Food Photography Tips for Online Recipe Hubs and Blog Posts
I have to confess that at times, I get a little bit obsessed with food. On my bookshelf, I have almost an entire shelf dedicated to holding my cookbooks and magazines. There was a time when I went through a cookbook buying phase, and I couldn’t stop. When I stand in the grocery check-out line, I have to hold myself back from buying yet another monthly recipe magazine. Why? Because the photos displayed on the front are so beautifully delicious and appetizing. Does it matter that I probably won’t cook most of those recipes? Not really. Like I said, it is a bit of an obsession.
Today, I no longer need to wander the bookstore or give in to the urge as I check out at the grocery store. Now that the internet is exploding with recipe blogs and sites like Hubpages filled with recipe hubs, I have saved a few pennies and fuel my obsession by wandering around online and pinning my favorites on Pinterest. However, I have found one big difference between a beautifully published cookbook and the recipes I find on the internet: the quality of the food photos is not always up to par online.
As you will see from my profile page, I have dabbled myself in writing a few recipe hubs. I am not a professional chef, and I will not claim to be a photography expert. However, when I started to write and photograph my own recipe hubs, I wanted to get the photos right, despite the fact that I only have an old point and shoot digital camera. I wanted them to aspire to be as beautiful as those that grace the covers of great cookbooks. I wanted them to at least look appetizing enough to draw the reader in and inspire a few to try out my favorite recipes. Here is what I have observed and learned about taking photos for a recipe hub or food blog.
1. Plan and Prepare
In my humble opinion, when you are posting a recipe online, readers wish to see more than the finished product. They also want to see more than the pile of boxes of ingredients you used. If a reader is going to try out your recipe, he or she may want to check in along the way and know that each step is going according to plan. With that in mind, prepare and set up all of your ingredients before you start cooking. This will ensure that you have plenty of time to photograph the process along the way. It also helps to have a helper on hand to take photos or to help you in the cooking for action shots.
2. Take a lot of photos at every stage of the cooking process.
Unless you plan to make your recipe multiple times, you will want to get the best photos the first time you make a dish. In order to do that, you should take a lot of photos at every stage of the cooking process. I make a point to take the following shots:
- ingredients
- action shots of you preparation steps
- cooking shots each time you add an ingredient
- finished product shots on the stove and on the plate
The beauty of having a digital camera is that you can take fifty photos only to discard forty five of them. Take as many pictures as you can, and you will ensure that you have many to choose from when you put together your online recipe.
3. Lighting makes a difference.
I have a very dark kitchen. Even in the middle of a sunny day, I need to turn the kitchen light on to see what I am doing. When I first started taking a few photos of food for my first recipe hub, I used the flash. The result was not beautiful or appetizing. The photos I took with a flash made the food look flat and greasy. The colors were distorted, and the food did not look very appealing. My advice would be to turn off the camera flash and turn on a bunch of kitchen lights. Natural light will give you great results also, if you have a kitchen that is sunnier than mine. Light is important, as dark photos will also be hard to see and a bit unappetizing. Experiment by taking some photos with a flash and some without. Again, you will have many to choose from when you sit down to write.
4. Different angles create fun, artistic photos.
As the food cooks, you will often have plenty of time to take more photos. Get creative and take photos at different angles to see if you get appealing results. These are the angles I try to capture:
Take a photo from above the food looking down.
Take a photo from the side.
Get right to the level of the food, and take a photo straight on and at an angle.
5. Focus on the food.
You don’t want your food photos to be like a game of “Where’s Waldo?” Taking a close up photo is best, so that the focus of the picture is on the food. If you take a photo from far away, like the picture to the right, then it becomes hard to know what to look at.
6. Consider the background.
Even when you are taking a close up photo, the background may still be a factor. If your food is “busy,” then choose a plain background. If your food is plain, then it might be alright to set the plate on a busier background, like a striped dishtowel, to make the food pop. Alternatively, focus the camera so that the food is clear and the background is a bit blurry.
7. The plate.
Having worked in a restaurant or two throughout the years, I have often heard the phrase, “Presentation is everything.” I think that is good advice to keep in mind when you are photographing food for an online recipe. In my initial research about food photography, I read several times that you should present the food on a completely white plate. In my colorful world, such an item doesn’t exist in my kitchen, so I use my white plates with blue trim. That seems to work out well most of the time. I do think though that you should consider the color and pattern of the plate. A clear glass plate on a busy counter might make the food look muddled. A crazy pattern on the plate might be a distraction. You get the idea. Most importantly, present a clean plate. Wipe off the food that has dripped and run. Runny, watery residue streaming out of your casserole is not appetizing.
