Have you ever made a mouth-watering meal that looks delicious in real life but just ends up appearing bland and unappealing on your camera roll? Roots shares with you three easy and effective food styling and photography tricks to help bring your dishes to life on Instagram.
Trick 1: Garnish, garnish, garnish!
Certain dishes can leave visually unappealing due to their lack of colour diversity. This is where garnishes can help offer a pleasant hint of contrast to a spread. If your herb supply is running low too, a tasteful dash of finely sliced fresh red chillies or radishes can have a similarly positive effect. However, always try to use garnishes that complement the flavours of your dish - a sprig of rosemary poking out of your pepperoni pizza may have foodies raising their eyebrows.
Trick 2: Less is More
Avoid placing so much of your food in a bowl or on a plate that the end result looks like an indistinguishable blob. Give the food room to breathe. Negative space allows the food to remain more of a focal point, drawing a gastronome’s eyes to where you want them. It can also help prevent the frame from becoming claustrophobic, presenting a cleaner and more professional image.
Trick 3: Get that light right
Photographing your dish in natural lighting is quite possibly the cardinal rule of taking stunning culinary images. Harsh, overhead, indoor lights can make your shot look flat or give it an unappetising colour palette. Try to find the best source of natural light in your house - this doesn’t mean being overzealous and snapping your grub outside beneath direct sunlight, but instead, taking photos near to windows to get that au-naturale lighting.
Many of the photos used in this article were taken by some of our favourite Instagram food accounts, so if you like what you see, make sure to check them out!
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