Improve your food photography

From: MPB - Tuesday Mar 01,2022 10:34 am

Pancake Day advice and kit

‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

View in browser

Pancake Day 2022: How to improve your food photography

This Pancake Day, check out our kit recommendations and advice—from composition and lighting to equipment and editing—for putting the finishing touches to your food photography. Start creating food photos that look good enough to eat!

1. The setup

We opted for two full-frame DSLR bodies from Canon and Nikon. The high resolution gives us more options in post for cropping and reframing.

You could opt for a cropped-sensor camera, but we prefer the full-frame look with the spread of colour. Between these bodies, we really couldn’t split them.

Canon

Canon EOS 5DS
Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT
Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L IS USM Macro

Nikon

Nikon D850
Nikon Speedlight SB-910
Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-S
Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR Micro

The Nikon D850 wins in the dynamic range stakes giving you a ton of options in post, but the Canon EOS 5DS really gave the images a succulence straight out of the camera. If you’re in a dimly-lit environment and don’t want to use flash, ISO performance will be a deciding factor.

2. Choosing your lenses

Wide-angle lenses create too much distortion. You usually have enough space to move around with a 50mm, and while it still creates a bit of distortion, it’s a good compromise.

A macro lens offers a ton of flexibility without requiring you to crop to extract fine detail. Capturing details—like liquids dripping—with a macro will save you time, both on the day and in the edit.

You can shoot fully open to isolate subjects, or if you’re shooting somewhere where the background isn’t great.

3. Achieving the right lighting and composition

We recommend top-mounted flashes with a bit of bounce, both from the ceiling and from a reflector. It’s generally not a good idea to point the flash directly at the table. Always try to bounce light, as it creates a soft and even spread of light.

Take your time to compose your shot as well as you can. Adding a touch of complementary colour, bokeh or even the edge of a wall or the floor will give the shot a bit of dynamism.

Flatlays work well, but shots at 45 degrees replicate the angle from which you would normally eat when sitting down, so they work well too. Many pros only shoot from this angle, including the tighter macro shots.

4. Editing in post

The key to photographing food is making it look organic. While you might create awesome shots straight from the off, you’ll still have to edit to make those colours pop and the oils shine a bit. While you will be able to apply saved presets to a lot of images, most will require a little bit of brushwork to bring out the best in them. Looks good enough to eat, right?

Find your ultimate food photography setup.

Trade in now

Cash in on the photo and video kit you're not using

MPB is the simplest and safest way to sell your used cameras and lenses.

Get a free instant quote now.

See what other visual storytellers are saying about us.

Buy. Sell. Trade. Create. #ChangeGear

"Traded in some Canon gear in exchange for Sony mirrorless and a related lens
Quick quoting on the kit I sent to them. And kit purchased was as described. Great range of manufacturers and up-to-date cameras and lenses." Brendan via Trustpilot

"Yet another perfect transaction. Faultless service as usual from MPB." Mike via Trustpilot