Recipe hubs by donnah75:
8. Style
Finally, when you have the chance during the process, try to style your food before you photograph it. Place it on the plate in a pleasing way. Stack the food straight up or with one piece at an angle. Consider color. If the colors are pale or monotone, jazz things up with a sprinkling of fresh herbs to add a pop of color.
A brilliant discussion of food photography!
Need more tips for writing a recipe hub or food blog? Check out this article by bridalletter:
12 Tips for a Great Food Blog or Recipe Blog
Or this hub by vespawoolf: Copyright a Recipe? How to Properly Attribute Recipes.
Final Thoughts
Although I still love a beautiful cookbook, most of the time I go to online sources when I am trying to find a new recipe idea. As a reader, I am drawn in by beautiful photos and turned off by unappetizing, dark, runny, bland photos. When you post photos with your recipe, either in your blog or on a Hubpages recipe hub, attract your reader by creating the dream of an amazing dish with bright, focused, step-by-step photos of your creation.
Written by Donna Hilbrandt.
© 2012 Donna Hilbrandt
Comments
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Thank you!
With regard to cookbooks, I had the same passion as you. I still get caught by the food magazines and give in to buying them once in a while. They encourage me to try harder at taking better photographs. Your tips are very good advice for people like me. Thanks so much.
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Thanks, PegCole! I had fun writing and photographing this one :)
Useful tips for taking great photos, here, Donnah. Thanks for all the helpful info.
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Marsha: The Polish recipe is the rolled beef with beets and mashed potatoes. Thanks so much for reading and commenting. I just discovered that someone has stolen the content of this hub, and I was starting to lose my motivation. You restored my faith that people are actually reading my original work. Thanks. Good luck with your recipes!
Thanks Donna, for the tips. Voted up. I too am working on several recipes with photos and have a darker kitchen. Many of my photos tend to get washed out and look whiter than they are. I've tried using the camera with and without the flash but haven't figured it all out as yet.
I like your ideas of taking the pictures from different angles. I have done some of them while adding certain ingredients, but haven't done them all that way.
I'm not familiar with that polish dish you listed and haven't a clue which photo it was.
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Peggy W: I was watching a video about a food photo shoot. When people look at ad photos and say, "that doesn't look real," there is a reason. It takes a lot of smoke and mirrors to get the photos right for the big ad campaigns and artistic publications. I try to just take sensible photos that will work. That is the beauty of the online recipe format, I suppose. Thanks so much for reading.
Hi Donna,
I can see by the many comments that you are getting that this is a hot topic. Your tips are very good ones. Digital cameras certainly make the taking of many photos feasible and easily accomplished. My husband and I once saw a professional food shot and it was amazing. They do things like shoot through glass with Vaseline smeared along the edges to get a fuzzy look...or they oil the food to make it shiny or spray it with water just before the photo is taken. Of course the artistic plate presentations takes time and much experimentation. All in all, it was fascinating to see. Up, useful and interesting votes.
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Thanks, vespawoolf!
donnah, thank you for linking to my hub about writing recipes! I will add your link to mine as well. Thank you so much!
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Thanks, vickiw. I'll have to check out your recipes :)
Hi Donna, this is a great hub, and very interesting to me, as I have a similar point and shoot camera. I do have some recipes and have done my best with them, but I am definitely no expert. It is always great to read someone else's tips on this, and I have enjoyed reading your Hub.
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Very true, mariealana.
Life is a work in progress!
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PS: My photography ability is also a work in progress, as so many things in life. The learning process is where the fun lies anyway. Good luck with your photography. Thanks for reading.
Like you, I am drawn to a hub with pictures that are appetizing and eye catching. When I first began writing here I only had a camera phone on a phone that was not great. Then I was able about two months ago to get a camera that produces much better pictures. My photography ability is a work in progress..each day I learn something new about how to photograph well.
thanks for sharing this..
Sending you Angels today :) ps
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anuramkumar: Good luck with your videos and photos. I am glad you found my tips helpful.
I'm in the process of creating cooking videos and photos and found this very useful. Great hub. Voted up.
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I hope you do try them, MarieAlana1. Let us know how it goes by publishing great recipes for us to read and try. Thank you!
This is so interesting! I really should try some of these tips out.
