Editorial Food Photography | South Bend, Indiana
Storytelling is at the core of editorial food photography.
Whether working at home to create dishes to photograph (or enjoy) or on location working with restaurants, telling the story of the food is at the core of my editorial food photography.
This goes beyond simply documenting the food and steps into the art of photography. Utilizing composition, color, and action can elevate a dish to something artistic.
In this piece, I am going to showcase a few example images and discuss the lighting setup and active choices that were made.
Examples:
Up close and personal
I love utilizing my macro lens to highlight the beauty in the details of food. At Cloudwalking Coffee, I was playing with the macro when photographing a few of their signature cocktails. I loved the color palette on display when I utilized this lens.
Strobes for consistency
For me, much of my editorial food photography involves off-camera strobes. This allows me to create consistent images but also, I have substantial control of the light's impact on the scene.
Choosing light by being able to utilize off-camera flash is a critical step. This allows for experimentation, too.
Depending on the light, a different mood or feeling can be evoked from the same dish.
In the images below, you can see how the color of the light drastically changed the feel of this scene. A little red, to pair with the strawberries, definitely dominates the image below and on the right.
Play with your food
Focusing on storytelling in food photography means that perfection can take a backseat. It also allows room for play and action.
For editorial food photography, I think clients are generally looking to use the images in social media marketing or on websites. Editorial food photography goes beyond showing the food and ties in a narrative and mood that resonates with the food and viewer.
See more of my work by viewing my portfolio or by following me on Instagram.
