresh herbs wither, caramel sticks, and ice cream melts. And people who love or have the passion for cooking would find transitioning to food photography natural.
Food comprises all the necessary design elements that contribute to a striking picture. Texture, pattern, color, form, shape and line are all there. But you still need to capture the food in a way that makes the viewer salivate over the picture. Moreover, food photographers are now coming up with metaphors from twentieth century’s literary circles. The end objective should not be to capture a pretty image but ignite feelings within the viewer.
As far as shooting goes, it’s always recommended to shoot food in natural light, as that helps highlight the food’s true colors. Generally, the shooting process is easy and short-lived. It’s the pre-production phase that’s time-consuming. This would, however, not be the case if the photography and lighting was spot on and the end picture only needs a few tweaks and retouches. Not to mention, a good food photographer cannot become a great photographer if he doesn’t extensively understand light, styling trends, and color palettes.
Standing out with your food pictures could be a bit tough in this day and age of social media, thousands of food pictures in circulation, and even food porn. That said, a well-crafted, beautiful image would always get the attention and praise it deserves. The world of social media may be crowded but one cannot deny that it has made many passionate photographers into professionals. You therefore just have to be a really talented photographer and upload pictures consistently.
When people talk photography, food photography isn’t the first thing that comes to their mind. In fact, it is not placed on the same pedestal as art or even wildlife photography. Food images have been around as paintings since the 16th century and the first food photograph was taken in mid-19th century. Fortunately, many modern photographers are now making efforts to push the food photography space forward and make it as mainstream as possible.