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Thanks, Steph. Trial and error is key sometimes. Good luck with your recipe hubs!
Super tips here. I have learned by trial and error in my own recipe hubs. Food photography is so important! Natural lighting, avoiding distractions, interesting angles and nice presentation. All key "ingredients" to successful recipe hubs. Rated up across the board!
I do agree with you, and all my photos on all of my hubs is actual, the only thing indo is alter colour bal nce occasionally. These days I try not to do that but rather handle it by getting the photo just right.
Thanks
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Just-Rodney: You may be right about the styling of fake food to make the photos look better. However, I really want to believe that the food in those beautiful photos is just as delicious as it looks. Therefore, I think we online recipe writers and food photographers should do our best to reach that same level of beauty with our photos. Thank you for your thoughts.
As to some of the food photographs in magazines tabletop cok books, mostly this is how thw work it.
1. Some fruits and vegtables are unsuitable for photos, so these are then made of plastics and/or polistyrine and painted and varnished.
2. The whole caboodle is set up by a stylist.
3. Then the end results are handed over to graphic designer, who spends a tremendous amount time, a lot of skill(which i am envious of) playing around with photoshop or the like.
This to produce, that great end resut.
Very much like what happens to models in the various other pages, the lips plumped out the cheek bones high lighted, a bit cleavaga enhacement
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Thanks so much, Momstreasurechest! Have fun with it :)
Great tips, it's a skill I'm still working on, I love a great food picture!
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mpropp: Thank you for reading and good luck with your photography and creating recipes.
These are some really good pointers. I have to admit, I am not much of a cook but I am still drawn to the recipes--because of the delicious photos! The pictures are definitely what will lure me in when I am browsing on the web, and I know I'm not alone. Thanks for sharing these tips, I have lots of room for improvement with my own photography and I appreciate the suggestions.
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Thanks, Gus. :)
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Thanks, moonlake. I love a good yard sale. So much of what is in my kitchen has come from yard sales. Good idea to pick up extra white plates there.
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2patricias: Thanks for the read and share. I like your idea about photo feedback on hubs. That would be a great feature.
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Thanks, Just Rodney. It is an art form. I was salivating over the magazines in the check out line yesterday, as all the holiday issues are out. The photos are beautiful.
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Timorous: Light settings? I have an old point and shoot digital that I use for most of my pics. It takes such great photos, that I haven't upgraded over the years. I will admit that I have been experimenting with my iphone camera lately to see how those come out. No fancy camera equipment here. I also don't edit my photos for light. I just take a ton of photos and have learned how to get the light right in my kitchen. Thanks for reading.
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Good advice about the pan handle, Barbara Kay. I am actually pretty on top of that. I moved the pan to take the photo, but then I turned the handle back as soon as I was done. It could lead to a terrible accident if left hanging. Thanks for reading.
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Thanks, Dirt Farmer. I have days where I really miss my old, run down previous apartment. It would have been an artisit's heaven it had so much light streaming in. But then I admit that I'll keep the nicer, darker kitchen any day. Take lots of photos, and some will come out beautifully.
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Thanks, Relationshipc. I also have been grossed out by unappetizing photos. We eat with our eyes first!. Thanks for reading.
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Victoria Lynn: I think the flash tip is the most important one. If the light is wrong, the photo is wrong. Thanks for the read!
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Thanks, vocalcoach. I love that you are revisiting :)
Howdy Donna - A fine article, this one. Helpful to us here in Redneck's Kitchen.
Gus :-)))
Every time I see white plates at garage sales or in my mother's china cabinet I get them just for photos. The photos always look the best. Great hub. Enjoyed reading your information about food photos. Voted uP!
I hope that everybody thinking of publishing a Recipe Hub will read this.
In my opinion, good and relevant photos are so important that I will there was a feedback "button" for illustrations.
Voted up, useful - and I am sharing.
Interesting hub and well laid out, food photogrsphy is an art form all on its own. You have captured it very well.
I am now breaking my traditional way of taking food photos, the way i have now stareted to do it is as follows, by the way, I to have a dark kitchen.
What I have flouresnt lights, so I set my camera for that type of lighting. I have a kitchen window with venetion blinds on ot, so i am sblu to direct my light accordingly, i try to shoot the cooked food at an angle either from above or below, using a long exposure time with a Greater f stop.
I find that this gives me a bit of shadow enhacing the life to the photo.
