Mastering Food Photography: Insights and Techniques

by Michael Sewell

The Client - Tiger Lounge, Accrington

I had a phone call one morning, asking if I would be happy to travel to Accrington, which is a couple of hours away from home. To be honest, a couple of hours is pretty much next door compared to some of my clients. So the following week, I trundle down the M6 and walk into a bit of a building site. Well, to be fair, The Tiger Lounge was at the end of quite an extensive refurbishment, and it was the final stages before the reopening.

I took a deep breath as I walked in, as everything was upside down, and Luke, the manager, smiled warmly as he shook my hand. “It's okay, we're upstairs,” he said, as he grabbed some of my kit and bounced up the stairs.

Creating a Controlled Lighting Environment

So, having sweated a bit at my initial assessment of the venue, I found the upstairs to be a haven of peace and quiet and a really nice atmosphere.

The room and decor had a dark grey and veined gold theme, including the tabletops. This muted color scheme would actually help reduce any unwanted light reflections, allowing for precise control over the lighting, an essential aspect in food photography where capturing the right texture and colour is key.

Food Photography Essentials: Texture, Shape, and Form

There are several key elements to consider with food photography, though these principles apply to almost everything we photograph. I'm talking about texture, shape, and form, with a particular emphasis on specular highlights. These highlights play a significant role in food photography, as they tend to make the food appetising or appealing.

For the above image, I wanted the highlights to accentuate the texture of the crispy chilli chicken and the sauce on the batter. To achieve this, I placed an Elinchrom ELB 500 TTL on the far side of the table as an accent light, centre frame. It was approximately 30cm above the table height and firing across the dishes, directly towards the camera. The ELB 500 was firing through an 18cm standard reflector with a 30° grid fitted, at an output of 0.1 (Equivalent to 7Ws). The grid ensured the light was tightly controlled, allowing me to avoid glare from the tabletop. By pointing the light at the camera rather than the dish, the light skimmed the food, highlighting its textures without lighting the table.

Techniques like this, where precise control of light can drastically change the look of your subject, will be a key part of what we explore together in the upcoming workshops i'm hosting with TFC (more on that later).

My key light was another ELB 500 TTL firing through 70cm Square Rotalux Softbox, placed directly over the table, or about as close as I could possibly get it. The light stand itself was to my immediate left. The ELB500 was set to fire at an output of 1.0 (Equivalent to 12Ws).

Making Small Adjustments for Different Looks

The above image is simply the same dish rotated 180° and photographed close-up. The lighting and camera settings remained consistent, showing how small adjustments in angle and positioning can lead to significantly different results. Understanding these nuances is crucial.

1/80th sec, ISO200, 12-40mm f2.8 @ f7.1

For this image, while the lighting appears similar, a couple of small tweaks made all the difference. I moved the accent light toward the right side of the frame, increasing contrast across the filling in the bun. Additionally, I used a silver bounce reflector to reflect light back into the bun, which you can see on the left side of the frame.

The light settings remained the same, and the camera settings were nearly identical, except I increased the aperture by a third of a stop to f7.1. This adjustment helped refine the focus and sharpness of the image.

Overhead Shots: Challenges and Solutions

I've touched on the current demand for overhead images before but haven't really talked about the challenges they present. As mentioned earlier, specular highlights make a food image appealing and make the viewer hungry. With an overhead image, it’s a bit more challenging to generate those desirable highlights.

The angle of incidence becomes crucial when the camera is overhead. To get the specular highlights, the light must hit the dish and bounce toward the camera, meaning the light must be positioned immediately above the camera.

This setup can be tricky, as glossy plates or sauces might reflect the camera or its support (whether it’s a boom arm or the photographer). Creative solutions are required, sometimes simply rotating a dish can hide or reduce reflections to a manageable level.

In the above image, rotating the dish allowed me to hide my reflection in the darkest area of the fish skin and the greenery on top, along with the flower. I also found that increasing the output on the overhead key light to 2.0 (Equivalent to 25Ws) helped generate enough specular highlights to make the dish look interesting.

The accent light remained the same, and you can see how it adds specular highlights along the edge of the fish at the top of the frame.

Mastering the balance between light and reflection is an advanced skill that we’ll develop together in the workshop sessions, particularly when we tackle overhead shots like this one.

1/80th sec, ISO200, 12-40mm f2.8 @ f7.1

Experimenting with Light Position and Output

So how can we tweak the image a little to make it just a bit more interesting?

I wanted to photograph all the Asian-themed dishes together and originally moved the accent light further back to allow sufficient spread from the top of the frame. However, I then realized that by moving it closer, it would provide a central path of light, adding more interest and depth to the image.

E-M1 mkII 1/80th sec ISO200 12-40mm f2.8 @ f8

The accent light output remained the same, but due to the increased height of the key light, I had to increase the output to 3.0 (Equivalent to 50Ws). The camera settings required the aperture to be increased to f8.0, while the shutter speed and ISO remained unchanged.

I particularly liked this final image, largely due to the path of light from the top of the frame, which adds a dynamic element to the composition.

Upcoming Workshop: Capture Form and Flavour with Michael Sewell

If you've found this blog insightful and want to learn more, join me at The Flash Centre for a full-day workshop. We’ll cover techniques like those discussed here in a hands-on setting, giving you the skills to create stunning images.

While the London and Leeds sessions are sold out, there are still spaces available for the Birmingham workshop on Saturday, September 28th. Don’t miss this chance to immerse yourself in a day of learning and practice.

For full details, and to book your spot visit Eventbrite here.