Better photos for recipes & tips shoot - how it works!
Self-paced pictures add up to your sent in tips extremely. So that we can use your pictures in the best possible way, we have summarized in this photo guide the most important techniques with the help of examples. Furthermore, you will also find examples of what mistakes are made and how you can avoid them.
content
- light
- cause
- Backgrounds and backgrounds
- Dishes, accessories, decoration
- perspective
- Depth of field and focus
- Common mistakes
light
The right exposure
Make sure the image is neither underexposed nor overexposed. Underexposed images lose detail because areas are too dark. For overexposed images, the reverse is true: details are lost in light, white areas.
Underexposure (left), overexposure (center), correct exposure (right)
Daylight and lightning
When possible, use natural daylight to get the best shot.
When using a flash, items or dishes often appear very cold and hard, so avoid this. If there is no other option, it is recommended to use an external flash, which you can place laterally. Direct sunlight should also be avoided, as it can create unsightly dark shadows.
Photos with (left) and without flash (right)
A cloudy day is great for taking photos because the clouds act as softeners in the case. To achieve good results, avoid both backlighting and frontal light. As a rule, one photographs diagonally to the side, either to the left or to the right of the motif.
At home you can put the subject in front of a window and take the pictures from the side. So the light can fall over the shoulder on the object to be photographed.
reflectors
In order to optimally illuminate the subject and to avoid shadows, it is advisable to use reflectors. You do not need any professional equipment: you can, for example, use a white polystyrene board or paper coated with white paper. Also aluminum foil is well suited.
Placing a reflector behind the object to be photographed will not create any hard shadows.
Difference without (left) and with reflector (right)
Artificial light
If there is not enough light, you can also use artificial light. A good and cheap tool for staging the motif can be a simple desk lamp, which is loosely covered with baking paper. Also recommended is a built-in neon tube under the kitchen superstructure. But you should make sure that the images are not too yellow or bluish (if necessary, then correct briefly in an image editing program).
Simple helpers: shoot photos next to a window. A simple lamp to create soft light
cause
Before taking pictures, make sure that no unwanted objects protrude into the picture. You should be able to recognize at first glance what you want to convey to the viewer. The area to be photographed should be meticulously clean. Crumbs, stains on surfaces, as well as unclean dishes can look unappetizing.
For dishes it is recommended not to overload the plates. It is more appropriate to lovingly prepare a smaller portion, to set accents with fresh herbs, different berries or chocolate sprinkles and thus to liven up the picture. For this you can let your creativity run wild.
In the case of objects to be photographed, care must be taken to ensure that only subject-related objects, objects, ornaments, backgrounds and trims are included in the picture.
If, for example, a book is photographed, it is not bad to see pens or a bookshelf in the background. A TV or sofa, however, would rather disturb the picture.
With the right objects in the background a picture can be upgraded
Even colorful pictures often seem strange. It says less is more. If the motif to be photographed is already very colorful, then you choose a simpler surface.
Between the individual components you should leave enough space, so that it does not seem too restless for the eye of the beholder. Generally, food is freshly prepared and cooked when hot.
Cook vegetables gently to preserve their color and appearance. Salads look fresher when touched briefly. Meat can be spread with some cooking oil just before taking pictures to make it even more appetizing.
Backgrounds and backgrounds
In order to increase the chance of a successful picture, one should pay attention to appropriate backgrounds / backgrounds. This is for example a beautiful, old wooden table excellent. Even an aged fence, a chest or a cupboard can serve as a background for the motif to be photographed.
With simple materials you can quickly create attractive backgrounds
You can also make the right substrate yourself from cardboard or wood panels, and you will surely find something suitable in every household: left-over wallpaper, tablecloths, slate plates or wine boxes.On rusty baking sheets motifs are particularly appealing.
People and animals are best photographed out in the nature, but if you want to be photographed in the apartment, then in front of a simple, bright wall or in front of a suspended fleece blanket or a sheet. It is important to always maintain a distance of one to two meters from the background.