Thanks for your hub
Some very good tips here. When I want to document a recipe (or some unusually-shaped fruits and veggies...lol), I'll bring a couple of small, portable lamps into the kitchen, as back or side lighting. Or natural light, if it's a sunny day.
I've had a few cameras, and the flash is anywhere from passable to poor, especially on close-ups, so I rarely use it. You should play with the light settings on the camera, to set it to the right kind of light you have. It can make a huge difference. Otherwise, you need to do a lot of color tweaking in your photo editing software to get it to look the way it looked in the kitchen.
This is an excellent hub. One thing that is driving me nuts though is the pan handle hanging over the stove. It is an accident about to happen. I had it drilled in my head as a child to never do this, because my Dad was scalded and burned as a child this way. So I warn everyone about it.
I didn't know that a plain white plate was best for photography. Now I'll keep it in mind. Excellent hub. I'll vote it up.
Thanks for the advice! I definitely needed it. Like you, I have a relatively dark kitchen, and the lighting never seems right.
Awesome hub. I have seen some pretty nasty pictures for an otherwise mouthwatering reicpe, and been turned of instantly. Since you can't work with smell or taste, you HAVE to create visually appealing pictures.
Great tips all around. I like your style of writing; it is very easy to read. And I love the continuous photo idea. I normally take one before my next step, but this would ensure that I get the best pictures, that I really want, every time.
Great tips for photos. I've found, too, that using the flash as little as possible makes pictures look better.
Well---I'm back! 6 weeks ago I found this marvelous and very useful hub and I just had to come back and read all through it again.
I will most likely check out your photo tips once more before writing my next recipe.
Its awesome and I'm voting up across and sharing again!
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Alocsin: ha! I didn't even take that photo, but I imagine it would have been a bad one. I think the tomato might win the fight in that face off :) Thanks for the read and comment.
This is quite useful to the many Hubbers who write recipe hubs (which I love). Your first photo is adorable -- I imagine the photo it produced was just of red curves? Voting this Up and Useful.
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Thanks Sherry! I appreciate your feedback.
These wonderful recipe tips work well for craft and other how-to hubs as well. You can also use photo editing software afterward to adjust the lighting and crop out distracting items. Voted up and shared.
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Mom Kat: I hope you do post some recipes. It is fun to go through the process and present the final product. I am glad you find the tips helpful. Thanks for reading!
Fantastic! Very well done & super helpful.
I've avoided food/recipe hubs because I wasn't sure how to present the photo aspect of it. I may post some now, using your tips here :)
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Thanks, tattokitty! The lighting is the hardest part, as most of us don't have professional lights in our kitchens like a professional food photographer has at a magazine or cookbook photo shoot. Thanks for the read!
What an awesome topic!! This hub is detailed, well-written and a MUST-READ for anyone who has a recipe hub to share. I'll definitely try to work with lighting more (I also have a dark kitchen & tend to get a little flash-happy.)
Thanks for sharing these awesome tips!! Voted up & totally awesome!
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It is fun to create recipe hubs. Good luck with yours Jamie. Thanks for reading.
I appreciate your instructions here.. I wish I had found this hub yesterday before I did my meatloaf! I'm planning to do my first recipe hub but didn't even take pics of the steps of preparation.. just the finished product. Oh well! I will definitely keep these tips in mind for my next one... Voting up and useful!
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Doctore Evile: Thank you. My husband thinks I am silly when I cook with a camera at my side. Of course, he is the helper when I need extra hands! It is a fun hobby.
I have someone in my life who does this and I'll definitely make sure I am less frustrated now when she goes about her layouts. Thanks for the insight!
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suzzettenaples: Thank you so much!
Thanks for the tutorial. This is well done and well written. And the photos are outstanding. You give great advice, tips and suggestions. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
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vocalcoach: Thank you for your kind comments. I look foward to seeing your recipe hubs! Thanks for the share.
donna - This hub is so helpful. You have outlined excellent tips for photographing food. I'm so motivated now. Think I'll work on a recipe hub this week using your marvelous points as I photograph each step. You made a key point with that one. Love it - thanks so much. Voted up, useful, awesome, interesting and will share!
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Thanks, Mama Kim. Having that critical eye of the reader is a key. I appreciate the read, comment and share :)
You hit all the right points in this! Fantastic ^_^ Your photos are wonderful. I always try to keep in mind what I would like to see if I were the reader. Voting up and pinning ^_^
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teaches: Good luck. I look foward to seeing your recipe.
Virginia Lynne: Thank you! I haven't heard of natural light bulbs. I will have to look for those. Great idea.
Nice hub idea. I do quite a bit of food photography and have found that lighting is key. I installed natural light bulbs over my stove which gives a much better presentation. I also got a white cloth that I put under the plate and even the bowls I'm cooking with. It makes everything look more professional (especially since my kitchen has bright yellow Mexican tile!)
Your photo of the pancakes has me drooling! Thanks for the advice on how best to photograph food. Your advice is valuable and just in time for me as I am getting ready to do a recipe idea this week. Voted way up!
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Thanks so much, howlermunkey! I have been planning this one in my head and on paper for weeks if the truth is to be told. I am glad you appreciate it.
Great Hub, Im putting this one away for reference. You really put together a nice hub here as well, voted up and sharing
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kashmir56: Thank you!
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nenytridiana: Write about the foods and recipes you know. Tell a good story with both the text and the photos, and you will have success. Good luck!
Thanks for all these great tips and advice, your photos are awesome !
Well done and vote up and more !!!
I want to write recipes, but I don't have any idea how to make it interesting. I think this hub is important for me. I have to try the tips. Thank you donnah75.
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GiblinGirl: Maybe it depends on the camera, but I get much nicer pictures if I turn the flash off, as you can see from the example. I hope you have success, and I look foward to reading your recipes. Thanks!
Great tips. I do like to write recipes so I'll have to keep these in mind. I always tend to use a flash but my kitchen can get some pretty good natural light so I'll have to try that.
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Deborah: Sometimes we need to sacrifice for our art! :)
rajan jolly: Since we can't taste or smell the food, those photos need to do all the work.
bridalletter: I would be honored if you linked my hub to your blog. Thank you. I will check out your blog.
Thanks everyone!
Nicely done. We are the same on those cookbooks, love the ones full of pictures. I create slideshows when i have a lot of pictures from a food recipe. I need to link to your hub on my food blog hub.
Very useful tips. I'm all for photos that literally speak.
Voted up, useful and interesting. Sharing this.
These are such great tips! I'm always taking photos of my cooking, to the point that my husband gets annoyed because dinner is delayed while I am styling the food. : )
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breathing: I am glad you are inspired. Practice using these tips, and you are sure to get better. :) Thanks for the read.
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chef-de-jour: I just peeked at your profile page, and you have some very nice food photos. I will go back and have a read through. I also will check out your drama hubs. I too am a drama teacher (and English teacher). Check out my "How to Direct..." series. Thanks for reading!
I have a weak point about photograph. I like this and love to take photo of different things. But I think, take photo of food items is difficult and interesting. Your photos are good. This is an inspirational hub. Thank you very much for sharing this with us.
Useful stuff here which I am keen to try and take on board. I do write recipes from time to time but only those I'm familiar with - like Blackberry and Apple Pie - and the pictures I take go some way to helping those who wish to try it out. I could do better though!
Your hub is great as it sets out just what to do and what not.
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Wow, thanks everyone for the supportive comments!
vespawoolf: I can relate. My husband thinks I am a nut sometimes. Of course, he is the helper in the pictures, so he enables my craziness :)
I appreciate everyone's reads and shares. I hope you are inspired to write beautiful recipe hubs. I look foward to reading them.
This is great information for those of us who do write a lot of recipes. I always think if a recipe when I am not doing it. That has got to change. Thanks for this great hub with perfect photos. I will bookmark and of course vote UP.
hi donna. love your photos, very wonderful.
These are really helpful tips and ones I will follow if I write another recipe hub...thank you for sharing this info with us...voted UUI & shared
Great tips and advice here! Love the do's and don'ts in pictures! It makes such a difference to food remembering essential steps. I am keen to do some recipe hubs so this is great, thanks for sharing! Voted up, useful, interesting and sharing!
My poor husband sometimes gets frustrated as I'm styling the food for a shot and his stomach is growling, but I think he's getting used to it now. : ) These are great tips, Donna, thanks so much! Lighting is the hardest one to get right. Voted up and shared!
This hub is amazing considering so many people tend to do the don'ts when if comes to uploading pictures of their delicious edibles!
It will definitely enlighten anyone who is into recipe hubs.
Voted up while hub hopping :)
Hello Donna! Thanks for the tips! I love your photos. Quality photographs will really affect your audience :)
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Thanks, snakeslane!
Donnah, good tips thank you! Your photos are yummy. Regards, snakeslane
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