Too much in the background brings unrest into the picture
With a little experimentation, you quickly found the right ground. To set contrasts, you take dark backgrounds rather bright subjects and vice versa.
Dishes, accessories, decoration
To give photos that certain something, you can work with appropriate dishes, cutlery, accessories and decorative elements. But just old utensils from grandma's times give a special flair. Classical unicoloured dishes are best, but also dotted or Asian decors can be used attractively, and contribute to the right ambience.
Grandma's old harness comes out on photos especially well
Decoration elements such as wooden spoons, herb pots, milk jugs, which fit thematically to the main motif contribute to the mood of the pictures. Even flowers, candlesticks, sheets, wooden cutlery make pictures look more atmospheric.
Wild patterns such as large flowers, animals or fruit are not as well suited.
To increase the effect on the viewer, you can, for example, to a tomato soup a few small vine tomatoes, or to Asian dishes chopsticks. For food, you can generally pick up a few uncooked vegetables and place them next to the dish to be photographed to make the transformation clear to the viewer.
Examples of different accessories and decorative items
Perspective of the recording
Through our reading habits, we usually look at images from left to right. This can be made use of and thus place the main motive so that the brain leads the eyes to the desired object.
Here, the viewer is guided by the piece of watermelon to the main motif
The shooting angle is freely selectable for most subjects, but shooting is usually done in the following angles:
- 0 ° (front)
- 90 ° (from above, bird's-eye view)
- 45°
- 10-20°
The bird's-eye view is very popular, but should be used sparingly, as in most cases it will not lead to an optimal result. Unless you photograph soups, casseroles, pizzas or flowers. This would be exactly this plate effect desired. Otherwise, the shots from above often seem too shallow and uninteresting.
Examples of bird's-eye view (left) and 45-degree perspective (right)
To find the best position of the subject, consider the Golden Rule? Consider: The main subject should not be placed in the center of the image, but slightly away from it, in the outer third of the image. This gives the picture the right proportions and makes it look more harmonious.
It's easier with the third party:
The image is divided into three equal parts and the main motifs should not be placed in the middle. The third-party division can be applied both vertically and horizontally, and is particularly effective in landscape photography. Again, the horizon should not be in the middle of the picture, or be tilted.
Golden section (left) Third section (right): Main motifs are placed along the imaginary dividing lines and at their intersections
Whether you depict a motif completely or partially depends entirely on your own taste. Keep in mind that if you want to capture the subject from very close, the viewer is more likely to see unwanted blemishes. On the other hand, pictures with partial recordings are considered very meaningful and interesting.
Depth of field and focus
image section
To choose the right section, you can take several sample images and experiment a bit. There is no right or wrong here. One should consider what information one wants to communicate to the viewer.
Unnecessary pictures can easily be sorted out via the delete function. In the image you should focus on the essentials. Detail shots can awaken the imagination of the beholder. When you only partially absorb motives, the brain associates the rest. The focus should always be the sharpest point in a photo.
Full-area image (left) and partial image (right)
Focus and depth of field
To focus on the main subject, so that the viewer's attention is directed to it, you can tap on the modern smartphone, the main object and thus determine the focus on the screen.
If you put the focus on the main subject, which is placed in the foreground, so blurs depending on the camera, the background in blur.
Focus in the foreground (left) and background (right)
The more the individual subjects are apart, the more depth of field comes into play. The distance between several objects creates the necessary depth effect.
For smartphones, there are now special filters to enhance the game with the depth of field.
The higher the depth of field, the more objects can be brought into focus.
Common mistakes
Unsharp pictures
The best camera is of no use if the picture is blurred and noisy.Some smartphones already have an image stabilizer that compensates for the shaking of the hand. To avoid camera shake, you should hold the cell phone or camera with both hands if possible, and use a tripod in low light conditions and either support the camera or both arms on a wall or the like.
General Tips
According to possibilities, one should not zoom in on the desired object, but rather approach it more closely.
For the best results, you should take a look at the settings of the smartphone, because often a much too low resolution is set.
The white balance should also be set manually depending on the lighting conditions. The camera lens should always be kept clean.
